Vico

Vico: an organic shape with a strong Italian character

For the Salone del Mobile 2014, Cassina and Jaime Hayon launch Vico: a new two and three-seater sofa and armchair, named after Hayon’s son as a special tribute. The project takes on a natural approach which unearths our innate desire to nest, to curl up in an organic shape and relax, without sacrificing the contemporary form, structure, and comfort which characterises Italian design.

Heritage for innovation

Hayon, always concerned with the production of finely crafted objects, thoroughly researched the heritage of Italian design and, by studying Cassina’s archives in particular from the 1950’s and 60’s, pinpointed several distinctive elements regarding the sofa to develop into a contemporary context. The result is surprising; the fluidity and sinuosity of the design, personalized with Hayon’s own characteristic style, has been interpreted through a typical Cassina filter, making the piece more essential and less decorative than many of his previous projects.

The metamorphosis of the sofa

Hayon’s first consideration in this elaboration process was regarding materials: the use of wood is traditionally employed in a flat, planar manner to create a strong yet light feeling. Vico advances this traditional design language and translates it using methods from the 21st century by implementing cast and fused aluminium.
Thanks to Cassina’s long heritage culture and expertise in working with fabric, Vico has been skillfully upholstered, making the fabric removable. Usually in such slim line designs fabric is glued directly to the structure, however for Cassina this was part of the production challenge to enhance the philosophy of the project.
A second important intervention was carried out on the form of the sofa. Italian designs often have a low profile: Hayon develops this by adding organically soft edges to create a distinctive design that can be appreciated from all angles, even from behind. Thanks to its 360 degree presence, as well as different sizes, Vico can be placed in any interior environment.
At first glance, the sofa’s sleek profile may suggest a lack of comfort in the seat, but the sofa’s third distinctive element taken from Italian heritage implements springs in the upholstery, resulting in a high degree of comfort. When sitting on the sofa for the first time, a relaxing sensation of sinking down into the cushions takes over the body.

“I wanted to make something extremely comfortable, but visually very, very slim – like a lady on a catwalk.” Jaime Hayon.