Компания Edra отметила в 2017 году свой тридцатилетний юбилей. Историю знаменитого итальянского бренда рассказывает Francesco Binfare (Francesco Binfaré), глава, основатель и арт-директор Edra.

Sofa Pack.

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“The Edra company appeared in 1987, but its history began ten years earlier. In 1977, I presented an installation, which I named The Bridge. It was a time when the world was changing rapidly, and therefore the design was changing: it was declared dead, then recognized as the resurrected. For me, design is a way to develop any phenomenon in life. I continued to create installations in which I spoke about very different things: the loss of form (The Time of Water and Bathers after Marx), the complexity of the relationship between energy and culture (The Fire and the House); Angels listened to baroque echoes in large-scale canvases.

Sfatto, design by F. Binfare. 2011. Диван Флап, дизайн Ф. Binfare. 2000. On The Rocks, design by F. Binfare. 2004. Standard, design by F. Binfare. 2013. Sofa Pack, design by F. Binfare. 2017.

And at some point I began to design sofas - I tried to show the synthesis of function and representativeness. For example, the Flap model offered exemption from conventions. On The Rocks - primitive freedom. Sfatto personified our refined and hyperinformed civilization. Then came the sofa Standart, which fixed a new human nature, the narrative component was especially important in it. In general, now I can say that I tried design, anti-design, modernism and postmodernism. And I also had minimalism.

In the anniversary year of 2017, Edra has two interesting modern items - the Sofa Pack and the Chiara chair. Pack - a polar bear on a breakaway drifting ice floe: in the image there is a threat of melting of polar glaciers and the happiness of a reckless bear, who, unaware of anything, is enjoying the sun rays, seizing the moment. This is a very comfortable sofa, it symbolizes the freedom that we possess, not always realizing its fragility. Pack - home landscape, landscape in the middle of the house. The Chiara chair is an observer. Individual seats have always highlighted the identity of the person who sits on them. The chair of Tutankhamen tells more about the pharaoh and ancient Egypt than about himself.

Chiara Chair, F. Binfare Design. 2017 Chiara Chair, F. Binfare Design. 2017 Chiara Chair, F. Binfare Design. 2017

In 2016, I exhibited my sketches and sketches to the sofa in the Biffi Gallery in Piacenza, for example, there were images of people standing on rafts floating downstream to the sea. They are silent, they do not know what lies ahead for them. Perhaps danger, perhaps happiness.

Margherita Chair, Design by Jacopo Fodzhini, 2017.

I remember the beginning of the 1980s: the fog rises from an obscure horizon, self-confident thinking begins to doubt itself. Water is the strongest vital energy, which can also be dangerous, destructive. Today we do not always know where we are going, and the raft in such a context can become the saving place where you can linger, enjoying the beauty of life, the sun while ice is melting. These are my thoughts. And then comes the work of translating thoughts into an acceptable product. To shape thoughts is the most beautiful work. I once said that my work is akin to the work of a songwriter. A song may contain some interesting ideas, sometimes even deep ones. And then you release ideas that capture the relevance of the moment. And you make them accessible, pleasant, positive.

Margherita Chair, Design by Jacopo Fodzhini, 2017.