Bois de Rose

Two basic design premises: one, the container must be a pure volume with dimensions suited to use. Which is why a rectangle of 120 x 120 x 48 cm appears perfectly appropriate. The surprise, however, is that it doesn’t open with handles, but with a piano p

edal.

Two, this geometric ‘box’ will be decorated with sheets of rosewood, the forgotten material used to veneer the fabulous commodes of the Louis XV period.

Chosen for the richness and infinite variety of their color and grain, inserted ve

rtically, obliquely, in leopard patterns and random – that is, ignoring the canonical rules of cabinetmaking – the veneers are conceived as ‘works of nature’, and are used as such for their intrinsic artfulness. A act of respect that starts with the momen

t of selection which, rather than privileging the darkest and most uniform veneers from the center part of the largest logs, favors veneers taken from smaller logs which tending to preserve also the outer sapwood, usually discarded because it is deemed to

o light in tone. A rediscovery of an ancient woodworking tradition, but with completely new formal results.

In Massimo Morozzi’s fascinating return to hands-on design, after several years of being mainly an art director, there are numerous things t

o reflect upon, but the most interesting is that the decoration is not an adjectival, a posteriori operation, but an integral part of the design concept.