Philippe Nigro

Detail of a stone seat designed by Philippe Nigro for Casati Gallery, 2015 (materials and manufacturing by Pibamarmi)

Philippe Nigro’s furnishing design is characterized by rotated, intersected and partially fused compositions that look like sculptures in a plastic game where chromatic and material variations underline the compenetration of surfaces and volumes. This formal research, started from padded furniture and developed throughout the 2000s, approached the stone domain with Saturnia, a collection for the bathroom furnishing conceived in 2010 for Pibamarmi, and now with a refined collection for Casati Gallery in Chicago.

Philippe Nigro, sketches of stone seats for Casati Gallery, 2015

Stone seats designed by Philippe Nigro for Casati Gallery, 2015 (materials and manufacturing by Pibamarmi)

In the latter case the French designer projected two seats and a table. They reflect the metaphor of the padded furniture but also have some morphological and compositional similarities to the corrosion of pebbles, for instance, or to Lithops plants, the so-called “living stone” from Southern Africa. The benches are entirely created from stone monoliths of Grigio Portaluppi, Pietra Gray, Nero Marquinia, and Pietra Lavica. Elements in the table surface are made of Bronze Gray, Grigio di Tunisi and Ebano stones, while legs are made of metal.

Stone table designed by Philippe Nigro for Casati Gallery, 2015 (materials and manufacturing by Pibamarmi)

Stones are carefully shaped with rounded corners and rolled or coated finishes that recall velvet and silk textures. Pibarmarmi provided materials and manufacturing. These pieces were exclusively created for Casati Gallery in Chicago, Ugo Casati’s exhibition space offering the American public a selection of Italian works of art and design objects from the post-war period on.

by Davide Turrini




PHILIPPE NIGRO’S BIOGRAPHY Born in 1975 in Nice, Philippe Nigro studied Applied Arts and Product Design in Lion and Paris. At the moment he works mainly between France and Italy. From 1999 to 2012 he collaborated with Michele De Lucchi, developing product design projects, furniture and interior elements for Olivetti, Siemens, Poltrona Frau, Artemide, Danese, and Poste Italiane. Since 2005 some of his experimental projects have been supported by French VIA (Valorisation of Innovation in Furniture); the products created within this context, as Confluences sofa and Twin-Chairs for Ligne Roset, were included in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs and Centre Pompidou collections. He designed works for De Castelli, Felicerossi, Pibamarmi and Serralunga. Between 2012 and 2013 he signed Nuage lamp for Foscarini, Pilotis sofa for De Padova, Clochette and Céleste lamps for Baccarat and “Les Nécessaires d’Hermès” collection for Hermès.