Alessandro Zambelli has designed a new collection of furniture accessories in inlaid metal for the London gallery Matter of Stuff (MOS).

Zambelli’s brainchild is a tribute to 1920s Paris and to the ground-breaking designers whose ideas reigned supreme in Art Deco: the exquisite interiors of Metropolis; the spectacular stage sets of the Ballets Russes; the perfectionist cabinetmaking of Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann; and the understated elegance of the decorative metal objects of Jean Dunand.

Marqué was designed specially as an entry for the MOS Designer Residency Competition. In addition to Zambelli, the five other winners include: the international design studios of Nina Cho, Olga Bielawska, Studio UUfie, Tim Vanlier and Tomáš Libertiny.

As for Marqué, it is a collection that harks back, reviving traditional techniques and revisiting old themes. It is a congeries of stylistic features in search of new forms of expression, to which only Italian manufacturing can do full justice.

The collection is comprised of furniture pieces: a dry bar, a console cabinet and a coffee table. The collection rethinks its use of materials – iron, copper and brass – in cabinetmaking terms. Its inlaid work catches the eye as a new and distinctive embellishment, with each metal undergoing an experimental process of oxidisation that causes a unique and unpredictable alteration of the surface.

Furthermore, the surface oxidisation of the metal causes unrepeatable changes which lend infinite variety and subtlety. The slender legs on which each piece stands also boast distinctive features: three are tipped with the pure, unoxidised metal while the fourth, serving as a pivot, stands out visibly from the rest of the ensemble: a cheerful odd one out.

www.alessandrozambelli.it