TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER
STORIE DI...
AGING AND EMBELLISHING OVER TIME
At the company where I worked (Valcucine), we developed a door for furniture units comprising a 15 mm frame around a panel of variable thickness ranging from 1.5 mm to 5 mm. Together with Conceria Pietro Presot of Porcia, which tans hide to make shoe soles, we developed a 5 mm door panel using natural hide for living room furniture units. This material ages extremely well, since the passage of time does not damage it but rather embellishes it (like wood).
1.
LIGHTNESS
Magnesium is used in industry (using die technology) to make lightweight components. In fact, it weighs 30% less than aluminium. I went to Israel to see one of the few extruders of this material. After several studies, I commissioned some extruded round elements to make one of the lightest chairs on the market.
2.
LAYERS
I used bent wood technology (it involves putting several thin plywood panels in a press and heat bending them, applying a special glue) to make a wood chair seat, 3 mm thick, alternating layers of cotton fabric with layers of veneer. The end result was not only very refined but also resistant. Then we cut it with a laser to make aesthetically appealing perforations.
3.
PURENESS
I went to Bosnia in search of sub-fossil oak trunks, i.e. that have been underground for a period of 2,000/2,500 years. Their cellular structure had not changed much but the tannin and iron inside them had caused reactions. We cut the trunk to obtain 10/10 veneer, a natural brown colour never seen before.
4.
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Emidio Corbetta