For this Italian furniture brand, a hotel might just be in their future
MEDA, ITALY – In 2014, Italian furniture company Minotti presented its Hospitality collection, after having focused solely on home – indoor and outdoor – product lines for over six decades. That expansion was not random: the brand has a strong desire and ambition to write its own story, and its own hotel might just be down the line. Brothers Renato and Roberto Minotti took over the company after their father’s death in 1991, and architect Rodolfo Dordoni joined the team as the artistic director in 1998. These two shifts have been instrumental in introducing their DNA code, ‘innovation in the spirit of continuity,’ into every single collection.
‘People want to take home the perks of hospitality’
Take their approach to hospitality itself as a vivid example: this year, the company is engaging in three international collaborations in the area, with Japanese studio Nendo, Brazilian outfit Studio MK27 and French designer Christophe Delcourt. But the brothers’ curiosity is pointing them to something even broader: how to expand on the experience. ‘We observed that hotel guests look for places that remind them of home, but the opposite is also true: people want to take home the perks of hospitality,’ explained Roberto Minotti. ‘We noticed an exchange of experiences between the two.’ That’s why Minotti’s designs can now adapt for both the home and hospitality sectors: in fact, the brief provided to designers in 2018 asked them to think of these products in a joint way. That’s why, by way of specific finishes and materials, selected products from the Home range can resist the wear and tear more closely associated with the Hospitality range.
But it is telling that, in order to show these products at work, the brand features a rendering of a self-designed hotel, a showcase of its ambitions and a presentation of how far the products can go. That is no random decision. ‘Across the decades we have created a distinctive code, and one of the best expressions of it is a hotel,’ explained Minotti. ‘That’s because our DNA, our uncompromising vision of hospitality, is the soul of the space.’ So, will fans of the brand be able to try on that soul for size in the near future? Minotti turns 70 this year, having shown an unwavering passion for growth and new challenges throughout its existence. This hotel might just be the next phase in that history of challenges met.
Read the magazine article in ‘Frame Magazine’ here
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