campana brothers : barbarians for edra

campana brothers : barbarians for edrabrazilian designers fernando and humberto campana have developed new furniture pieces for italian company edra, being presented at milan design week 2010.

fernando and humberto campana portrait © designboom

this tribute to the barbarians refers to the populations who in the early part of the first century AD, helped to bring down the stultifying empires of the western world, laying the groundwork for the europe of today. pulsing with passion and drive, fresh blood and daring, they ventured forth from the furthest outposts of the known world to occupy the heartland. becoming kings of peoples, and, as many of today’s academics claim, marking the end of the classical era and the beginning of what we call the modern era. metaphors aside, edra’s plan is to give a contemporary twist to the theme of natural materials and colours, sharing the same passion and drive, the same blood and the same daring as our barbarian forefathers. using colour as a design matrix, on a quest to conquer the centre of the earth, fire and the forests. like hordes advancing hell for leather, eyes wide open, admitting no hesitation and no turning back. the results couldn’t have anything less in common with classic interpretations.

‘cabana’ storage unit uses fire-proofed raffiaimage © designboom

‘cabana’ is a storage unit arranged around a central column supporting fie shelves. the structure, made in aluminum and other metals, is entirely concealed by dangling lengths of fire-proofed raffia.

‘cabana’ storage unit image © designboom

detail image © designboom

‘cotto’ table image © designboom

‘cotto’ is a table with a stainless steel structure and legs, with a thick aluminum top. the tabletop is set with eight large, variously shaped and textured pieces of treated terracotta. the use of terracotta bridges the design process with edra’s tuscan roots, where local artistry offers up its best, to create a new product. on the underside of each of the eight pieces are ‘made in italy’ and ‘hand made’. the cotto table takes terracotta to a whole new level, light years away from anything reeking of ‘rustic’. … terracotta speaks of the etruscans, brunelleschi and the medici.

detail image © designboom

‘campana’ pendant light image © designboom

assembled out of approximately 180 differently shaped pieces of laser cut glossy anodized aluminum, each ‘campana’ light is one-of-a-kind as parts are assembled randomly.

‘campana’ light image © designboom