Haven’t I seen you somewhere before?
Brand story by Bethan Ryder
Novedrate (CO), Italy
25.03.20
B&B Italia and Naoto Fukasawa have teamed up to create Ayana – a refined, quietly innovative outdoor collection that may leave you with a feeling of déjà-vu.
Naoto Fukasawa’s extensive ‘Ayana’ range for the B&B Italia Outdoor 2020 Collection harnesses his philosophical approach to design. The bamboo-like structure of the furniture appears natural and blends harmoniously into an outdoor setting
Naoto Fukasawa’s extensive ‘Ayana’ range for the B&B Italia Outdoor 2020 Collection harnesses his philosophical approach to design. The bamboo-like structure of the furniture appears natural and blends harmoniously into an outdoor setting
×Déja-vu is an extraordinary concept to extend to design, but Tokyo-based designer Naoto Fukasawa is no ordinary designer. He has a ninja-like capacity to produce furniture and objects that chime with appealing familiarity. This philosophical approach has been dubbed ‘Without Thought’, referring to his belief that if a product reminds people of another unrelated object, which they use or see in their everyday lives, it engenders an instant sense of recognition. The result? Fukasawa’s new designs never appear alien, instead they blend easily and harmoniously into our lives.
The simple pared-back design elevates the unadorned beauty of the unpainted teak, wooden pins are the invisible joints which allow each stick-like element to seem as though it’s just leaning against the next, like in nature
The simple pared-back design elevates the unadorned beauty of the unpainted teak, wooden pins are the invisible joints which allow each stick-like element to seem as though it’s just leaning against the next, like in nature
×His longstanding partnership with Italian behemoth B&B Italia has produced several greatest hits which epitomise this approach, such as the notable iterations of the best-selling butterfly-inspired Papilio seating. For the Ayana outdoor collection, Fukasawa looks again to nature, referencing organic, sustainable forms to familiar effect. ‘The square lumber is more common in outdoor furniture, but I chose a round one because it feels more warm and natural,’ he says, of the unpainted teak-framed furniture constructed from rounded bamboo-like elements. Fukasawa also took inspiration from primitive tools, ‘when people used wood in ancient times they used soft, rounded forms, we should do this more.’
The low-lying profile of ‘Ayana’ lends it a Far East meets contemporary Scandinavian aesthetic. The armchairs and sofas are complemented by teak-framed tables featuring softly rounded, oval tops in robust Alpine serpentine stone
The low-lying profile of ‘Ayana’ lends it a Far East meets contemporary Scandinavian aesthetic. The armchairs and sofas are complemented by teak-framed tables featuring softly rounded, oval tops in robust Alpine serpentine stone
×Ayana is a refined confluence of a Far East meets contemporary Scandinavian aesthetic. Design by stealth, the real beauty of the low-lying furniture lies in its quietly innovative construction. Simple wooden pins form invisible joints, so that the wooden elements appear to lean naturally together like sticks in nature, rather than connected in a man-made, engineered way. Relying solely on (FSC-certified) timber is not only environmentally-friendly, it also improves the furniture’s longevity, since, in spite of the weather, the entire frame will evolve and patina as one.
It’s not all au naturel though. Upholstery seating is high tech waterproof polypropylene fabric available in more than 100 variations – patterns range from nautical stripes to verdant botanical prints. For Fukasawa, the Ayana collection is about ‘going back to nature’, and who can deny the call of the wild.
© Architonic
