Rendez-vous with Alessandro Mendini: Saba Italia

Brand story by Dominic Lutyens
San Martino di Lupari, Italy
17.06.19

Inspired Italian manufacturer SABA ITALIA's new Rendez-vous sofa system has taken up residence in a Milan interior designed by Alessandro Mendini for the brand's S'–Magazine.

An enticing glimpse of Saba’s Rendez-vous sofa in the third issue of the brand’s S’—Magazine

The idea that furniture can be divorced from its context is entirely alien to Italian company Saba, which likes to present its designs in beautiful settings that bring them to life. This is certainly the case with one of its most recent creations, the Rendez-vous seating system, dreamt up by Sergio Bicego. Launched this year at the Salone del Mobile, it is destined for residential and public spaces.

While the exposure Rendez-vous gained during the Salone was invaluable, media-savvy Saba has hit on a warmer, more personal formula for presenting its playful collections, namely on the seductive, colour-saturated pages of its publication, S’—Magazine, where its designs are integrated into interiors whose style and atmosphere help to convey the unique character of the furniture.

Top: Rendez-vous takes centre-stage in this Mendini-designed house also featuring Saba’s Ring coffee table and Più low table. Above: Open doorways connecting rooms provide fresh perspectives of Rendez-vous, revealing its different qualities

‘I felt the urge to present our collections and collaborations in a more flexible and intimate way, which a magazine format allows,’ reasons Alessandra Santi, the brand’s Head of Communications. ‘A catalogue is too limiting since it’s designed to last at least four years. Conversely, social media posts are too ephemeral, even though we love posting images on our Saba Instagram feed. By contrast, our magazine allows us to present our brand through artful photography that enables powerful story-telling.’

Rendez-vous has been brought to life in issue 3 of the magazine, enticingly entitled, Journey into the World of Living, and more specifically in the opening section named Discovery. Rendez-vous is an economical design comprising only a few components resting on an elegantly skeletal black frame. Yet it is infinitely flexible – the user can reconfigure it in countless ways.

Download your issue of S’—Magazine here

The house’s immersive interiors – with walls and colours often painted one vibrant hue — accentuate the playful character of Saba’s furniture

The seating system was photographed in a Milanese house, designed by the late Alessandro Mendini, whose interiors have never been published by a magazine before. The homeware in the space was curated by Studio MILO; this includes other Saba pieces, such as the Più table, Baby Geo armchair, Philo chair, Ring coffee table, Hexa low table, Geo pouffe and Chillout armchair.

Meanwhile, the artworks in the photoshoot, selected by Santi in collaboration with Studio MILO, are by Paolo Gonzato and Ginevra Taccola, represented by the Milan-based Camp Design Gallery, and by English artist Jon Thomas. Saba frequently collaborates with highly individual creatives: in a previous issue, the company joined forces with maverick fashion designer and artist, Antonio Marras.

Mid-century touches pervade the house, from terrazzo flooring and pared-down lighting to 1950s-inspired pastels

Mendini himself was a leading figure of the avant-garde Italian Radical Design movement of the 1970s and 1980s; he famously founded the experimental design collective Studio Alchimia and was editor-in-chief of Domus magazine from 1979 to 1985. Along with the likes of Ettore Sottsass and Michele de Lucchi, Mendini rebelled against the strict functionality and rationality of the Bauhaus, embracing a romantic eclecticism that referenced other cultures and infused design with human, emotional qualities.

Mendini’s all-enveloping environment perfectly chimes with the cocooning qualities of Rendez-vous and the Chillout armchair

The sensual, curvilinear style of Rendez-vous corresponds with – indeed is enhanced by – the vibrantly colourful aesthetic of this Mendini-designed interior. In his colourful parallel universe, walls are painted clashing yet complementary colours – from rose madder pink and swimming-pool blue to the nursery pastels, such as powder blue and lemon yellow, once favoured by Mendini and other Italian postmodernists.

The Mendini-designed environment was an irresistible location for Saba since the brand’s sumptuously comfortable, cocooning, velvety furniture is hugely inspired by him. Another big influence on Saba’s collections is mid-century design, which also greatly inspired the Radical Design movement. In Mendini’s eccentric house, mid-century touches include mottled terrazzo floors resembling tutti-frutti ice cream and whimsical patterns decorating woodwork framing the windows. Meanwhile, doors with rippling edges echo the organic contours of Rendez-vous as well as of Saba’s sculptural Geo and Ola chairs.

The quirky nature of Saba’s Baby Geo armchair is accentuated by mid-century-style lighting and ceramics: the Tutankhamon vase is a collaboration between Mendini himself and the artist Paolo Gonzato

In the Mendini home, stylised arched doorways provide glimpses of adjoining rooms painted in other vibrant shades. These pulsating wall colours draw the eye from space to space in a sequential fashion that highlights the versatility of Rendez-vous and reveals different aspects of the design, from new configurations to alternative colours. The same effect is achieved when readers flick through the magazine, which takes them on an intriguing journey, as its thematic title promises.

As the reader turns each page, Mendini’s unfolding environment progressively reveals fresh insights into Rendez-vous and Saba’s other soft-contoured yet clean-lined designs.