Image source: Kartell — Smart Wood Collection
© Kartell and the respective rights holders. Quoted to accompany INTEBEE's independent design commentary and research.
Collection Story
Origin
Kartell's museum timeline places the Smart Wood Collection in 2019. Its text says the collection grew from a love of design and a continuous search for the new, and that Philippe Starck's creative concept started from the choice of one material, wood, which Kartell transforms into an industrial product.
Design Language
A patented technology works a single fine layer of wood in a mould that brings the curvature of the panel to its edges, producing a seat shell with unprecedented roundness. Kartell says it bent the wood in 3D in two directions, so that even the sides of the shell curve. The same technology is applied across several product types, giving a family of different sizes and functions with a shared look of extreme curves, and all the wood comes from FSC certified forests.
Key Pieces
- P/Wood, the chair, dated 2019 on its sheet
- Q/Wood, the armchair, dated 2019 on its sheet
- C.Koya, the stool, dated 2024 on its sheet
Pieces in this collection
P/Wood
Starck's 2019 chair for Kartell: curved 3D wood seat on a chrome-plated or painted steel frame.
Viscount of Wood
Viscount of Wood Oval by Philippe Starck for Kartell: veneered wood top, chrome steel frame.
Earl of Wood
Earl of Wood desk by Philippe Starck for Kartell: curved wooden top on a steel frame.
Al Wood
Al Wood side table by Philippe Starck for Kartell, 40 x 40 x 45.5 cm, curved wood top.
Adam Wood
Philippe Starck's Adam Wood for Kartell: a bookcase bay of five curved wooden shelves, 215 cm high
C.Koya
Starck's C.Koya stool for Kartell: a curved 3D wood seat on a steel frame.
Q/Wood
Q/Wood: a 2019 Kartell armchair by Philippe Starck.
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