Zampa Chair

KIM: Hello Jasper. When you have a chance, could you answer some questions about Zampa?

JASPER: Thanks for the questions. Answers below.

KIM: I know that ‘everyday’ things are important to you in what you collect, what you document and also what you often exhibit. How does Zampa fit with your interest in ‘everyday’ objects?

JASPER: I noticed some old country stools, handmade with curved stick legs and roughly
connected to circular solid wood seats, and this design is a reminder of this very direct solution to having something to sit on. Their charm and character are irresistible though they couldn’t be more direct and everyday in a practical sense. Zampa originally started as something light and adaptable for use as a stool or a small side table, beside the bed or in the bathroom, wherever they’re needed.

KIM: Did it feel natural to extend the Zampa family to now include a chair, and has this addition created a new quality, in your eyes?

JASPER: Design is an unpredictable process. While designing the Zampa stools I never imagined we would add a chair to the family. If Mattiazzi had asked me to design a chair first I very much doubt it would be as good as this one. Seen as a family it looks perfectly natural that there’s a chair, and I think the chair brings a lot of extra character to the stools which on their own might have seemed a bit minimal to some.

KIM: How is Zampa an ‘everyday object’ itself (or not)?

JASPER: It’s everyday in a functional and also a visual sense, there’s no pretence to be anything special.

KIM: The stool seems to be an exercise in just how few elements there can be – just a flat, round seat, and four curved wooden legs. The two elements make one piece. Why does it interest you to make the joining of these two elements so discreet, meaning that it is not apparent? Or – why should ‘the whole’ piece look as one?

JASPER: The seat is flat and quite thin, so the expression is as direct as possible. It’s a little bit of a protest against fashion and fakeness in our industry.

KIM: How do you describe the character of Zampa, in other words, it has some personality and perhaps even some levity or joy?

JASPER: It’s unopinionated!

KIM: What can you say about why Zampa is right for Mattiazzi, right now – in other words what about Mattiazzi makes it realisable or possible, or makes it what it is?

JASPER: Quite often when designing, one’s sense of a brand takes over and you do something that feels right for who you’re designing it for. That’s the case here. It just suggested itself as a Mattiazzi product.

Jasper Morrison