Finish line
MDF Italia dips into the rich archives of its latest acquisition, reviving forgotten classics and discovering a new love of lacquer
Archival treasures and lustrous lacquers
Acerbis, which has been producing storage furniture since 1870, has played a quietly pivotal role in Italian design, collaborating with a number of high-profile artists and designers. It was one of the first Italian companies to work with Japanese designers whose compositional language added metallic inserts and new materials to the wood of northern Italy’s Val Seriana. Collaborators included the likes of Kazuyo Komoda, whose ‘Asisai’ umbrella stand, featuring three simple and harmonious bent steel wires fixed to a flat base, has been a bestseller since its launch in the late 1990s.»
Acerbis also worked with Jonathan De Pas, Donato D’urbino and Paola Lomazzi, important figures in pop design culture who investigated new perspectives on the use of space with coloured module units. And as the Memphis movement built momentum, the company introduced designs by Massimo and Lella Vignelli and Vico Magistretti.
In 2019, Acerbis was bought by the MDF Italia group, and this year the creative direction of the brand has been entrusted to industrial designer Francesco Meda and Milan-based Spanish architect David Lopez Quincoces. The pair have since spent time in the Acerbis archives, quickly identifying particularly fertile points in its history and opportunities for design resuscitation.
‘We have focused on the period from the mid-1970s to the late-1990s, when the company collaborated with some fantastic designers such as Gianfranco Frattini, Giotto Stoppino and Nanda Vigo, and with photographers of the calibre of Aldo Ballo and Studio Azzurro,’ says Meda. ‘By looking through the archives, we realised there were some truly fabulous pieces, never produced for the market but with extremely contemporary aesthetics as well as great commercial potential. We decided to revisit these pieces, adapting the dimensions, lacquered finishes and colours with a modern eye, giving them new life while respectfully maintaining the DNA of the original design.’
Acerbis developed the polyester lacquers with Stoppino and the study of new materials and technologies became a key strength of the brand. Meda and Lopez Quincoces have also been giving special attention to lacquered finishes. Colours have been rethought, taking inspiration from the automotive sector of the 1970s and 1980s to give reissues a fresh feel. The new palette includes electric blue, mustard yellow and dark green, like the colours used for historical models of Jaguar and Porsche Targa.
‘In this first phase, we’re concentrating on the archive, identity and presentation of the brand through its heritage,’ says Meda. ‘In the second phase, we will continue the process of dipping into the historic archive, but David and I will also add new pieces to the collection, both as designers ourselves but also as talent scouts, working with new names in design.’∂ acerbisdesign.com