Italian company creates exotic chairs
By Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, March 13, 2005
Manzano, Italy — Maybe he's the Michelangelo of the chair world.
Marco Marcon and his company here, Nazionali Esportazione, turn out unusual chairs made of off-the-wall materials — nails welded together to make a frame, buttons of all sizes and shapes to make a seat, feathers for a back rest and squirts of silicone for cushioning.
"Wouldn't it feel good to sit on a masterpiece? And if that masterpiece just happens to be a chair, then all the better," said Marcon with typical Italian aplomb.
He's part of a small team that launched a new line of what he describes as furniture "of artisan design."
"These products are primarily hand made and intended for those searching for a soul within an object," Marcon said. "Another aspect of our mission is to demonstrate that an object can be developed by using materials that are not intended for its purpose."
The company offers Irony, a chair made with nails, and Gigi 15, made with gold silicone.
Nazionali Esportazione is less than six months old, and exhibited for the first time at Promosedia, the international chair show in Udine, Italy. It received "an incredible amount of interest from several of the visitors that viewed our exhibit," said Marcon.
He said the company doesn't mass produce any of its products. Its intent is to provide "quality, not quantity; originality and not standardization," he said.
What's the price of this originality? "Much, much less than a Ferrari," Marcon said.
The nail chair drew the most interest at Promosedia, he said. While looking delicate and fragile, the structure is strong and meets ergonomic requirements.
"It was amusing to watch visitors ... (who) were apprehensive about trying the nail chair," he said. "Once they were seated, they were pleasantly surprised to find it was actually quite comfortable. Their facial expressions were priceless."
Nazionali Esportazione's second most popular product at the show was the double-faced B Chair, which can be personalized and ordered in any color, texture, fabric "or any other crazy idea (customers) might have," said Marcon.
The chair is made so the legs can be detached, the frame turned over and legs reattached, making it look like an entirely new chair.
