Pandemic design: Furniture that gives you a hug

The Paradise Bird sofa by Wittmann, designed by Nichetto, has a version with a closed back. Photo: Wittmann/dpa

We all need a hug in these times of rising economic and political insecurity and vulnerability. But you often can't get one, as we haven't been hugging friends and family as much as we used to amid the risk of infection during the ongoing pandemic.

Trends tend to emerge from such developments and emotions, and with them products that give us what we've been missing. It should therefore come as no surprise as to why there is a lot of furniture right now that helps forge human connections.

This could recently be seen at the Salone del Mobile fair in Milan, the world's most important show for the furniture industry.

A good example of this trend is the Sova lounge chair by designer Patrick Norguet for Zanat. Its wooden frame looks like a human figure, embracing the seated person for the moment with wide, inviting gestures.

Ornate wooden armrests wrap around you in the Sova lounge chair by designer Norguet for Zanat. Photo: Zanat/dpa

Mauro Lipparini has also chosen an "organic design" for Bonaldo's latest product: The Olos swivel armchair has a shell of curved laminated wood that wraps the seat almost as if with an embrace, the company says.

Sebastian Herkner's Morton chair for Wittmann is another example. The backrest's two-part upholstery quietly envelops the body, the manufacturer explains.

"The thought of a hug can offer a certain security, a sense of safety," says designer Herkner. "These are turbulent times, with a pandemic and war, which is why I think we need to feel embraced. A hug gives a feeling of solidarity."

The Morton chair conveys this gesture not only through its shape, it also swings back a bit when you sit down on it.

Hugging is on everyone's lips at the June trade fair in Milan, perhaps because it is so much a part of a warm Italian greeting. Some of the new furniture is even deliberately called this: Hug is a table series by Giulio Lacchetti for Fantin.

The Olos armchair by Lipparini for Bonaldo has a shell of curved plywood that, thanks to its elasticity, embraces the sitter almost like a hug, says the company. Photo: Bonaldo/dpa

"For me, hugging and embracing is the big theme of this fair," says the designer. "Hugging had become difficult in the past couple of years. We don't just have to talk about being able to hug each other again, we can actually do it."

The path taken by Fantin and the designer is also not an obvious one for the company: Until now, it has exclusively manufactured metal furniture with rectangular structures. Hug is the first product series consisting of several tables with curved metal parts and that can actually hug each other.

Curves instead of edges, softer shapes instead of hard cuts, all this is not new to furniture. Even at the last Milan trade fair before the pandemic, in 2019, there was more and more furniture like this. And manufacturers talked a lot about more homeliness, more softness, about times of uncertainty when people need a bit of security.

This is Morton, a chair designed to embrace whoever slides into it. Photo: Molteni&C/dpa

Now more than three years have passed since the last Salone del Mobile and the world has changed to an unprecedented extent. But today, more than ever, the basic human need for touch is part of the zeitgeist. And this can be seen in Milan in a number of different ways: There are rounded chests of drawers and wardrobes, softly upholstered bedsteads, sofas that you can sink into.

And you hear statements like this again and again: "This year we don't have any sharp edges at all, it's all about the concept of hugging", says a representative of the Italian furnishing company Molteni&C at the presentation of their new products.

It's a trick that works: even the Blevio table with a marble top, a material that can be rather austere, comes across as (more) homely thanks to the curved table ends and rounded table legs.

Some furniture has even been adapted to the current mood. For example, the Paradise Bird sofa series by Luca Nichetto for Wittmann now has a version with a closed back instead of a previously open vertical grid construction.

Even a marble table (Blevio) can look cosier with curves. Photo: Molteni&C/dpa

"The original version was more open, because when I designed it there was more openness," says designer Nichetto in an interview at the fair.

"I made the new variant more closed because I think we need more of that right now. And look around, even though we don't have to wear masks here at the fair, many people still do. They want protection." – dpa