That age-old hobby that your grandmother might have enjoyed in her spare time is the same one that inspired The New Raw’s latest project, Knotty. At this year’s Milan Design Week 2023, the Rotterdam-based design studio by architects Panos Sakkas and Foteini Setaki will be unveiling a series of benches with a peculiar tactile material reminiscent of knitted textiles. Visitors will able to check out the experimental project at Alcova from April 17th – 23rd, 2023.
Photo: Mathijs Labadie
Known for innovating on their own digital techniques through trial and error to create their designs, The New Raw was able to bring this 3D-sculpted fabric to life by combining traditional handwork with digital methods of fabrication. “We use analogue knitting techniques in homage to the continuous thread of the manufacturing process, testing them out on large and hard furniture surfaces. With our work we want to tangibly express the transition from traditional to digital, and from virtual to physical, with a twist,” the studio shares. Using plastic waste, the studio is able to create a continuous thread that folds, twists, and loops, forming a surface that’s irresistible to touch. Because of variables like temperature during production and the material’s own mechanical properties, there are minor irregularities in the benches, just like any hand-knitted piece.
Photo: Mathijs Labadie
Photo: Mathijs Labadie
Photo: Mathijs Labadie
Photo: Mathijs Labadie
Photo: Mathijs Labadie
Photo: Mathijs Labadie
Photo: Mathijs Labadie
Photo: Mathijs Labadie
Photo: Michele Margot
Photo: Michele Margot
Photo: Michele Margot
Photo: Michele Margot
Architects Panos Sakkas and Foteini Setaki of The New Raw
The Knotty family of benches will be produced in three different shapes and sizes, and two colors, mint and peach. The project will be on view at A12, Ex-Macello di Porta Vittoria – Viale Molise 62, Milan.
