I had the pleasure of meeting Serralunga at the London Design Week, last September, and we have been in collaboration since.
Despite being one of the oldest companies in Italy working with plastics using a rotational molding system and having worked with some of the most famous designers, they have managed to keep their close family business ethic – being down to earth and always open to suggestions & feedback.
Yes, rotational molding….something I had heard about for sometime and been so curious to understand – how you can achieve a solid, stylish seat, made of plastic with a variety of different raw materials. Being born and raised in Venice, one of my best childhood memories was the tour to Murano to see and understand how the glass was created and blown… hence my intense curiosity to see how a vase or a sofa can be made equally, using the same process.
And in fact, as soon as I arrived at Serralunga HQ, I asked to go to the production line to see how this magic is created.
The tour started with a visit to some of the old moldings, stored protectively in a warehouse, just as you would do with your best car collection!
Here is the mold of one of their most recognised pieces, the coloured vase, together with all the possible combinations of colour…
And here is one of the simple raw materials they are still using… from one of those bags you can get Philippe Starck’s Holly All….fascinating!
Then we moved on into the production building, divided into two floors to allow for better logistics. The whole production is actually pretty simple and it’s an incredible balance between machinery and the human touch.
In simple terms, an amount of raw plastic is carefully weighed and placed into massive die cast molds, which are then baked in a gigantic oven whilst rotating to allow uniformity and the perfect rigidity.
It is now ready to be baked…
Out of the kiln…
…and ready to go!
We then moved into their showroom where the lovely Federica and her team presented me with their great product range and the overall company vision.
Many thanks Serralunga – you definitely made a grown boy very happy that day! We look forward to continue working with you further in the future.
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