What does smart design really mean? Before we think of sensors and connectivity, it is worth returning to the fundamentals of a project: the ability to recognize which elements of a product and its process can become pivotal in enhancing performance and shaping the way it impacts our lives.
It was this kind of intuition that guided Michael Thonet in the mid-19th century when he designed his legendary Chair No. 14 with screwed, replaceable components – delivered flat-packed to optimize space and transport. It was the same clarity of vision that led Dieter Rams to conceive the modularity of an icon such as the 606 Universal Shelving System. In both cases, the fundamentals were identified in versatility and longevity, qualities that would later converge into the complex, multifaceted value we now define as sustainability.

That same intuition is evident in a project such as the Piave tables by Nardi. A structure in painted aluminum, a seamless HPL Materia laminate top, softly rounded corners: the visual continuity is purely aesthetic and not constraining.  Structurally, the two elements are entirely independent. Assembly – and above all replacement– is facilitated by a pressure-fit system that eliminates the need for screws.

The result is not only durability, but a high degree of adaptability. Conceived for the contract sector, Piave responds effortlessly to a wide range of settings – hotels, restaurants, professional environments – combining refined textured finishes, the stability of adjustable feet, seven size options (160x90, 140x80, 120x70, 90x90, 80x80, 70x70 and 70x70 High) and four colorways (Anthracite, Corda, Tortora and Tabacco).

To define a product like Piave is to recognize the presence of a “smart intuition” within a long-term growth trajectory, one that Nardi has pursued since its debut in 1990 as a manufacturer of outdoor design furniture. It is the intuition that identifies sustainability as a strategic asset, capable of strengthening a brand’s positioning across multiple markets.
In 2019, the company introduced Regeneration, a line of furniture made from post-consumer plastic that reshaped the entire supply chain, from concept to packaging, accompanied by Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) analyses for several products. If production sustainability had already been addressed through the use of renewable energy, supplemented by photovoltaic systems across Nardi’s three facilities, 2025 marked another milestone with the publication of the company’s first Sustainability Report, covering the organization as a whole. Such a report must account for the full breadth of a concept as layered as sustainability, particularly its social dimension, which is inseparable from its environmental one. Behind Nardi’s products in fact lies not only a structured welfare ecosystem and initiatives supporting education and culture – including a partnership with Fondazione Arena di Verona –but also a broader glocal vision. This translates into the enhancement of local resources, a supply chain organized across extremely short distances, and production concentrated at the headquarters in Chiampo, Vicenza, where the company’s story began.

From vision to product, in every dimension: only in this way can sustainability evolve into solutions that are truly smart, credible, pervasive in both our individual and collective daily lives. In a word: possible.