INSIDE THE TRADE

We journey to Udine, Italy for a behind-the-scenes look at Moroso – a leader in Italian contemporary design

我們獲邀走到意大利烏甸尼，欣賞意國當代設計領導品牌Moroso的幕後製作花絮

For the uninitiated, Moroso seems like a new arrival in the design scene. Given the brand’s youthful energy and its propensity to come up with progressive designs, many assume that this 64-year-old family company is a newcomer to the industry.

Creative director Patrizia Moroso credits the dynamism of Moroso and its design-led approach to three things – commitment to quality, endless curiosity and fruitful collaboration. While these elements work hand in hand to ensure the brand’s continuous success, the foundation is its high level of quality.

It’s an open secret that generations of know-how are in the hands of Moroso’s artisans, as well as embedded in their home base of Udine. Just a four-hour train ride from Milan, the bucolic northeastern Italian city known for its well-preserved piazzas, gothic architecture and large collection of Tiepolo’s artwork, is also dubbed "the chair capital of the world". This speaks of the city’s long manufacturing heritage, which has helped Moroso grow into a global brand from its small beginnings in 1952.

"Udine is a big part of Moroso and vice versa," says Patrizia, who welcomed a group of editors and designers to the company’s headquarters and factory in April. We visited just after Salone del Mobile where, in the span of five days, Moroso mounted several initiatives, including the Spring to Mind exhibition at the brand’s Milan boutique that celebrates its 25-year collaboration with Ron Arad, as well as a massive booth at the fair showcasing several new collections.

The preparation for the annual fair is always hectic, and the most colourful stories come from the prototyping department. This is the heart of the factory, where every design is born and brought to life. Here, imagination is required and technical limits are tested – they create patterns by hand, mould polyurethane foam into abstract forms and figure out how to upholster the creations.

Out-of-the-box thinking is the norm; in fact, it seems like the more outrageous the idea, the better. They talked about the time when Oki Sato of Nendo wanted to create a chair that resembled "a kimono or blanket taken off and hung on a seat". It sounds like an impossible brief, but Moroso produced it in 2012 – called Zabuton, it’s characterised by sinuous lines, soft folds and an amorphous shape that lives up to Nendo’s original idea.

It was interesting to hear about the process and challenges in achieving the oftexperimental designs created by the brand’s long list of collaborators, including the likes of Marcel Wanders, Ross Lovegrove and Daniel Libeskind. "We’re never afraid of new

對門外漢來說，Moroso看似是設計新貴。品牌的年輕活力和積極進取風格，讓人誤以為這個已擁有64年歷史的家族公司是設計新星，也絕對不難理解。

創作總監Patrizia Moroso把Moroso的動感魅力和設計方針歸功於三大要素：對質素的致力追求、無窮無盡的好奇心和精彩豐富的合作。當這些元素連成一線時，便能確保品牌獲得持續一致的成功，成就更高質素的基礎。

這是個公開秘密：Moroso的工藝師代代相傳手作工藝知識，並在基地烏甸尼組裝創作。這個意大利東北部城市與米蘭只相距4小時火車車程，以保留完好露天市場、哥德式建築和大量提也波洛藝術系列聞名，獲「全球座椅之都」的美譽。Moroso的發展成長跟他們源遠流長的製作傳統——從1952年的小型業務拓展至今天穩站環球品牌的地位——不無關係。

「烏甸尼屬Moroso一大部分，反之亦然。」去年四月歡迎編輯和設計師到臨公司總部的Patrizia說道。我們那時才剛到過米蘭國際傢具展，為期五天的活動，Moroso在米蘭精品店展示各式精彩展覽，包括Spring to Mind，表揚與Ron Arad的25年合作周年紀念，並在活動上設大型攤位陳列多個新系列。

IT’S AN OPEN SECRET THAT GENERATIONS OF KNOW-HOW ARE IN THE HANDS OF MOROSO’S ARTISANS, AS WELL AS EMBEDDED IN THEIR HOMEBASE OF UDINE

things and always want to work with designers that inspire us," says Patrizia. In fact, the brand is well known for finding and nurturing new talent. Since the 1980s, Patrizia has brought in then-undiscovered designers such as Ron Arad and Patricia Urquiola – both have grown with the company and are now considered design icons. Today, the brand continues to find fresh talent and give established designers a clean slate to "just create". It’s Moroso’s penchant for welcoming new perspectives that has shaped the brand to become an outlier in many ways, from the thought process to the way things are made.

From prototyping to upholstery and finishing, everything in Moroso’s portfolio is conceived and created in Udine – a rarity at a time when design and manufacturing happen at different ends of the globe. As a company, it has the utmost respect for the art of furniture making; Moroso supplements production elsewhere only if the craft is an expertise and contributes positively to the community – Tord Boontje’s Senegal-O chair, handwoven in Senegal, is one example.

此年度活動的準備過程密鑼緊鼓，大多精彩故事均來自原型設計製作的部門。它是工廠的重心，也是各項設計誕生和活現成真的地方。身在此處，你需要無窮幻想力，並測試技術的限制。他們以人手製作圖案、把聚氨基甲酸乙酯模型定成抽象形狀，並想出為創作鋪上襯墊的方法。

跳出框框才為王道：愈大膽荒誕的想法愈好。他們順道分享Nendo的佐藤大那時想打造出「好像把剛脫下和服或墊子掛在椅上」的創作經過。聽起來好像絕無可能，但Moroso卻成功在2012年出產此作品，並名為Zabuton，以其起伏有致的線條、柔和摺合設計和無定形的外貌突圍而出，符合Nendo原創意念的一貫作風。

品牌合作夥伴眾多，當中包括Marcel Wanders、Ross Lovegrove和Daniel Libeskind等。Patrizia強調：「我們從不怯於接觸新事物，並常希望與能啟發靈感的設計師合作。」事實上，尋找和孕育新人才的習慣已成了Moroso的標誌。1980年代，Patrizia看中了當時尚未爆紅的Patricia Urquiola和Ron Arad等設計師，二人與公司共同發展成長，現已成當紅人物。今天，他們致力物色清新才俊，並為著名設計師立下「純粹創作」的空間。他們熱愛引入全新角度，塑造Moroso各個層面。

Handling every step of the process allows Moroso to create envelope-pushing designs that eschew the stereotypical streamlined Italian aesthetic. The brand stands out not only for its insistence on preserving heritage, but also by breaking conventions. Though "Made in Italy," every piece is shaped by myriad influences and infused with the boundless creativity of its multicultural collaborators. Global yet local, experimental yet traditional – these dichotomies mark Moroso as a true and inspiring design leader. //

原型設計製作、鋪上襯墊和潤飾，Moroso的每事每物也在烏甸尼深思構想和打造，這種做法在當下設計和生產於世界多地進行的趨勢下實屬罕見。公司對傢具製作的藝術賦予尊重；在他地生產配件都只因該工藝屬當地專業，並且能對社區積極貢獻，如Tord Boontje在塞內加爾手織的Senegal-O椅。

處理不同工序讓Moroso得以打造出非凡設計，並避開典型的意大利流線美學。品牌之所以能突圍而出不只因其堅持保留傳統的決心，還有賴其出於打破常規的勇氣。每件「意大利製造」的產品都經過各式影響塑造而成，並注入擁有不同文化合作人的精彩創意。既具環球氣息也不失當地風尚，既富試驗精神也不失傳統歷史，讓Moroso成為啟發人心的設計領航。//