Natuzzi italia continues to seek balance and perfection, and its new iteration of the circle of harmony-aptly named this year-achieves a transition. In a world that is constantly adapting to the new normal, the brand's chief creative officer PJ natuzzi invited eight designers to transform our changing needs into new furniture. Joining sabine marcelis, elena salmistraro, lorenza bozzoli, marco piva, massimo iosa ghini, studio marcel Wanders and patrick norguet is the Italian duo formafantasma.

The studios in Milan and Rotterdam consider the new challenges of contemporary life by developing aplo, a sofa that meets the needs of small residential home office space. 

During a recent trip to Puglia, designboom met formafantasma, and they admitted that they were the owners of uncomfortable sofas in their lives. Read the full interview below.

After carefully thinking about the changing needs of contemporary life, formafantasma (simone farresin and andrea trimarchi) launched apulo, the "harmonious circle" of the new sofa apulo they designed for natuzzi italia-living in transition. Nowadays, the place where we work and the place where we enjoy our free time have merged, in this sense, apulo has become a home/office sofa.

The sofa is more than just a sofa, because it has new functions by accommodating small objects. A wooden table can be connected to the backrest frame to form a work surface, while the height-adjustable side table provides additional functions by providing an extra surface. The built-in ducts in the sofa structure also emphasize design research and can seamlessly integrate cables.

formafantasma's aplo sofa for natuzzi italia is available in a linear three-seater version or a configuration that includes a recliner, and is intended to be a timeless piece. The saddle leather shell, combined with the metal feet that emphasize lightness, creates the perfect complement for today and hope forever.

DESIGNBOOM (DB): How did you meet PJ and what was your first impression?

FORMAFANTASMA (FF): Due to the pandemic, we met PJ on zoom. We spent some time meeting each other, so most of our meetings were through digital media. When we finally had a chance to meet him, things became very natural. Because, of course, we are from the same generation-we had a very pleasant and energetic conversation with him.

DB: Your new sofa is called apulo, which is a direct reference to apuglia. Can you take us to complete this project?

FF: PJ asked us to participate in their work, and together we decided to study a specific topic: working from home. Again, this is during the lockout period. So, obviously, this is a cliché conversation. We want a sofa that can adapt to remote work, but on the other hand, we really don't want to have any embedded high-tech, such as USB plugs or things that no one needs. We began to consider that very simple changes could be made to the sofa to allow work from home. For example, there is a small detail on the sofa, which has a pipe through which the cable can pass.

(Continued) We like the idea of ​​the app. Therefore, we have added a table where you can start working from where you are sitting. There is also a table on the back of the sofa. You can also sit down and make a table. This is the adaptive idea we really want to build. Also very important to us is the idea of ​​prototypes. This is also probably the most frequently mentioned part of Puglia. The sofa is very simple, just like you paint a sofa, almost in its purest form. But we added this iconic detail, which is the folded flap.

But in general, we really want to do something eternal. Many companies gave us ideas about what we did in the limited edition, which is very authoritative in a way. But when we design for industry, we care about designing something timeless. Because durability is one of the things that belong to the concept of sustainability and ecology. This is a way for us to design something timeless, which can enter people's houses now and 20 years from now. This is why we don't want the sofa to become strangely representing the time we live now, but it can last over time.

When we design for industry, we design tools for life. When we work independently, we can do more radical things, but for industry, it is important to design timelessness.

DB: Apulo has different fixing devices that can help users live on the sofa in different ways-what do you think of multifunctional furniture?

FF: We are not fans of multifunctional furniture, but we finally made one. This leads us to what we already know: bad ideas you think always have potential. We prefer to do something specific rather than multi-functional. On the other hand, you realize that on the couch, you end up doing many, many things. This is nothing new. Many people have explored this idea, but it is still relevant. 

Regarding versatility, one thing that is very important to us is that if you miss a part, it does not look complete. If you miss the app, the sofa can be used perfectly. We would say that the sofas we designed have more application functions than multifunctional sofas.

DB: Your practice is closely related to a rigorous method, and it is always very coherent. How do you manage to enter the brand's DNA and design a product that merges the two worlds?

FF: Natuzzi is a brand that focuses on comfort. We are the owners of uncomfortable sofas-at least in our own lives. We won't, and PJ will disagree with this. For example, the idea of ​​people watching TV on an ultra-deep sofa looks almost like you are in your own bedroom. In the end, I think we have found a comfortable object, but this is still very strict. It is not only a sofa where you can sit and watch TV, but also a sofa where you can talk. This is what we care about most.

DB: How do you combine more artistic works with more industrial creativity?

FF: We received several years of training as industrial designers in Italy, and then we started in the Netherlands. We fully believe that we are designers. We have an independent practice that allows us to explore more radical ideas. Despite this, we still like to work with industry partners who can allow us to do things that we cannot do. Therefore, in this case, when you work with a company that has developed sofas for many years, they have expertise that we don't have. Now, this allows us to take our work to a different level. I think combining our expertise with company experience is indeed a great opportunity for us.

DB: Sustainability is also an important part of your research. How sustainable is the design world? How can we improve this?

FF: This is a very complicated question. In the design world, in the furniture industry, there are many things to do. We cannot always be as radical as we hope, and the same for our partners. For example, in this particular case, we really want to commit to eternity, even though people are looking for possible artistry when they often approach us. But again, this is not what we are going to do here. We want to design an elaborate sofa with timeless materials. For example, we use a material that is considered potentially unsustainable, namely leather, but it is very timeless and very durable. This is also discarded from the food industry. We strive for eternity, and we hope this will prove to be something that can last over time.

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