Odoardo Fioravanti
Milan, Italy

Pedrali is one of the most important Italian furniture companies operating worldwide. With passion, courage and a keen sense for design, the family-run company is shaping its future.

Odoardo Fioravanti loves experimenting and is always surprising people with unusual designs. Anna Moldenhauer talked to him about his deep attachment to Pedrali, what he wished for design students and why he finds excavators fascinating.

Ten years ago Pedrali set up a plant in Manzano in Friuli, in the province of Udine, an area known as the Chair District for its traditional wooden chair-making. An important reason for the manufacturer to establish the new wooden furniture production plant there, while in Bergamo in Lombardy they have been working with plastics, metal and upholstery for 50 years.

Embedded between poppy fields and asphalt in Lainate, Italy, a striking roof almost 28 meters high interrupts the landscape. What looks from a distance like a small volcano at closer inspection turns out to be the “Villoresi Est” interstate service station.

Bronda, a restaurant on Eteläesplanadi, a promenade in the center of Helsinki, is both urban and spacious in feel. A high, elongated room with lots of space and a large window front sets a suitable stage for a city-dwelling public in the Finnish capital since this spring. Helsinki architects Futudesign styled the restaurant with timelessly elegant and generous fittings with furniture by Pedrali.

Industrial designer Odoardo Fioravanti created the wooden "Frida" chair for Italian furniture-maker Pedrali – and last year it won the "Compasso d'Oro", the design Oscar. Today, "Frida" is to be found in several renowned Design Museums worldwide. Moreover you will find Pedrali's products in a series of outstanding international reference projects.