Design by Damian Williamson
What is the
key element in the design project of an upholstered item? What does a designer
keep in mind when he approaches the creation of a sofa for an industry? Damian
Williamson, author of the new series William, responds with two basic
“recipes”: «In the first place there is the meeting with the project and this
centres on what I call “the sense of touch”. A sofa, or an armchair, must tell
the user: touch me. The immediate perception of comfort is important. Then we
come to the second experience of the project: aesthetics and proportions. At
this point we find relations with materials, which belong to the world of the
company that commissions the work or that wants to send a design in for
production.» The series William, presented at the Furniture Fair 2010, is
already a success. People like it because it has the right combination of
elements of modern tradition, because it is both minimal and rich, it can be
customized, and it is decidedly comfortable. «William issues from the idea of
de-structuring sofas into ‘comfort layers’, not just visually but in practice,
starting from the structural elastic bottom layer, moving on to a central layer
of polyurethane foam and, finally, to an ultra soft top layer made of goose
down. The three layers entice the user to establish physical relations with the
sofa. From the first glance they declare what they are made of and their
capacity to hold the body comfortably. Moreover, they sustain the back rest and
seem to float on die cast aluminum legs,» says the British designer, who today
works in Stockholm. William has a steel frame with elastic strips springing and
polished aluminum alloy feet; the armrest cushion (option) is padded with 100%
pure goose down; the fixed internal cover is in nylon – cotton for cushions -,
while the external removable cover is made of fabric or leather. The collection
includes armchair, sofas, pouf and day bed. The modular version is designed for
linear modularity or corner solutions.
