17
16
We begin by travelling to New York, where we
snap Leon Ransmeier on the roof of his studio,
relaxing on his CHiAro chair. His eighth for
MATTiAzzi, he’s now an established mem
ber of the family. on top of his chair sits his
heirloom: the original prototype of the one he
designed, cheekily angled upside down. it’s
a handmedown that reminds us of where
design DNA comes from, and where it can
grow to: from prototype to final product.
remember your cousins in paris? The Bouroullec
brothers play this role for the camera with
aplomb (and of course, they look so alike
that you need to check which one is wearing
glass es to tell them apart). Luckily their me
mentos are different enough: Ronan adds his
pens in multiple shades, and Erwan his trusty
bag, smart enough for any occasion. on the
gentle curves of their UNCiNo and QUiNDiCi
chairs, these objects hold the dignity and
sig nificance you’d want to pass on for future
generations.
We travel east to Munich, and Konstantin Grcic
has something special to add to our collect ion
of heirlooms. A shiny, golden machine gun
replica! Cradled by the bright scarlet of a pro
totype of his CLEriCi bench, its heavy cast
iron feels weighty and valuable. A design mav
erick, with a serious eye for detail, Grcic is the
family’s masterful uncle, who will pull cards
from behind his ear to delight the younger
generations. True to style, his bike helmet is
added to our document of the new priMo
chair at the last moment. And why not?
over the channel and into the Big smoke:
Sam Hecht and Kim Colin are snapped on
st. patrick’s Day in London, where the streets
outside are full of green. But sam and kim
are interested in a more natural kind of
green, bringing their TroNCo, rADiCE and
BrANCA chairs over to regent’s park where
the pair go for a run every day. This branch
of the MATTiAzzi collaborative family add
glasses, a notebook, and a perfectly draped
jacket to our growing collection of heirlooms.
You can always rely on the British side of the
family to bring perfect poise.
our final destination is Berlin, where cel
ebrations are in order, since Jasper Morrison
has just opened an exhibition at the Bauhaus
Archive. in the first few rays of spring, our
renowned paterfamilias is calm and composed
in his FioNDA chair. Browsing the greyscale
pages of The New York Times, he nonchalant
ly spreads his newspaper out for the family
photographer, before folding it neatly on the
black cover of the campinginspired seat. The
last addition to our assortment of family trea
sures, its pages archive this moment, like a
time capsule. A snapshot of all the different
personalities who put their distinctive and ir
replaceable stamp on MATTiAzzi today.
Text
Josie Thaddeus-Johns
A Very
International
Family
Portrait
