rolf's furniture massacre at milan design week 09

rolf is a furniture transformer. by cutting away parts and by adding new ones a piece of furniture gets a new span of life. the cutting is brutal and can impossibly be undone. sometimes the cut is enough to make the piece of furniture adequate for a new function or space, sometimes a new part is required to do so.

there is a category of traditional furniture that is nor antique nor really valuable. that traditional furniture is unwanted by younger generations but often inherited when older people pass away. this furniture has a emotional value, but still we wouldn’t like to have it in our interiors. by transforming them they can keep the emotional value and gain a place in our living space. somewhere in the streets of zona tortona, rolf walked with a chainsaw. he stopped and started a happening. he saw away a piece of a cupboard to expose its new function as a mobile bubble bar. the event was followed by a drink.

rolf at work

cutting the cabinet

the violent action took only five minutes and was followed by applause and cheers. one quarter of the cabinet was removed and revealed dozens of bottles of prosecco on ice in a cool box kind of construction. this made the hundreds of people cheer and clap even more. the distribution of the sparkling wine resulted in a typically italian traffic jam.

‘divorce’ presented in milan

‘divorce’ presented in milan

detail

rolf meanwhile he was looking for exhibition space

‘extend’ presented in milan detail

all images by frank hanswijk