American luxury brand BassamFellows released a beautifully coherent collection of new furniture in Milan this year. Designed by the brand’s co-director Craig Bassam, the Geometric Series recalls the modernist mastery over bent steel with chairs, stools and a table in which cold-rolled tubular steel is forged into forms with a poetic sense of lightness and suspension.
In the Geometric Series, the steel structure becomes a lyrical ‘scaffolding’ – what BassamFellows refers to as a “connective tissue” that unites the furniture’s functional elements into a total work of art. And to achieve precision craftsmanship, the brand collaborated with five highly specialised makers in the Veneto region of Italy for the steel, wood, leather, cushioning and caning.
The CB-450 Geometric Side Chair incorporates an ergonomically shaped walnut seat with Vienna caning. A wrap of fine-grain leather conceals all welds and joins in the nickel- or bronze-plated tubular steel. The curving steel plots two main arcs at the backrest, which are joined and emphasied by leather wrapping.
The CB-464 Geometric Dining Table has a striking walnut-veneered top in a radial design, and a solid carved walnut edge. The leather wrapping conceals the connection point for the angular radial pedestal legs.
The CB-457 Geometric Daybed has a slatted walnut-framed seat deck with an arcing tubular steel base that neatly holds the leather-upholstered cushioning in place. Seams radiate from the tufts to emphasise the overall geometry of the daybed.
A contrast of structure and volume is emphasised in the CB-751 Wood Sling Club Chair. A tubular steel ‘cage’ supports a sling hammock of stitched leather straps that are anchored at the top rail and seat deck. Slung leather cushioning has been designed for comfort and durability of shape.
A range of casual Circular Stools complete the collection, with sturdy steel frames (bent to the tightest possible radius) supporting circular upholstered seats that seem to float. It’s pure geometry.
BassamFellows
bassamfellows.com
Photography by Marco Favali
