DESIGN
Saya
A colour journey Choices can have a profound impact on all manner of things – from how we feel to the environment we share ‘Colour is more than a finish option or a singular design choice. Colour – along with intuition, balance, light, play and family – has evolved to be one of our core values. Over the years, we have collaborated with designers and thinkers who have brought their own colour sensibility to our world,’ says Claudio Feltrin, Arper chairman. Colour is not a static, fixed point. It does not act alone. In fact, colour is just as much a reflection of our perception – cultural, historical and material – as it is a single hue. Colour is a mirror to everchanging cultural tastes. Modernism was almost afraid of colour, believing that white cubes, black clothing and ‘neutral’ palettes conveyed sophistication. By contrast, intense colours historically (and maybe even still) have been perceived as decorative or frivolous. But tastes change. The same colour that was considered fresh and exciting at one moment in time could be felt drab in another era. A colour that signifies calm in one context could be labelled depressing in another, seen through a different cultural lens. Colour itself doesn’t change, but we do. As much as culture and time affect how we perceive colour emotionally,
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Interiors Monthly December 2021
colour also interacts with the personality of the object – its material, form, size, composition – and the changing conditions of its environment. The shine of silk, the deepness of velvet, the brilliance of enamel or the matte powder of pigment are always the same colour, but never the same effect. Above all: one colour is nothing. It never exists alone, independent from material, surrounding colours and historical and cultural signifiers. Like a piece of music, it is the combination of shades that creates an atmosphere. Colour is constantly revealing itself. In 2000, the design for Catifa brought Arper’s philosophy of colour into a new dimension. Created by Lievore Altherr Molina (LAM), the now iconic chair featured colour not just as a finishing element but as its central concept. The bi-colour design for Catifa was created with a new bi-injection technology that allowed for two colours to be juxtaposed on the same body. ‘The two-tone production creates a single visual identity between tables and chairs,’ says designer Jeannette Altherr of LAM. ‘Arranged around a light table, white chairs create a uniform
environment designed for conversation and exchange. The external colour shell supports and protects collaboration and internal communication.’ The colours of the first Catifa collection were intended to be an active part of the interior design. The designers also played with texture: a glossy exterior combined with a slightly textured, matte interior meant even a completely white shell remained connected to the rest of the collection through slight shifts in colour caused by different surfaces. ‘In linear compositions, the twocoloured chairs create a double effect: seen from the front, the rows convey serenity and clarity, as if sitting on a freshly laundered sheet. From behind, the coloured backs create a vibrant and multifaceted surface that captures the eye and the imagination,’ says Altherr. Additions to the collection saw Altherr take the bi-colour customisations to a new level of contrast and colour curation. Catifa 46 was released in fresh and playful colours, while Catifa 53 was enriched with warm finishes and leather versions, creating an elegant, refined look and more comfortable style.
