Showing what you’ve got...
Hide or show? Store or exhibit? Showcase or aviary? Scandinavia or Far East? So many opposites. But are they..? “Front” is famous for causing confusion and playing with our perception. And thus “Mikado”, the latest design by Swedish trio Sofia Lagerkvist, Charlotte von der Lancken and Anna Lindgren for Porro, is another piece in their collection that perfectly fuses poetry and functionality.
The silhouette of “Mikado” calls to mind a showcase or cupboard used to keep glasses: the main body, usually closed, rests on four medium-height legs so that users can comfortably open and close the doors. “Front” has infused this type of furniture with lightness and exoticism in equal measure. Although we also see a box-like top on four legs, nothing about it seems solid or really closed. Instead the name of the piece says it all. Three flattened poles made of so-called olive ash wood (very light ash with darker streaks) make up each of the legs, with the rest of the cupboard consisting of more of the same wooden slats slanted and overlapping. “Mikado” is a cage for our treasured objects, so to speak.
With its extremely reduced form, “Mikado” only works doch thanks to its skilled craftsmanship. For as delicate and slender as the wooden structure seems, it even features doors, which consist of a double row of slanted and offset slats. Whether open or closed, the objects in “Mikado” are visible for all to see. The wooden slats are a means to an end as regards the playful revealing and concealing. Far removed from the cliché that Scandinavian design is essentially minimalist and sober, Front is more interested in optical illusion and a hint of humor. (ua)
