Palafitte Collection by Giacomo Moor

Words by Maria Novozhilova for Yellowtrace.

Milan is, without a doubt, one of the world’s most important design capitals. Thousands of names, brands and products have already won the hearts of design-addicts in every country and on every continent. And when it seems that everything has already been invented, and all the concepts have already been explored, il genio italiano emerges once again.

One such new name on the rise of Made-in-Milan designers is Giacomo Moor. The 34-year-old invents original furniture collections with elegant forms and curious silhouettes. His design approach mainly lies within the two themes. On one hand, it is timber and its “valuable imperfections” that charm Giacomo the most. On the other hand, it is the unclear boundary between the object and its context, between the big and small scales that influence his response.

The best pretest for Moor’s design today is his new collection entitled “Palafitte”. After his successful arrival on the world design stage with the “Metropolis” collection, “Palafitte” is his second serious attempt to conquer the furniture world. Designed for the Project B Gallery in Milan, “Palafitte” made its official entry on the occasion of Collective Design Fair in New York about a month ago. And people loved it.

So what is so special about “Palafitte”?

“Palafitte”, literally translating to “piles” or “slits”, is a limited edition collection of storage made of layered bamboo, brass and glass. It has been inspired by verticality, lightness and raw timber, made of slender forms, ephemeral shape and evanescent lines.

The seven “Palafitte” pieces “Storck” (desk), “Flamingo” (low console), “Herons” (high console), “Ibis” (coffee table), “Marabu” (night stand), “Crane” (screen) and “Stilt” (tea table), focus on the aesthetic value of design. To pursue the idea of slenderness and weightlessness, Giacomo had to face and solve numerous technical challenges, pushing every single component of these pieces to the ultimate limits of thinness. As a result, vertical “Palafitte” bamboo stems have a surprisingly small diameter capable of withstanding the necessary loads.

With a number of sophisticated details at play, underpinned by pure and minimalist form, “Palafitte” has a strong personality loaded with many little nuances. After all, we all know that “God is in the detail” – and Giacomo seems to have a pretty solid understanding of this golden rule.

About the author.
Maria Novozhilova is a licensed architect, designer and professional photographer who currently lives in Milan, where she moved to from Chelyabinsk, Russia to study architecture. She graduated from Politecnico di Milano in 2010 under the supervision of Stefano Boeri and Master Degree in 2013 under the supervision of Ilaria Valente, Marco Imperadori, Jinnai Hidenobu, receiving the highest scores for her university career. In the same year having passed successfully Italian State Exam she has officially received the qualification of architect.

During the recent years, she had an opportunity to collaborate with Toyo Ito Architects and Associates (Tokyo), Kengo Kuma and Associates (Tokyo), Osamu Ishiyama Laboratory (Tokyo), Metrogramma (Milan), AM Projects (Milan) amongst others.

Currently Maria Novozhilova is involved in a number of design and research-based projects which range from urban, architectural and small object design scale, including the analysis of architecture, design and arts on new media in collaboration with VOICES from the Blogs.

She has published articles on Niche Japanese Architecture Journal promoted by Kogakuin University (Tokyo), Domus (Italy), Wired (Italy), Inhabitat (USA), Ключевые люди (Russia), Buro 24/7 (Russia) and Cultural Italy (USA). Moreover, as a photographer Maria Novozhilova has contributed to magazines such as Casa Vogue (Brazil), My Home (Taiwan) and others. She is also a winner of DECO design competition and her work was presented during Salone del Mobile 2015 in Milan.