What makes a partnership successful? There are many elements that can decree its success, but, wanting to summarise and get to the heart of it, it is the sharing of a common philosophy that makes a partnership successful. In this specific case, Mara, a Brescian company specialising in the production of systems and furnishing elements with a strong technical component, and Christophe Pillet, a French designer renowned on the international contemporary scene for his extreme formal refinement and taste for simplicity, have come together in a common idea of design capable of combining linear aesthetics with a high degree of technology.
This fortunate encounter gave rise to the new Foil table, a furniture archetype that reveals its original nature through an apparent formal simplicity. There is no complexity to the eye, no articulated structure, no exhibitionism in form or technique: everything is enclosed in a flat surface bordered by a minimal frame and supported by four ultra-thin legs. “In Mara,” says the designer, “I found a very modern idea of the use of technology. It is there, but it is carefully hidden. The mechanics disappear and the product is perfectly functional. This simplicity, this clarity and this ‘invisible craftsmanship’ immediately won me over“. In this concise statement, Christophe Pillet holds the key to understanding the project.
Foil lends itself to living on its own, even in residential spaces, or, in workspace contexts, in multiple compositions, transforming itself into a system that expands space into broad perspectives and responds to the current concept of the office – an open, versatile place that facilitates meetings and the sharing of ideas. With Foil, Mara and Pillet propose a furnishing project where the desk still has a pivotal role through which to express and stimulate professionalism, but at the same time, as the designer explains, “where the human value equals, if not exceeds, that of the furnishing element. The beauty of Foil, in fact, is also given by its ability to disappear in space and leave people the role of protagonists“.
