Design and
Engineering
“Looking into new materials for use in rotation moulding, we stumbled uponpoly-
carbonate and quickly realised that hardly any manufacturers in Italy apply this
combination – if any at all,” explains Enrico Perin, Magis’ head of development.
This is surprising, given just how remarkable – and brilliantly coloured – poly-
carbonate materials are. In fact, polycarbonate is so versatile that a transparent
sheet can belayered onto a second opaque sheet. Adding differently-coloured
granulates, the glossy surface can be endowed with new patterns and shades –
unique from object to object.
“With polycarbonate, you can create an effect very similar to the rich finish so
typical of blown glass,” says Eugenio Perazza, founder of Magis. Perazza goes
on to recount the moment when he first realised that this new method of han-
dling a transparent plastic material could be the beginning of a new product: by
replacing traditional glass with plastic, it could give new life to an existing collec-
tion of glass objects. Not just any glass objects, either – he was thinking of the
famous Birds by Oiva Toikka for Iittala.
