by As loyal readers know, I teach undergraduates in communication, including a course called Visual Rhetoric. One of our topics in the course is “Artful Design,” which combines several aspects of design, including interface, user experience, aesthetics and function. We use mostly case studies to learn more about how the objects we so adore achieve that essentiality in our lives.
To get us started, I typically bring in a few examples of what I consider to be exemplars of artful design from my own existence: a Montblanc ballpoint pen with the ideal heft and feel; a ceramic coffee cup that memorializes the ubiquitous cardboard takeaway you can get all over Manhattan; the zero-learning-curve Nano iPod; Air Jordans II, IV and V, the latter two designed by Tinker Hatfield; and a photo of my car’s aeronautics-inspired dashboard.
The students are asked to identify an artfully designed object in their own lives to present as an exemplar, as well, so I invite you to ponder those special objects in your life that transcend function to seemingly effortlessly achieve the status of art, as well. In short, these objects represent a perfect marriage of form and function, and they are capable of eliciting emotion and even pleasure. I enjoy the physical act of writing when using my Montblanc, sipping when holding the coffee cup, and sitting in the driver’s seat as if I were preparing for takeoff.
Each of these artful designs exemplifies good interface, or the “membrane of interaction between human and technology,” to quote Ge Wang, author of Artful Design. Wang’s exemplar is the guitar, which creates precise sounds through an interface that includes strings, a neck, frets and a contoured bowl. Ahhh, the Martin 15 series guitars in mahogany. Yes, please.
(By the way, if you are in New York City early next year, consider MOMA’s “Pirouette: Turning Points in Design,” an exhibition curating furniture, clothing, games and devices that demonstrate great design.)
Calculating route
Where am I driving with this? Cars. Another exemplar I use is the 1936 Delahaye coupe, which also happens to be a sexy exaltation of Art Deco. My knees buckle looking at this car’s swoops and swerves.
So, when I saw earlier this year that both Porsche and Bentley had licensed furniture collections, I took notice. Ah, if we could live the way we most want to drive, which is in style, comfort and, on occasion, sumptuous luxury. That’s Bentley’s tagline for its furniture collection, by the way, “Live the way you drive.” The collection’s visually stunning pieces incorporate many of the same elements as the carmaker’s vehicles, including materials, wood grains, colorways and finishes.
Automotive and home furnishings are an ideal marriage, especially when we consider the duress under which car interiors are made to suffer, from the high heat of increasingly warm summers and the bitter cold of increasingly extreme winters. The technological advances required of car interiors offer much to furniture makers, as well. And both invite experiments with form, function, artful design and interface.
“Customers were saying to us, ‘I love the car, I love the quality materials; I want that same experience to continue when I enter my home,” Chris Cooke, head of design collaborations at Bentley Motors, told London’s Financial Times earlier this year. Cooke is right on the money. If only my house could achieve and reflect the same harmony of form and function as that provided by my car.
Bentley partnered with Luxury Living Group out of Italy, as did Bugatti. This is the same group that developed home furnishings collections for Versace, Dolce & Gabbana and Trussardi, which puts them at the nexus of fashion and furniture. (Another headline that grabbed my attention earlier this year were the collaborations that added home furnishings to the brands of Hermès and Ralph Lauren.)
The fashion-furniture-automotive trifecta
Listen to Monique Zappalà, art director of both Bentley Home and Bugatti Home: “You cannot be playful with Bentley,” she told the London newspaper, comparing collaborations in automotive with those in fashion. “You have to be very serious about the aesthetic and the design.”
Zappalà, who designed for the Valentino and Armani fashion lines before she got into interiors, is describing artful design, which both luxury carmaker furniture collections provide in abundance.
The Bentley collection combines curves, wood veneers, metal inlays, lacquer, leather and the iconic winged “B” motif. Pieces include the Langport bed designed by Carlo Colombo, the modular Loftus sofa designed by Federico Peri and the aerodynamic, spoilerlike Wilton desk.
If luxury and comfort are the hallmarks for Bentley, for Bugatti, it’s not surprisingly audacious boldness, which explains the “glassy, glossy collection” Zappalà coordinated for the Italian luxury car collaboration. Bugatti’s metallic Type_3 sofa with deep folds harkens back to a 1970s aesthetic, with variants that include an armchair, chaise longue and ottoman. Also pretty cool is the Type-7 desk, another aerodynamic design that looks like it’s about to fly off for a night on the town.
From McLaren to Lauren
Ralph Lauren’s offerings in furniture also borrow heavily from automotive, with Lauren’s own classic cars serving as inspiration for the pieces. The Lauren RL-CFI chair, for example, a midcentury piece made with carbon fibers, traces its roots to a 1996 McLaren F1. At a retail of about $28,000 (on sale!), it’s quite a bargain when compared to the McLaren, which would run you about $20 mil.
If we’re touring auto-furniture collabs, we have to mention Aston Martin, the British classic that powered a few Jame Bond movies. Aston Martin might have kicked off this mini trend back in 2018 with its partnership with Italy’s Formitalia. Featuring beautiful, supple leather, walnut and neutral tones in the fabrics, this contemporary collection, too, is an exemplar of artful design. (So is Formitalia’s other big license, Wayne Enterprises. Yes, THAT Wayne Enterprises, of Batman fame.)
Few furniture makers can stake a claim in the rarified air of ultra luxury of Bentley and Bugatti. My thought here is simply to offer up automotive for its inspirational, aspirational and often aeronautical value. Is it a coincidence that the Aston Martin, Bentley, Mercedes and BMW logos all have aeronautical origins and motifs? Wings, propellers, flight!
I’m not suggesting hub caps, propellers or grilles in anyone’s furniture design plans for 2025, but I am passing along my enthusiasm for and appreciation of the shared design priorities and imperatives of both home furnishings and automotive.
We could look also at the electrics and their common design vocabulary of feline front headlamps, sleek lines, matte paints and minimalist logos. As a set, the Audi, Kia, Fisker, BMW and Volvo electrics offer up strong design cues for home furnishings. I’ll go ahead and predict their influence in interiors next year. (Speaking of feline features, we will not speak of the rebrand disaster at Jaguar.)
So, while I can’t have a Bentley or a Lambo in my garage, maybe I can have one in my living room? I can already see myself kicking up my Spitfire fighter-inspired Air Jordan V-clad feet for an evening of home theater enjoyment. Let’s fly!
