Dezeen promotion: creases are stitched into the cushions of this sofa, designed by Italian architect Antonio Citterio for furniture brand Flexform, to emphasise the natural folds created by sitting.

Flexform launched the Adda sofa at the Salone del Mobile furniture fair in Milan in April 2017. It takes its name from a word used to describe a place where people gather and socialise.

A modular sofa, Adda is made up of rectangular sections, which can be placed in different configurations to create either linear or L-shaped seating.

"Every sofa is a constellation of different functions," said Citterio, who is co-founder of the architecture and design studio Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel.

The sofa boasts generously padded goose-down cushions, which are bordered by thick relief stitching.

Individual cushions form the back and sides, and are embellished with horizontal stitching across their centres. This stitching creates a subtle fold in the fabric, which follows and accentuates the natural creases that form when people sit down on them.

Citterio borrowed the muted colour palette of Italian still-life painter Giorgio Morandi when choosing the colours. He selected the neutral ivory and sand tones that are typical of Morandi's work, along with leather in shades of cowhide, tobacco, honey and dove grey.

The cushions are supported by slender metal base, with metal feet available in a choice of satin, chrome, burnished, black chrome or champagne finishes.

According to Flexform, the sofa offers a "contemporary, timeless, and warm aesthetic", and "an intimate cocoon effect".

Founded in Italy in 1967, Flexform is a family business that is now in its third generation. The sofas are made in a single production plant in Meda, using the most local resources available.

The Adda sofa was the furniture category winner of the 2017 edition of the Archiproducts Design Awards, judged by designers including Carlo Ratti, Marcio Kogan from Studio MK27 and Mario Bellini.

Find out more on the Flexform website.