Milan 2010: another chair with a face. Italian designer Fabio Novembre presents giant masks for sitting in.

Called Nemo, the pieces are on show at Driade store in Milan this week.

See all our stories about Milan 2010 in our special category.

Photographs are by Settimio Benedusi.

The following text is from Novembre:

NEMO by Fabio Novembre

Fabio Novembre uses furniture design to tell intense and fascinating stories in which the protagonist is often the human figure (or parts of it). This human figure is capable of becoming abstract and universal, able to propose a mythicized beauty as occurred in Greek art where heroes (assuredly “dark and hairy”) took on proportionate and divine features in sculptures. In 2008, Fabio Novembre brought a mysterious reclined lady to life on the Divina lounger, and so with this new piece it is with all the more reason that Fabio seems to state the possibility of “anthropomorphic design”.

In fact, in NEMO a face with classic features is hollowed out to create an inhabitable space. The result is a head-armchair to be lived from the inside. Like a mask, it simultaneously conceals and reveals its inhabitant. Tall enough to protect the person, and designed to be used outside and inside alike, NEMO has the power to turn any habitat into a theatrical scene. And whoever uses it becomes the protagonist in a story!

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