Inspired by Chinese architecture, the Otomano Shanghai sofa was designed to be a piece “that brings the balance and harmony of Eastern culture into the bedroom,” explained Nicolás Noblía,a graduate in Industrial Design, member of Estudio Elemento, and creator of the product. “To achieve this, we created a curved surface that represents classic Asian roofs with curved edges, supported by cylindrical pillars inspired by temple columns,” he explained. “It is an extremely simple product, as it consists of just a few very simple parts.”
The Shanghai Ottoman was one of the five finalists inthe First Vero Design Competitionorganized by the Brazilian design firmVeromobili. During the last week of October, members of Estudio Elemento traveled to São Paulo to visit Veromobili’s new store and receive their award.
The selection criteria were: originality, concept, form and function, ergonomics, differences from existing products on the market, production process, manufacturability, ease of assembly by the customer, and ease of packaging and storage.
The biggest advantage of this competition is that it opens the door to a new company that is beginning to get to know our way of working, so we hope that our relationship with them won’t end with the competition. I think we’re on the right track.
The sofa will be manufactured by the Brazilian company and included in its catalog. “An initial prototype has already been produced, and the company has suggested some modifications to make production more efficient given the technologies at their disposal,” explained Noblía. “A new prototype incorporating those modifications is currently being built this week, so we will soon be finalizing the product’s final version, tailored to Veromobili’s capabilities.”
We see this as the first step in our business relationship with Veromobili. They typically carry more than one product from each studio they work with, so they’ve already asked us to develop other products, taking into account their production capabilities, design aesthetic, and the materials they use.
In addition, the company will pay royalties on each sale, the designer added.
"Veromobili is a major furniture manufacturer and retailer based in São Paulo," noted Noblía, who also teaches at the School of Design.
The biggest challenge is keeping pace with a highly dynamic market like Brazil’s, where we constantly have to introduce new products because it’s a highly competitive industry. At the same time, it’s a real challenge to develop new and unique products that are simple enough to manufacture so they remain cost-competitive.