The effect of the seams, the sculpted volumes and the carefully measured thicknesses are the key features that make HIPPY – an upholstered chair designed for Billiani by Emilio Nanni and recently presented at the Milan Furniture Fair – really stand out.In the Wood version, the upholstered frame is combined with a turned beechwood base, particularly suited to an elegant and contemporary-style dining area. The Metal version has a rod base, bringing a degree of lightness to the collection. Extensive combinations of colours, fabrics and frames fully define its nature. It is a sophisticated object, which adds a touch of informal elegance to any room in which it is placed. To complete the collection is the unique armchair version, with T-shaped arms applied.
In general, with its timely release that each year gathers the new chairs just designed by important designers and just created by the skilful hand of Billiani – a historic Friulian company specialized in the manufacture of seating for the contract sector – the News 2014 project undertakes to reaffirm and strengthen the brand’s identity.
Belonging: this is the word chosen to tell the story of a job, a journey, a feeling and a confirmation. Belonging to a territory, where the chair is the undisputed item around which a community and its know-how is established. Having been reinforced and enhanced for centuries, it has left few but determined and courageous heirs in this moment in history. These heirs are outstanding entrepreneurs who have been able to ferry great tradition towards innovation, without losing the venerable soul of the craftsman, which lives on in every item.
The industrial building, too, is a symbol of great belonging and, precisely for this reason, serves as a backdrop in the photographs of the new chairs and collections, in a game of intense dialogue between production and product. The factory thus becomes a place in which the values of Italianism abide – attentiveness, executive excellence, design and – what is today a very salient issue – non-delocalisation.
Presented as an investigation, research and representation of beauty, the images have been created by Beppe Brancato, a photographer specialized in interior design, who works with important international companies, architectural firms, magazines and agencies in Milan and London. Lara Vidotto has been the art director of this communication tool.
From the design and quality of Billiani’s chairs to the graphic language of its publications: every new aspect bears witness to the company’s commitment to a quest for innovative aesthetic languages.
BILLIANI – www.billiani.it
Founded in 1911, Billiani is a long-standing and family-held Italian company whose success is based on simple but fundamental values and principles. Its craft know-how, love of detail, and quest for top-quality materials, processes, finishes and designs are handed down from generation to generation and shared with every staff member in the company. Over the years, Billiani has specialized in the manufacture of wooden chairs, stools and armchairs for the contract sector, enriching and continuously developing its product range to meet the ever-changing needs of clients and different applications.
The work of Billiani’s internal creative team is combined with projects by renowned designers, including Marco Ferreri, Aldo Cibic, Fabio Bortolani and Emilio Nanni, master craftsmen such as Werther Toffoloni and young international designers the likes of Paul Loebach and Daniel Fintzi. The result is a series of products that combine high-class contemporary design and top-notch ergonomics. Excellent witnesses to the internationally renowned quality of products “Made in Italy”, Billiani’s items are distributed worldwide and are put to use in premium restaurants, hotels, offices and other public spaces throughout the world.
Billiani’s seats are also part of international design exhibitions and collections – from the MoMA in New York or the Triennale in Milan, to Villa Erba on Lake Como and various private collections. They have been shortlisted for the ADI Design Index and the Red Dot Award, and have received a CATAS award for technological innovation.
