Every Milan Design Week, the Cassina showroom offers something to be intrigued by. Last year, Konstantin Grcic presented a collection of abstract forms more akin to stage scenery or rectilinear sculptures than home furniture. The Props, as they were named, were folded metal forms designed for interpretation by the user. They could define space, support objects or simply create surfaces.

This year, Grcic developed the concept of defining space based on the needs of the user with something a little softer. Soft Props is a versatile modular seating system that can be constructed to best relate to its surrounding space. Within the framework of a tubular rail, and on the basis of an ottoman unit, loose cushions can be arranged as needed. “I wanted to make a piece of furniture that is spatial, something more abstract, without compromising comfort,” Grcic has said of the system.

Modular seating elements in two sizes can be combined in various arrangements with accompanying side tables or freestanding tables. The setting is defined by the graphic line of the black-painted metal rail, which traces the edge of the sofa and creates a more intimate space. “This is one way of building a sofa – with an external structure,” Grcic told us at the Cassina showroom during Milan Design Week.

The rail, Casina has suggested, recalls the Milanese subway handrails (part of a project by Franco Albini and Bob Noorda), or the railings on the large transatlantic ships that Cassina furnished in the 1950s. Four interchangeable parts compose the rail, which is connected by a joint system within the tube. Rubber polyurethane grips cover parts of the rail, serving both functional and aesthetic purposes.

“Cassina does sofas very well. They really know how sofas work – technically how to build a sofa, but also in terms of the market,” said Grcic. And Soft Props addresses the needs of the market expertly, being suitable for the home as well as ideal for creating shared zones in public areas. Soft Props brings definition to the blurred realm that has emerged as the line between private and public spaces dissolves.

In Singapore, Cassina is available at Space Furniture.