On the occasion of the "Italian Design Day" (IDD), one of the main events promoted every year by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Ministry of Culture, together with ICE, Association for Industrial Design (ADI), ADI Foundation - Compasso D'Oro Collection, Triennale di Milano, Salone del Mobile di Milano and Federlegno Arredo, on 9 March the Italian embassy in London hosted the architect Piero Lissoni in conversation with Cajsa Carlson, deputy director of Dezeen.
For the occasion, various design objects were exhibited, designed by Lissoni for famous Italian brands present in the United Kingdom: among them the Offshore chest of drawers designed for Porro, made of ash wood with the particular and accurate 45° angle construction which, thanks to the continuity of the wood grain on all sides creates a continuous volume. The interiors are made of natural maple, combined with the exterior in white open-pore painted ash, coming from the new showroom that the Italian brand inaugurated last September in London. The new Porro London showroom is located in the King's Cross area north of the city, inside the majestic brick building along the bend of the Regent Canal which houses the headquarters of designer Tom Dixon, the Coal Office. Among the most appreciated design brands in the world for an architectural point of view in the design of space and an ideal of beauty made up of the purity of the forms, the extreme precision of the workmanship and the research on materials and technologies, Porro chose as its own address in London this structure subject to a significant urban regeneration intervention, a few steps from Central Saint Martins, a breeding ground for future talents: an exhibition space and a consultancy office conceived to give life to new tailor-made projects, pushing creativity and craftsmanship to a higher level.