Ugo La Pietra and Fratelli Boffi, neo-eclecticism takes shape

The dialogue between design culture and craftsmanship excellence accompanies Fratelli Boffi's research. Among the most significant collaborations is the one started in 1987 with Ugo La Pietra, architect, artist and theorist who has made the contamination between disciplines and the enhancement of the applied arts one of the distinctive features of his work. At the center of this encounter is neo-eclecticism, which in the eighties proposed a free reinterpretation of tradition, open to quotation and dialogue between eras. A vision that finds in the cabinet-making mastery of Fratelli Boffi the possibility of transforming the decorative heritage into an original design language.

The Plissé Collection

This relationship between design and craftsmanship finds one of its most recognizable expressions in the Plissé collection, designed by Ugo La Pietra. The furnishings belong to a Classic-Contemporary language, in which sculptural forms, architectural suggestions and woodwork build objects with a strong expressive presence.

The Plissé Column starts from a compact and slender volume, transformed by a dense vertical processing that makes the wood appear almost soft, like a fabric, recalling the folds of drapery.

Lighter and more dynamic is the Ballerina Console, characterized by an elongated top supported by thin and tapered legs. The edge, marked by a sequence of wooden elements, evokes the folds of a ballerina skirt by introducing a light and ironic movement.

The story is completed by the Plissé Sideboard, defined by overlapping volumes and rich decorative workmanship. The base has a sequence of vertical folds, while the upper body is enriched with perforated motifs and carved shapes, bringing together rigorous geometries and figurative suggestions.