By the Financial Times
" Michelangelo Foundation moved into the breathtaking baroque beauty, Palazzo Litta, for a playful romp through artisanal innovation, which presented designs by creatives such as Adam Nathaniel Furman, Atelier Biagetti and Jaime Hayon. The creativity bar was set high: from examples of folding screens, including Zoe Piter’s Zig Zag creation, to a sweeping wicker chair with arms extending to human-like hands and legs to feet by José Luis Álvarez, joyous glass table accessories in child-like organic forms, and the striking Armadillo Chair by Adriana Gómez Navarro."
Palazzo Litta, Milan, armadillo chair Milan design week
Design
I designed the chair thinking about how one wants to feel protected and calm while sitting comfortably. The armadillo inspired me because it wraps itself comfortably in its shell but is still agile and quick. I liked the duality between a psychological sense of protection and an attentive posture. That's why the chair is compact and structured; it's not a lounger.
Fabrication
The challenge was to design the shell, a large three-dimensional curved structure, considering the limitations of wood. Thus, the material (ash wood) is initially curved in two dimensions using bent lamination techniques.
From there, the three-dimensionality is a visual illusion. The shell is segmented into three structures, each built with eight curved strips. The strips are cut at precise angles and joined at both ends to allow the wooden curves to rotate and create an illusion of three-dimensionality.
The three structures are mounted with rotating angles into the skeleton of the chair (made of teak).
Yecid Robayo Ruiz is a Colombian wood craftsman with over 35 years of experience creating practical, decorative objects, including vases, utensils, sculptures and furniture. His work as a master carpenter embraces different types of wood and techniques
such as wood turning, carving and cabinetmaking. Yecid works with certified wood but also plants and grows trees that help promote circularity. He trains up younger generations in his atelier and many prestigious Colombian schools, passing on his
experience with passion.