OBJECTS AS ARCHITECTURE
— MARCIO KOGAN FOR MINOTTI
DESIGN
Marcio Kogan and his Studio MK27 is a name intimately linked to the contemporary modernist architecture movement in Brazil, something reflected in his designs for the 2020 collection of Italian design company Minotti. The sleek yet functional objects embody the Brazilian lifestyle of leisure at home, linking the interior and exterior with a sense of ease, and surprising with atypical angles and unfamiliar materials. The tops of the Linha dining and coffee tables and the Boteco sideboards and coffee tables seemingly hover in mid-air, despite being crafted in rich materials such as Orobico Grey or Sahara Noir marble. “It is minimal, but there is still warmth in the details and materials. That is very typical to our practice.”
“Even as we design, we think like architects, so we always bring elements from our architecture into the furniture. Layering, adding and subtracting volumes. Like in Boteco and Linha, we create something quite technical and thin with the biggest span possible”, says Kogan. Designing Linha, Boteco and the Daiki lounge chair for Minotti involved Kogan and Studio MK27 architects Diana Radomysler and Mariana Ruzante. While Kogan has historically shied away from drawing chairs, he admits, “I have a collection of around 300 or 400 chairs in my office. It is a thing. And for me the chair is this mythological creature, a legend. I have a massive respect for those who designed them.” The team drew inspiration from the original Hotel Okura Tokyo designed by Yoshirō Taniguchi and its latest incarnation, The Okura Tokyo, designed by his son. The upholstered Daiki and Daiki Outdooor armchairs with detailing in woods such as teak, Santos Palisander and colour-stained flamed-ash veneer pay homage to the lounge chairs scattered around the old lobby of the hotel.
Marcio Kogan’s Studio MK27 has created two inspirational videos describing the thoughts and creative process behind the new designs, you can watch them here:
WORDS ALISA LARSEN
IMAGES Stills from videos by Studio MK27, Minotti
CASE STUDY
— DISSONANT BEAUTY
As in music, interior design calls on many elements – rhythm, contrast, repetition – to create that most subjective of visions: beauty.
CINCINATTI MODERN
High on a hillside in Cincinnati, sits a two-storey modernist wonder by two unsung heroes of American architecture, built for an art collector in the 1980s and that has been given a sensitive makeover to accommodate the collection of its second owner.
CREATIVE TRANSITIONS
Based on the loops and twists of the Möbius strip, an icon of mid-century Mexican design has become an integral part of the creative process for its custodian, designer and ceramicist Perla Valtierra.
OBJECTS AS ARCHITECTURE
— MARCIO KOGAN FOR MINOTTI
DESIGN
Marcio Kogan and his Studio MK27 is a name intimately linked to the contemporary modernist architecture movement in Brazil, something reflected in his designs for the 2020 collection of Italian design company Minotti. The sleek yet functional objects embody the Brazilian lifestyle of leisure at home, linking the interior and exterior with a sense of ease, and surprising with atypical angles and unfamiliar materials. The tops of the Linha dining and coffee tables and the Boteco sideboards and coffee tables seemingly hover in mid-air, despite being crafted in rich materials such as Orobico Grey or Sahara Noir marble. “It is minimal, but there is still warmth in the details and materials. That is very typical to our practice.”
“Even as we design, we think like architects, so we always bring elements from our architecture into the furniture. Layering, adding and subtracting volumes. Like in Boteco and Linha, we create something quite technical and thin with the biggest span possible”, says Kogan. Designing Linha, Boteco and the Daiki lounge chair for Minotti involved Kogan and Studio MK27 architects Diana Radomysler and Mariana Ruzante. While Kogan has historically shied away from drawing chairs, he admits, “I have a collection of around 300 or 400 chairs in my office. It is a thing. And for me the chair is this mythological creature, a legend. I have a massive respect for those who designed them.” The team drew inspiration from the original Hotel Okura Tokyo designed by Yoshirō Taniguchi and its latest incarnation, The Okura Tokyo, designed by his son. The upholstered Daiki and Daiki Outdooor armchairs with detailing in woods such as teak, Santos Palisander and colour-stained flamed-ash veneer pay homage to the lounge chairs scattered around the old lobby of the hotel.
Marcio Kogan’s Studio MK27 has created two inspirational videos describing the thoughts and creative process behind the new designs, you can watch them here:
WATCH THE DAIKI VIDEO
WATCH THE BOTECO-LINHA VIDEO
WORDS ALISA LARSEN
IMAGES Stills from videos by Studio MK27, Minotti