Otto is a distinctive new seating system created for comfort and conversation. Designer Lucy Kurrein had the social intimacy of a campfire in mind. The resulting form of Otto (‘eight’ in Italian) is based on the equal segments of an octagon, gently curling users towards each other around a central open space. “Sitting around a fire is my favourite way to socialise and that was the starting point for Otto; I wanted to create an environment for conversation,” says Kurrein. “It’s rejuvenating to spend time with others like this and I wanted to bring this sense of easy conviviality into the contemporary home.”
Using 1970s Italian domestic design as a reference point, Otto is produced to exacting standards by blending advanced manufacturing techniques with artisan skills. It’s upholstered with subtle and precise curvatures blending from one to another across the arms and backrest, and features elegantly shaped sand-cast legs.
As with Kurrein’s earlier work for Molinari, the elegantly executed leather work references the aesthetic beauty of leather sporting equipment. “The gently scalloped back that encloses you while sitting is a nod to the enclosure of a baseball glove,” explains Kurrein. “It has a comforting, reassuring quality and instantly communicates durability.”
The flexible system can be configured in a number of different ways, and combined with left and right armrests or straight sections. The stand-alone pieces available are an armchair, a straight sofa and an angled two-seat sofa. All configurations have been calculated so people sitting on them have an equal width of seat and are equidistant from one another.
