Abet’s new exhibition hall, designed by design curators Giulio Iacchetti and Matteo Ragni, opens on 10 September: nearly 500 materials on display signed over the years by the best international designers. A “home” for designers and companies where it’s easy to fall in love with materials
A journey into the excellence of Made in Italy which is also a journey into the history of international design. An opportunity to discover the world of surfaces that for decades has marked the universe of small and large-scale design, one innovation after the other, from furniture to architecture through the art and design of the unique piece.
It is called Abet World and is the first showroom in the history of Abet Laminati, the Bra-based company that with its coatings and collaborations with the best designers has made the history of international design. Abet World, designed by Abet’s design curators Giulio Iacchetti and Matteo Ragni, opens its doors on 10 September in the historic company plants of Bra (Cuneo, Italy) with the aim of becoming the home of designers, an open book to offer designers, architects and companies a world of possibilities, the best of the universe of surfaces and coatings.
The name of the showroom, Abet World, is a clear reference to the universe of Abet that allows designers to fully develop their creations with the materials of the company in Bra. In fact, 120 models of standard-sized panels are collected in the exhibition hall, while over 300 can be admired as samples. An essay on the history of world design that bears the signatures of the best designers ever.
Design curators Iacchetti and Ragni say: “It was an honor and a challenge to create Abet World. The sample room is a special place for every company, moreover for Abet by virtue of the many noble design stories of which the company is the bearer, of the relevant and extensive typology of materials, of the variants of finishes, of colors, of dimensions, of thicknesses. A universe of materials that suggested the name Abet World”.
Abet World is a journey into the universe of surfaces. An entrance portal that extends towards the center of the room, directing the visitor’s steps and gaze towards the exhibition of the laminate samples: a palette of colors, decorations, materials, finishes. Here the story of Abet manifests itself in its spectacular entirety. To the right of the visitor is the special display for large slabs. A mechanical system that was purposefully designed makes the large sheets slide on special wheels to offer the visitor a complete view of the decorated plate.
“The sample room represents for each company the special place where everything that is processed with effort and dedication within the factory finds its happy fulfillment. In meeting with professionals, technicians, architects and designers, the material on display tells the joy of a successful journey and experimentation” add Iacchetti and Ragni.
“The sample room is the metaphorical nest from which the materials take off to reach every corner of the world. In the sample room, designers and materials fall in love with each other, and it is nice to think that in Abet World many design stories can have their beginning by comparing the different samples, aligning them on the table to make a more accurate examination. We wanted to design an oasis of silence to give space to the imagination so as to glimpse what is currently just an idea. The sample room and, in a special way, Abet World are the physical and metaphorical space where ideas come to life and take on the many solutions that Abet has designed with the idea of never stopping dreaming”.
