Meet Mario Ferrarini, Designer of the Quadra Chair

This fall, Coalesse is introducing three elegant chair lines from the Viccarbe Imports Collection, our longtime partner in Valencia, Spain. In this post, Italian designer Mario Ferrarini shares a bit of the story behind his stackable Quadra Chair, the fulfillment of his goal to create a chair that’s “minimal but astonishing.”

 1. Where do you look for inspiration for your work?

Mario Ferrarini: I’ve realized over time how the simple daily routine greatly influences design. Although I’m only talking about natural events and situations that happen around us — such as time, relationships, the speed of events, conversations with people, the season, colors, etc. — these compose an important element of the sensitivity that automatically influences how we think of an idea. In a way, to design means to become aware of the beauty of life. I’m driven by the constant desire to place products in respectful harmony with their context.

2. What prompted you to design the Quadra Chair in the way that you did?

MF: I wanted to bring to the Viccarbe team the idea of a minimal but astonishing chair — a chair that, in its essentials, could escape the chorus of a theme extremely overcrowded with proposals and become recognizable beyond its common functionality.

Its elementary structure is a clear homage to the elegance of the compass — a perfect, delicate instrument, reminiscent of the architect’s technical drawing. But not only that: Its grace reminds us of a two-figure dance that twirls in harmony, each holding the other firmly as if by the hand.

I was inspired by these two imageries, in an attempt to achieve the same alchemical effect. And the chairs become a sculpture when they are stacked together.

Elegant and stackable, the Quadra Chair features a shaped wooden seat and strong metal legs.

3. How does the Quadra Chair reflect your soul or your personality?

MF: Until I became a teenager, my extreme shyness prevented me from expressing my thoughts, and drawing was the tool that allowed me to communicate my ideas beyond words.

Today it is very important for me, in the way I design, to look for solutions in which the figure of the designer does not prevail over the design of the object itself.

4. In what way does this chair exemplify Mediterranean design?

MF: Energy, warmth, taste, creativity, magic. These are themes that define our region and that we try to convey through our passion for design.