Minotti brings indoor comfort outside

Open-air living rooms are not losing their appeal anytime soon. Comfortable and elegant outdoor spaces at restaurants, hotels and residences are an invaluable asset worth investing in – attracting those seeking to socialise and spend time outdoors with the same quality of atmosphere we are accustomed to indoors. Just as they should! Italian brand Minotti has always seen the outdoors as a seamless extension of the indoors. Since 2013, the annual Minotti Outdoor Collection has pioneered the same comfort, contemporaneity and sartorial style that its interior collection is so renowned for.

Coordinated by architect Rodolfo Dordoni with Minotti Studio, the creative soul of the company, the 2021 Outdoor Collection features designs by Italian-Danish duo GamFratesi, Japanese studio nendo and Dordoni himself, which carefully respond to the outdoor context, yet never compromise on the elegance established by the Minotti brand. The flow between indoors and outdoors is a key principle, making the collection ideal for sprawling locations such as residences, hospitality, corporate spaces and yachts.

Minotti makes the shift outside fluid – even though the outdoors presents different challenges for designers. Furniture must be resistant to movement, from lightweight rearrangement between seasons, to more casual uses. The Patio seating collection designed by GamFratesi responds to this by fusing cross-cultural socialising habits, with inspiration from that universal living space extension, the patio.

‘Scandinavians are not so rigid,’ says Stine Gam, who infused her own Danish cultural sensibility into the Patio collection. ‘We like to be flexible in the way we live, and our behaviours.’ Correspondingly, Patio features timeless, geometric pieces that can be tessellated into many configurations, with multiple backrest options. This flexibility makes the collection suitable for any outdoor space; from residential rooftop in the city to expansive gazebo-framed hotel terrace.’

It’s rare to find outdoor products that combine refinement with durable, resistant and low maintenance materials – yet the latest Minotti Outdoor Collection proves it can be done. After favouring solid iroko and teak wood finishes for a long time, Patio now brings additional focus to aluminium, steel, cord and Basaltina stone. The system features steel backrests covered in polypropylene cord, a handy tray in solid mahogany or natural teak and comfortable padded cushions.

The new Lido Cord Outdoor sofa and armchair by GamFratesi for example, echoes the mid-century form of the indoor Lido collection, in high-performance steel and woven polypropylene cords ideal for outdoors. ‘It’s a project for the indoors, but also for outdoors, while keeping the same signature, the same design, but interpreting it with different materials – breaking the boundary between indoor and outdoor,’ says Enrico Fratesi.

Minotti’s approach is never about replicating from indoor to out, it is rather about translating. Originally designed in 2020, the Torii Nest is a collection designed by nendo, which has also migrated from indoors to out. It translates comfort and ergonomics into the outdoor setting; the new padded Torii Nest Outdoor armchair has a swivel system – unusual for an outdoor chair and a new innovation to the collection – so the user can orient themselves towards the horizon to watch the sunset.

As every designer will know, crafting a harmonious atmosphere requires dynamics, contrasts, minimalism and maximalism. Bringing some necessary dynamics is the range of occasional- and coffee tables designed by Rodolfo Dordoni. The Pilotis Outdoor coffee table is a geometric showpiece made in varnished stainless steel. The Stony coffee table brings similar impact with its Basaltina effect top inspired by pebbles, while the Terrace table counters as a contemporary canvas with a retro cast aluminium frame.

Minotti’s 2021 Outdoor Collection provides a set of tools with which to set an elegant, relaxing and endless indoor and outdoor scene. Each piece in the collection performs a unique role, while always in dialogue with the whole collection – whether designed by GamFratesi, nendo or Dordoni. Synchronously, the collection continues the dialogue already set by Minotti’s brand and the Indoor Collection, so boundaries can be beautifully blurred, connections made and conversations always continued.

© Architonic