LIV the dream: ROLF BENZ

Perhaps hard to believe, but sometimes you can experience special moments at trade fairs. I don't necessarily mean spectacular special effects, rather I am talking about discovering designs which at first glance attract attention because of their elegant overall appearance, but which, on closer inspection, go on to reveal their sophistication and well-conceived construction. When I visited Rolf Benz's stand at this year's imm cologne, the new sofa system LIV caught my eye immediately. Precisely because it cleverly combines elegance with a modular concept, so that it can take on many different forms.

It was developed by the renowned Italian designer Luca Nichetto together with his long-standing creative partner Francesco Dompieri. Originally founded in Venice, the Nichetto Studio is now also represented in Stockholm and has made an international name for itself in recent years with a large number of furniture designs. So, when collaborating with Rolf Benz, a typical Italian flair meets German dedication to quality, and long experience in the processing of materials such as wood, leather and metal.

Not a bad foundation when you consider that industrial and handcrafted manufacturing processes play a decisive role in relation to issues around durability and attention to detail. These aspects, though, must also go hand in hand with an aesthetically innovative, while yet timeless, overall concept. Nichetto himself emphasises the flexibility of LIV: ‘Our intention was to develop a sofa system that would adapt to the diverse needs of contemporary living. It should offer endless possibilities for finding the right combination for every situation’.

LIV's structural design is based on polygonal metal frames, which – equipped with a comfortable slat base – serve as flexible supports for the different variants. Seat cushions, sofa backs and side panels provide comfort. And there are two seat depths and two backrest widths to choose from, which, in combination with integrable shelves, offer numerous design options. The sofa variants can be flexibly supplemented with various loose cushions to suit personal seating preferences. So there’s nothing standing in the way of a good old pillow fight – but it's also not obligatory.

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