Argentinian Federico Varone Designs Products with Soul

Creator of Varone, the eccentric, small-scale interdisciplinary design studio in Buenos Aires, Federico Varone will debut two new products (VV and Loop Chair or Linea sesenta in Spanish) at the Argentinean stand at this year’s Salone del Mobile (Hall 8 F32). He will also show some of his classic design products Sientateteta, Hunter Hunted and Drago. Through his colorful product design, Varone shows aspects of his Argentinean identity and challenges spectators’ notions while exploring innovative ways to use space.

Varone’s seating design is not just inert matter; he creates products that will last and generate new experiences. The VV chair (named after Verone’s son’s initials) plays with the forgotten space between the bottom of the seat and the ground. Its four legs are made of two bent and shaped rods that roam the empty space under the chair’s seat making several V shapes. The chair can be disassembled to enable easy transport. Loop Chair uses only one painted steel rod to create a single line that creates the support and seat of the chair. Sientateteta is a poetic object of Argentinian national identity. Its pink plastic bottom resembles a cow’s udder while the seat features the cow’s coat. Beef is profoundly integrated into traditional Argentine cuisine.

“Every product is like a desafío [challenge]”, Varone explained to ArchiExpo e-Magazine. “Illustration and drawing are very important influences on my design process. I think there may be a different path in industrial design. Through drawing and murals, I find a way to work the irony and humor which complement, maybe not directly but at some point in infinity.”

Varone’s designs strive to create irony as they mix art and story-telling. His carpet Hunter Hunted, for example, stimulates thought on who’s actually been hunted, the animal or the predator. A sequence of events can then be imagined and interpreted differently. The candleholder Drago tells the story of a dragon that can no longer breathe fire and therefore uses candles to reclaim his mythological power. Toothpicks comprise the spines of Porcupine “Pic a pic” a porcupine-shaped toothpick holder making after dinner teeth cleaning fun.

The combination of Varone’s different specialties (drawing, toy design, painting, illustration, character design, graffiti and murals) animates his sarcastic, playful industrial products. Verone started working over ten years ago designing for companies such as Vaja Cases, and Producto POP and working with design groups Brion Design / Brion Experimental and Fugamania. He is not only a designer but also a transmitter of cultural meaning. For his second year in Milan, he hopes to show his work to the world and generate more buzz.