“As someone who’s lived and traveled throughout Italy and who has had some memorable times in Venice I felt honored to take part in a project with such a historical significance.
When Riva1920 approached me about Project Venice I immediately began thinking back to my days of studying in Italy and my time in Venice and also thinking of the importance of change while embracing the future and exploiting the past and its materials for all that it’s worth.
I began sketching shapes derived from the language of gondolas, soft organic forms stretched into points connected by the contrasting geometric severity of connecting beams. Riva1920 selected the sketch they felt was the most intriguing and we developed it further, printing out a few different scale models and enhancing the form as the project progressed.
The result – one blob-like shape is pulled and stretched to create a backrest while another is extended to become a table surface with the briccola the beam connecting them”.
Designer: Karim Rashid