Tuscan furniture company Edra is synonymous with technically advanced seating concepts. They collaborate with some of the most influential designers of the modern era to deliver unrivalled comfort and flexibility. Here, Design.daily's David Harrison explores the material inventiveness and radical approach to design at the core of their collections, and two of the brand’s most enduringly popular sofas; On the Rocks and Standard, the work of design legend Francesco Binfaré.
It is extremely difficult to reinvent the wheel, particularly in an industry that has seemingly endless examples that fulfil their brief and reinforce the existing architype. Enter Francesco Binfaré, an Italian designer who has always been a non-conformist at heart and who has worked with some of the most creative minds of the late 20th century. He was director of the Cassina Research Centre from 1969 to 1976, a period of immense inventiveness that produced many icons of contemporary design. In the ‘80s he founded his own Design and Communication Centre and developed revolutionary concepts for Cassina (and many others) including the Wink collection by Toshiyuki Kita and Feltri by Gaetano Pesce. Binfaré, forever at the edge of the avant-garde, has taught at the Domus Academy in Milan and at the Royal College of Art in London, and is in his third decade as a key collaborator with radical Tuscan furniture company Edra.
On the Rocks sofa by Francesco Binfaré – the radical
Binfaré’s brilliant concept for On the Rocks totally dispenses with a set and forget configuration and allows for alternative shapes, depending on the needs and moods of the user, to be easily achieved. Inspired by frequent trips to the seaside in Puglia where cliffs tumble down into the sea, Binfaré observed that sunbathers were able to make themselves comfortable amongst the different rock forms, finding a shape, an angle or a dip in the hard surface that fitted their body. The resulting design took many years to perfect but eventually he was able to capture a sense of freedom that defied convention.
The series of autonomous modular elements that form the basis of On the Rocks can be placed together in a wide variety of ways or pulled apart and used as individual elements, a giant asymmetric sofa one minute, then a generous armchair, ottoman and smaller sofa the next. The rounded geometric shapes (three polygons and a quadrilateral) simply push together or slide apart as required. But it’s the backrest that is the true revelation. The secret? Two backrests of different sizes that are totally independent from the sofa and rely on weight and gravity to stay in position. Due to its flexible Gellyfoam® construction (a super supportive material invented by Edra) and hidden internal spine, the backrest can be placed anywhere on the sofa and in virtually any shape, allowing for tight curves, gentle s-shapes or dead straight lines, opening up the possibility for multiple users to all find their ideal position.
The Sculpt House by Graya featuring On the Rocks by Francesco Binfaré. Photo © Scott Burrows.
According to Binfare, On the Rocks, ‘is a mini travel installation, something that enters the home and produces performances by people – an exchange of energy’. Its flexibility allows people to sit facing different directions when the sofa is placed in the centre of a room with the backrest snaking its way amongst them. This high degree of adaptability, cleverly accommodates the varying heights of users, providing deep or shallow seats that deliver individuality along with a high degree of comfort and support. Because it requires no effort to change it, the sofa can be reconfigured as frequently as one likes.
Standard sofa by Francesco Binfaré – the chameleon
Dedicated to pushing the boundaries of comfort in furniture, Edra has benefitted from the input of some incredible designers since its inception in 1987; Alessandro Mendini, Masanori Umeda, Fernando and Humberto Campana, Ross Lovegrove and Zaha Hadid (to name just a few) but it’s Francesco Binfaré who has signed the greatest number of products for the company over their 30 years of collaboration and who has had the greatest successes. In 2022 those successes received the Compasso d'Oro Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest accolade for designers.
Like all of Francesco Binfaré's work, the Standard sofa, designed in 2012 is anything but 'standard'. Referring to the accepted rule, a model that should be followed and replicated in the future, the key element of the beautifully understated design is the Smart Cushion. A technically advanced system for altering the shape of the back and arm cushions to suit preferred ways of sitting while maintaining support. In a world full of smart technological devices from phones to fridges, it is heartening that the development of the Smart Cushion involves no electronics, just decades of material know-how by a company that prides itself on inventiveness.
‘The sofa has the power to define an environment, it has the ability to act as a protagonist.’
Francesco Binfaré
The Sculpt House by Graya featuring On the Rocks by Francesco Binfaré. Photo © Scott Burrows.
The Sculpt House by Graya featuring the Standard sofa by Francesco Binfaré. Photo © Scott Burrows.
The flexibility of On the Rocks by Francesco Binfaré for Edra. Photo c/o Edra.
The Standard sofa by Francesco Binfaré for Edra. Photo c/o Edra.
The Luminaire building foyer in Brisbane features On the Rocks in soft tones that blend with the interior. Photo © Brock Beazley.
The House on Lizard Island featuring On the Rocks by Francesco Binfaré for Edra. Photo © Elise Hassey.
Sketch of the Standard sofa by Francesco Binfaré shows the flexibility of the design. Sketch c/o Edra.
The Standard sofa and armchair by Francesco Binfaré for Edra. Photo c/o Edra.
Another iteration of the Standard sofa by Francesco Binfaré for Edra. Photo c/o Edra.
‘Before Edra, sofas had a stiff frame and a traditional shape. Edra has pulled them apart and freed them from the typological, technological and constructive constraints that they had been carrying along for centuries... It has made them functional not just to the needs, but to the ways, habits and gestures of those who use them’.
Silvana Annicchiarico, Architect, Writer, Critic, and former Director, Triennale Design Museum
Developed specifically for the Standard sofa, the system allows for the cushions to be moulded to the body with a flick of the hand, transforming them into virtually any shape. An ability to combine seats of different shapes and depths allows for a variety of compositions from long and linear, to organic free plan and semi-circular. Twelve stock combinations can be customised in hundreds of different ways and expanded to be proportionally appropriate in even the largest of spaces.
Standard is an intriguing design that has a chameleon-like ability to integrate itself into any interior. While a contemporary sofa it feels very much at home in older and more ornate buildings. Its softly conventional shape based on a series of generous square pillows is unlike Binfaré’s more radical concepts like Flap and the On the Rocks yet its technical ability to move seamlessly is nothing short of revolutionary, presenting a sense of freedom in a simple, tasteful and beautifully refined package. ‘Before Edra, sofas had a stiff frame and a traditional shape. Edra has pulled them apart and freed them from the typological, technological and constructive constraints that they had been carrying along for centuries,’ remarks prominent design critic, author and architect Silvana Annicchiarico. ‘It has made them functional not just to the needs, but to the ways, habits and gestures of those who use them’.
Edra is available exclusively in South East Asia from Space – Australia, and Space – Singapore and Malaysia.
