A maximally versatile seating system, designed to have a thousand faces – from a domestic one, with comfortable and compact dimensions, to one for more prestigious spaces, where it becomes to all intents and purposes an architectural element. A project signed for Poliform by Jean-Marie Massaud, a designer with a soul ‘in the south’ (his studio is in Vence, one of the most evocative locations in Provence, France) who wanted to design a kind of domestic landscape with this system. Combining elements that are different from each other but conceptually related.
First of all, there is the design aspect, which, thanks to millimeter planning, opens the way and hundreds of different configurations. “Poliform already has a wealth of successful sofa systems: they are all very chic, modern, architecturally perfect and express a timeless, refined and sophisticated elegance,” Massaud explains. “With Saint-Germain, I wanted to embody a more homely and decorative conception of interiors.”
The project starts from a wide range of bases to choose from, from the traditional rectangle to more slender, angular and daring shapes. Without losing the visual softness that is the hallmark of the system. The modules of Saint-Germain, especially in their more complex configurations, fit into the domestic landscape with the quiet strength of a soft, inviting mountain relief. One of Saint-Germain’s strengths is the myriad of uses created by the interplay of backs, armrests and cushions: Saint-Germain is designed to create a literally made-to-measure, polyform world. In this project, the memory of some famous architectures of the 1970s, such as the villas in Sardinia by Jacques Couëlle and Alberto Ponis, and their connection with organic forms, is revived, updated.
Presences of strong personality, unpredictable and welcoming in their soft forms. “Saint-Germain is sensuality, it is round, it is cozy, it is comfortable. The collection is made up of many interesting and ‘signature’ pieces. The whole system is developed in very rational or very organic compositions that allow us to create a more efficient landscape than the Cartesian system. And above all, more natural,” continues Massaud.
If ‘sensuality’ is a key word, it is on the tactile level that a great deal of research has been done: bouclé upholstery that evokes an elegance that is at once rough and sophisticated, but also fine leathers, in a mix to be composed according to the measure and taste of those who will use it. To these materials are added those of other pieces, also designed by Massaud, that naturally dialog with this collection. The best example is the Koishi side table (a name that means ‘pebble’ in Japanese), available with or without a pouf. Endless combinations of class and comfort. For relaxation and beauty.
