Avio corner sofa with tabletop

Avio, designed by Piero Lissoni, is the new, contemporary and versatile sofa component system, to reinterpret and make better use of any type of space. It is ideal for those who appreciate solid, elegant design that epitomizes a comfortable, relaxed lifestyle.

Modular and linear, with a light structure that blends perfectly into different settings, Avio is driven by aesthetic design research, skillfully balancing spatial relationships and proportions. The new sofa combines functional and aesthetic poise, playing with the contrast between the lightness of the slim structural framework and the substantial volume of the seats. A contrast resolved in the harmony of an ideal sofa for home and for contract applications, perfectly inserted in the stylistic direction set by Florence Knoll.

“This is a true industrial project, of great complexity,” says the designer, “based on the idea of a structural steel beam that through a series of brackets supports different parts for diversified use: the seats are conceived as platforms, but also as support surfaces made of different materials. In practice, it is a product that changes the traditional idea of upholstered furniture, taking the form of a technological and aesthetic alphabet to assemble in different compositions, for different needs.”

Avio is made with a load-bearing structure, a steel beam from which supports branch out for seats, backs and tables. This framework translates into a versatile system that can generate benches, sofas for two or three people, a chaise longue, tabletops, in a practically infinite sequence, including corner compositions of impressive size. The padding provides maximum comfort, and the sofa can be covered in leather or fabric, completed with decorative throw cushions. An object of clear, precise beauty, ideal for everything a sofa is supposed to offer: for resting, conversing, reading, listening to music, sleeping, watching a film, enjoying an aperitif...

“My points of reference,” Lissoni continues, “are Mies van der Rohe, Eero Saarinen, Florence Knoll. Names that have awesome importance for anyone who works on design. Nevertheless, I don’t think we should hide in the shadow of the great masters: you always have to come to terms with the contemporary world, without making heritage into the sole value with which to approach the future.”