In these very hot days my thoughts go to Africa, Kenia in particular, to the colors of that marvelous land. Honestly, when they say “Mal d’Africa” (in English translated to nostalgia of Africa), I have to say that I’ve experienced it, a continent that is able to make you feel deep emotions, spark bright images, full of the colors of the earth, of nature, and of the expressions of people.
Like all travelers, I could not avoid bringing memories, feelings and pieces bought during the trip.
Many people love the ethnic style, that takes inspiration and suggests furniture’s and objects that take back to the country. But the trend to bring back exotic objects has lost its uniqueness and authenticity in time.
The idea now is that of an African style revisited in a chic way, and this year’s mood is a novelty in interior design, because it offers objects and manufactures of quality, that will meet our tastes, without the problem of taking them out of contexts. A mic of European traditions and tribal cultures, that mixes up the traditional ethnic décor, fusing contemporary design with elements of the earth.
Wood in particular brings us back to that wonder, to a primitive and instinctive world, warm and passionate that we naturally associate with Africa. From mahogany to banana tree, from rose-wood to afrormosia or to African teak or rattan, bamboo and water hyacinth. Solid, carved, intertwined, or with artisanal engravings, it works very well with multicolored canvases, with tribal patterns, characterized by colors of the earth, mustard, browns, oranges, and sands.
They remind me of the spectacular sunsets of the savannah or of the desert.
It always echoes to nature, with vegetation or drawings inspired by animals. Or the geometries of leather or fabrics or animal patterns that recalls the mantle of animals, spotted and striped and met during a safari, make accessories. Without necessarily being expensive, I think about the Maison du monde’s chair in leather and metallic structure Masai model, that recalls the colonial style.
And let’s not forget the masks, in wood, terracotta, sometimes embellished with colorful beads, true sculpture that can find home on a wall of an entrance or of a study.
An exotic touch can also be given by illumination, like Fendi’s golden and bronze lamps, that create warm lighting.
The theme of leaves and flowers is stylized in elegant studio lamps (Dimore studio), that give off a refined and delicate light perfect for the corner of the house that wants to be full of grace.
But homage of the African continent can be made even with small objects, froms bowls to wooden spoons, refined with horn handles. So bowls, masks, African heads, statues, prints and canvases of everyday life are in the most chic interiors (bonf booths by Giorgetti Atmosphere, drum shade lamps by Wong London, velum collections by Marco Costanzi X Fendi).
Everything, of course, done with measure, because if I can have things that echo that world, I cannot think of entering it by walking through the door. The main objective is to warm up the room, often times minimal, enriching them of wonder and personality.
(Screen "Bond" di Giorgetti atmosphere - "Drum Shade" lamp di Wrong London)
Comments