Creative minds meet, design ideas intermingle in pursuit of a common goal: collective harmony. Porada’s brand of interior design is a fertile land of experimentation and collaboration,yet the result is one of distinctive- and wholly unexpected – homogeneity across its sophisticated, timeless spaces, where the infinite textural possibilities of wood take centre stage. Products from different designers stand side by side in unlikely harmony: indeed, what brings everything together is the Porada brand identity, as solid and malleable as the material so indicative of its production history.
Over the years, Porada has surrounded itself with designers capable of taking its philosophy and channelling it into pieces of furniture oozing with expressive quality. One of these is Stefano Bigi, the man behind the iconic Infinity table, the arty base of which resembles a draped ribbon and is available in a range of different materials. Carlo Ballabio – a new brand that has sprung up from within Porada – also uses material combinations to great effect: while the Ziggy collection of furniture and Atlante sideboards pair canaletto walnut with marble, the Saffo desks opts for wood with cuoietto leather.
Wood is a key part of both the Fellow armchairs, and sofas, which feature voluminous padding designed by the arconato-Zappa twosome, as well as the Loretta armchair, by Emmanuel Gallina: in both products the base, respectively in canaletto walnut and ash wood, becomes the visible support and the distinctive features of the pieces. The Porada philosophy reached something of a climax at the Milan Furniture Fair, where it was exhibiting for the first time with a range of complete interior design projects for the living room, dining room and bedroom. The sheer variety of expressive styles and products has been expertly merged together to create a uniform home design brand. And there is no better illustration of this than the pieces by Tarcisio Colzani, who’s been collaborating with the brand for over 30 years, and new entry Andrea Borgogni (who only made his debut at Salone Satellite 2014): the former weighs in with the Giove and Escher mirrors, the Gary lamp and the Raster side table, while the latter has contributed the Allison sofa. «I designed my first products for Porada back in 1984. Nowadays, some pieces – like Giove and Raster – come about with great ease and in complete harmony with the requests of the brand. Those are the best pieces, the ones that come about at the first time of asking – explains Colzani – I’m lucky enough to work with a company that feels like home: there’s a real family atmosphere here». «I designed Allison with Porada in mind, then pitched it to the company and they offered me the opportunity to create it, something that’s quite unusual in today’s times – explains Borgogni – For Allison, Porada combined the most advanced technology around with all of its artisanal expertise. That’s how it creates such timeless objects».
