From Marc Sadler to Matteo Thun: Radiators by Antrax

The ability to introject different artistic languages into the development of industrial products which defines Italian design is also the key to reading the design and manufacturing work of Antrax IT, a leading company in the domestic heating field. What emerges is a design offering characterised primarily by a rich heterogeneity, one that is completely contemporary: each radiator model has a separate personality and is distinct from the designs in the brand’s other collections, irrespective of the designer or the specific technological or performance features. This is a quality clear in the latest models released this year, starting with Piero Lissoni’s Waffle – a design that takes up the classic cast-iron radiator and brings in a synesthetic allure, fusing heat and the sense of taste. The result is a pared-down design in an aluminium alloy, the surface of which is moulded with a macrotexture recalling a savoury biscuit.

In contrast, Marc Sadler’s point of reference for his Byobu design is the traditional Japanese screen. Here the aluminium heating body is made up of two mobile components that rotate around a pivot, taking on different formations. While Byobu plays with the wall, T Tower and Chinook interact with the open space of the room. The recent recipient of the German Design Award, the first freestanding model is an evolution from the Serie T, the iconic girder-shaped radiator – the product of the first collaboration between Antrax IT and Matteo Thun & Antonio Rodriguez, which looked to the “object trouvè” for inspiration. Following the trend for freestanding units, Francesco Lucchese has worked on the opposition between modelling and formal kinetics. This has given us Chinook, a sculptural and sinuous radiator that draws inspiration from the totem poles of the native American people of the same name, the tribe who also gave their name to the warm winds from North America.