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Cohen then also became Mattiazzi’s first Artistic Director and
soon brought Florian Lambl on board as Co-Artistic Director (who
was then the sole Artistic Director from 2015–2018). In this position,
they invited Sam Hecht and Kim Colin of the London-based studio
Industrial Facility to design a collection. The duo created the
now-iconic BRANCA chair and produced it with a CNC milling
machine, using the technology in an entirely new, pioneering way for
the time; BRANCA’s release in 2010 put Mattiazzi on the map as
a company that could not only traverse but also shatter the traditional
boundaries between handcrafted and mechanically produced
wooden pieces. Or, as designer Jonathan Olivares has said, ‘Mattiazzi
disproves the modern myth that mechanized manufacturing is not
a craft.’
In the years that followed BRANCA’s release, Cohen and Lambl
went on to invite some of the world’s most prolific designers, includ-
ing Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, Jasper Morrison, Leon Ramsmeier,
and Konstantin Grcic, to create collections. This group have since
become Mattiazzi’s core designers, with many of them developing
multiple collections; the designers the company works with, as
Salvati says, ‘are part of the family.’
Since starting to produce furnishings under its own name,
Mattiazzi has released more than 25 collections, ranging from chairs
to tables to stools to benches and lounge seats, designed by over
10 of today’s most renowned designers. Beyond furniture, the
company—under Hecht and Colin’s interim role as Artistic Directors
(2018–2021)—also collaborated with younger designers to release
a number of solid-wood objects, including a small box, a bowl, and
a wine rack. And in 2021, Grcic took over from the duo as Mattiazzi’s
Artistic Director, also bringing Florian Böhm and Annahita Kamali on
board to help develop the brand’s visual identity and communication.
‘Anything that has to do with wood is something that we are
willing to explore within the Mattiazzi family,’ Salvati continues.
Be it a chair or a vessel, the guiding principle that unites all
Mattiazzi products is that of ethical and high-quality wood pro-
cessing, from the sourcing of the raw material to the energy needed
for production to their commitment to the craft. Specifically, nearly
all of Mattiazzi’s wood is sourced from within 200 kilometers; the
factory—which, since the late 1980s, has been located in San
Giovanni, one of the three villages that comprise the chair triangle—
runs almost exclusively on power generated by solar panels that were
installed in 2010; and a biomass heater recycles waste energy that
is used to heat the factory in the winter. Moreover, every product is
produced with as little waste as possible, and before air from the
factory is released into the atmosphere it goes through a filter that
significantly decreases its CO2 emissions.
Looking simultaneously towards the past and the future,
Mattiazzi will continue to develop its collaborations with established
and emerging contemporary designers while maintaining its roots
in the heritage of craftsmanship. State-of-the-art machinery and
environmentally friendly, energy-efficient infrastructures will always
be paired with passion and traditional techniques—for, as Salvati
notes, ‘Mattiazzi would not exist without our people’s expertise, their
care to details, their understanding of the materials. Our products
would not exist without our people’s hands.’
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