Rome, Milan, Barcelona and the London Underground merge into a Turin-born furniture collection

F4 is the first project by Testatonda, a hybrid collective encompassing architecture, product design and craftsmanship.

Testatonda, Collezione F4, Servo. Photo: Camilla Ferrero

Testatonda, Collezione F4, Servo. Photo: Camilla Ferrero

Testatonda, Collezione F4, sidetable. Photo: Camilla Ferrero

Testatonda, Collezione F4, sidetables. Photo: Camilla Ferrero

Testatonda, Collezione F4, chairs and sidetable. Photo: Camilla Ferrero

Testatonda, Collezione F4, bench and sidetable. Photo: Camilla Ferrero

Testatonda, Collezione F4, bench. Photo: Camilla Ferrero

Testatonda, Collezione F4, bench. Photo: Camilla Ferrero

Testatonda, Collezione F4, 2019.

Testatonda, Collezione F4, 2019.

Testatonda, poster for Collezione F4, 2019.

Twenty-seven single parts combined to create seven complementary objects. Four young architects and designers, with different knowledges and stories (Milan, Rome, Barcelona, design, anthropology, psychology) gathering in a team to create furniture in collections and prototypes, inside a huge laboratory in Turin that used to a carpentry shop. This is the origin of Testatonda, a project by Nicolò Corigliano, Valter Cagna, Matteo Minello and Alessandro Scialdone, evocating in its name the creative repetition of craftsmanship embodied by dome-head nails, and connecting tailor-made research on form, materials and technique in a unique approach, a thick intertwining of knowledges and practices drawing from time, experience and education. 

Testatonda, Collezione F4, sidetable. Photo: Camilla Ferrero

The F4 kick-off collection consists of three side-tables of different sizes, a console, a chair and a bench with velvet cushions, to which is added Servo, a multifunctional piece suited for bedrooms or entrances. All these prototypes are based on a combination of pure lacquered-wood shapes, developed in a partnership with Rezina for the finishing options (colors are picked from Little Greene, Ressource and Farrow & Ball catalogues) and detailing the cushions with the "Piccadilly" pattern fabric by Kirkby design, a legacy of 1990s  London Underground.

A multifaceted entity, Testatonda is growing through different collaborations and hybridisations, by interacting with artists from its original habitat as well as independent art spaces across Italy, such as Contemporary Cluster in Rome, where Carne Cruda has been announced, opening March 2021, a show featuring five Testatonda pieces as platforms for a sensorial investigation of surfaces and bodies. 

  • Testatonda
  • Nicolò Corigliano, Valter Cagna, Matteo Minello, Alessandro Scialdone
  • Rezina (finishing), Kirkby Design (fabrics)
Testatonda, Collezione F4, Servo. Photo: Camilla Ferrero

Testatonda, Collezione F4, Servo. Photo: Camilla Ferrero

Testatonda, Collezione F4, sidetable. Photo: Camilla Ferrero

Testatonda, Collezione F4, sidetables. Photo: Camilla Ferrero

Testatonda, Collezione F4, chairs and sidetable. Photo: Camilla Ferrero

Testatonda, Collezione F4, bench and sidetable. Photo: Camilla Ferrero

Testatonda, Collezione F4, bench. Photo: Camilla Ferrero

Testatonda, Collezione F4, bench. Photo: Camilla Ferrero

Testatonda, Collezione F4, 2019.

Testatonda, Collezione F4, 2019.

Testatonda, poster for Collezione F4, 2019.