Picture a modular seating system with somebody occupying a seat. Would you take the seat next to them? You’d most likely leave a gap. This is one of the many observations made by design studio PearsonLloyd during 20 years of practice. Ischia, the studio’s latest seating system for Tacchini, was created to cater this behaviour.

Ischia is composed of oblique-shaped seating and table forms with shared timber and marble base elements. The pebble-like seating elements are not placed in a neat row, which brings a friendly, informal quality to the system. The arrangement also creates small islands for users. Screens crafted in steam-bent ash and woven cane are available to complete the composition and grant users a further sense of space and privacy.

“A lot of our work tries to deal with the reality of what people want rather than some mechanical composition,” said studio co-founder Luke Pearson at Tacchini’s booth at Salone del Mobile. “The informality here was all about actually recognising that sometimes you just need to face slightly away. Sometimes the orientation in the space has got nothing to do with the walls. It’s very much about producing opportunities. Ischia has a very small number of modular components but a potentially limitless amount of configurations,” he added.

The studio also drew inspiration from the terracotta roof tiles found in the Ionian Sea for Ischia’s form and palette of reds and oranges. Says co-founder Tom Lloyd, “These terracotta pieces have been washed in the sea for decades and they have this warm colour and wonderful soft forms that somehow fit. They feel very comfortable.”

In Singapore, Tacchini is available from Stylecraft. Photos copyright Andrea Ferrari, courtesy of Tacchini.