3 DECEMBER 2021
LIGHTNESS IS NOT (ONLY) A QUESTION OF WEIGHT
Lightness is a rather fluid concept. It is often associated with the emptying and fluctuation of volumes through small design precautions, with transparency that helps to expand the spaces or with cantilevered surfaces.
To obtain the effect of volumes that seem to float in space, the design solutions can be multiple: bases and columns suspended from the ground as in the project Lightness as a design philosophy, or bases such as the pink copper one used in the Miuccia kitchen. Or even base units with a plinth set back from the door surface.
But lightness, at times, is synonymous with transparency. As in the Rua kitchen, for example, whose fluted Belgian glass doors used for the columns, apart of lightening the volumes, create elegant see-through transparencies and a pleasant alternation with the grooved oak doors.
An intriguing idea of how to create an open treasure room is the sophisticated pantry with oak paneling with custom-made shelves bordered by full-height doors in totally transparent glass.
Finally, there is the alternation of voids and solids to satisfy the functionality and aesthetics of lightness. Also in this case, the possible solutions depend on the creativity of the designer and the needs of the client: ranging from the divisory shelving that create fluid partitions of the rooms, to the cantilevered snack tops in the most varied materials in continuity with the worktop, to the suspended hobs that enhance the subtlety of the appliances that they are housed there.