Since its establishment in 1968, Italian furniture brand Porada has built a reputation as a world-class manufacturer of solid wood furniture. Headquartered in the famed Italian furniture district of Brianza, the brand is one of the select few that have maintained complete control of its production processes – from sourcing the wood (sustainably) all the way to applying the finishing touches.

Launched at the Salone del Mobile in April, Porada’s 2017 collection took inspiration from the golden age of Italian furniture design in the 1950s and ’60s. It evokes the aesthetic of the bourgeois homes of the era by combining solid wood (particularly Canaletto walnut) with leather, brass, marble and lacquered colours that brighten the space.

Highlights of the collection include pieces designed by Porada’s latest collaborator, French interior designer Patrick Jouin. The collaboration between the brand and the designer started with the prestigious Eden Hotel project in Rome. Porada pieces designed by Jouin for the hotel that are now available from the brand include sculptural tables inspired by the silhouette of a tree (Timber and Trunck) and elegant armchairs that blend the American and Japanese solid wood furniture traditions (Ella and Louis).

The collection also features other intriguing pieces by Porada’s long-time collaborators. Dainty metal frames and joints serve as a polishing accent to planes of dark solid wood in the Alfred table (a reinterpretation of an easel by David Dolcini), Bayus drawers and Eley dressing table with mirror (both designed by brothers Gabriele and Oscar Buratti). The roles of wood and metal are reversed in the Joint side and coffee tables (designed by Marconato e Zappa); the collection features dainty brass legs held together by a dark Canaletto walnut brace.

In other pieces, Porada’s masterful cabinetry gives way to unique sculptural forms. Twelve wood ‘petals’ converge and bloom to form a central ‘crater’ in Tarcisio Colzani’s Fuji table, on which centrepieces can be displayed for maximum impact. Meanwhile, sculptural wood elements in the Dalida bookcases and Tenco side tables by Carlo Ballabio create visual interest and rhythm in the interior space.

In addition to launching the 2017 collection, Porada also announced a call for submissions to its annual award programme, the Porada International Design Award. Held in collaboration with POLI.Design under the patronage of Italy’s Association of Industrial Design (ADI), the 2017 edition of the award is the Brand’s sixth edition and focuses on innovative concepts for small tables that use solid wood.

The competition is open to Italian and foreign creatives, professionals and non-professionals, and both professionals and students. Entries will be judged on innovation, originality and solutions for woodworking processes. Winning entries (Porada will pick three each from the professional and student categories) will receive cash prizes and a chance to be manufactured commercially by Porada.

Click here for more information on the competition.

Porada is available in Malaysia from Studio216.