Icon Collection
2024
The development of this new project created for Mara was certainly demanding and complex because we had to engage with a production technique and a material that are by definition difficult and delicate, and whose limits and potential must be interpreted with precision. A polymer shell is today a theme explored almost compulsively in our field, so it was essential to sublimate its nature and fundamental characteristics into a non banal object that also needed to integrate harmoniously into an existing family.
We carried out a very thorough and attentive study of the expressive and functional elements, working with almost two dimensional surfaces, a curved sheet, that become the defining formal element. These surfaces, however, merge, combine and relate with great naturalness to other elements that are instead shaped as volumes, with thickness and a significant perceived mass. This union takes place through sophisticated details that act as joints and hinges, the decisive key that made it possible to develop, within a monoblock seat, unexpected functions of dynamic comfort.
We carried out a very thorough and attentive study of the expressive and functional elements, working with almost two dimensional surfaces, a curved sheet, that become the defining formal element. These surfaces, however, merge, combine and relate with great naturalness to other elements that are instead shaped as volumes, with thickness and a significant perceived mass. This union takes place through sophisticated details that act as joints and hinges, the decisive key that made it possible to develop, within a monoblock seat, unexpected functions of dynamic comfort.
We devoted considerable time to studying and dimensioning the junction detail between seat and backrest. The objective was not only to achieve a formally clean and highly solid connection, but also to allow a certain degree of flexibility, capable of generating a slight oscillation of the backrest during use. The surprising outcome was that, once we had the first molded samples in hand, we realized that this flexibility, combined with the natural movement provided by pedestal and cantilever bases, generated a natural synchro effect even in the absence of any mechanical device.
Another interesting innovation introduced in Icon is the possibility of developing differentiated versions, both horizontally and vertically, starting from the polymer bucket shell. Alongside the option of mounting different bases according to typology and function, a solution first introduced, I believe, on a polymer shell back in 1996 with the Gogò collection, there is also the possibility of adding a comfortable removable cushion that envelops the seat like a cover, and above all an upholstered backrest extension that transforms it, also thanks to the natural synchro effect, into a fully operational task chair.
