Cattelan Italia: living in the office and working at home

While tech companies give employees the three-line whip to return to their lavishly designed offices, and banks close office doors and commit to remote working, many of us are still working out if home is home or an office we sleep in, or if the office is a place of work or a home we work in. One way or another, the aesthetics of our working furniture and our leisure time props are increasingly one and the same. 

Italian design house Cattelan Italia isn’t set on influencing us either way, but is developing furniture for working that tangos between the two. ‘We do not have an office-dedicated collection; we merge these products inside the home collection because any of them can be used in the two environments,’ says CEO, Paolo Cattelan. ‘For example, the Nasdaq Keramik desk is conceived for a high-end office; you can imagine it in a luxury country villa as well as in the office of a well-established city centre law firm.’ The same goes for the minimal Boulevard, an extendable table that can be used for dining or as a work station – the ceramic (Keramik) and clay (Argile) versions are fit for daily use.

Two new additions to the category, however,  are inclined to pick sides. The Runner desk is more suited to the home office – it is compact, can tuck into the corner of a room or hallway and is designed to be raised and lowered to a comfortable height. ‘Our idea is that you should work comfortably, especially at home, often changing your position and adapting the desk height to your seating,’ says Cattelan. Senator , meanwhile, a four-metre table topped with CrystalArt Marble glass, is made to command a meeting room. It comes in one of two new printed finishes (Cotopaxi or Orobico), that give the glass surface the refined appearance of marble, but will better withstand the clatter of pens, devices and drumming fingers.

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