Snøhetta and MDF Italia reimagine the conventional sofa with new modular system

Together with renowned Italian furniture manufacturer, MDF Italia, Snøhetta has designed and developed Array - a modular sofa system designed to offer creative flexibility without compromising comfort in a more responsible way.

Array re-imagines the conventional sofa, offering optimal flexibility and comfort in a considerate manner. The system comprises slim, interconnected modules seamlessly adapting to various contexts, allowing unique configurations and spatial possibilities. 

Each element of Array has been thoughtfully designed with disassembly in mind, facilitating repair, replacement, or recycling when necessary, thereby promoting longevity and reducing material usage over time.

 

Disassembly, flexibility, and less material

By embracing injection molding as a manufacturing method for the base, Array optimizes material usage while incorporating a high percentage of recycled materials. This approach results in a lightweight structure with a hollow core, minimizing the environmental footprint without compromising quality or comfort. 

The bio-foam covering, containing 51% recycled material, is removeable and can be replaced. Additionally, elastic ropes have been integrated underneath each element, ensuring quick and easy replacement of the textile.

 

"Array's concept emerged from a micro and macro perspective, exploring the intricate relationship between individual components and the larger system and how they work together. During the process, we focused on disassembly, flexibility, and reducing material usage", says Seppe van Heusden, Product Designer at Snøhetta.

 

Levels of comfort 

Array prioritizes comfort across multiple levels – ergonomic, planning, contextual, and usability. Its ergonomic design ensures optimal proportions and softness, catering to diverse domestic and contract settings. 

Since the selection of different moduels is limited, it facilitates ease of planning, offering a balance between versatility and simplicity. Moreover, Array's reduced module width enhances contextual comfort, seamlessly integrating into any space through flexible configurations.

 

While Array offers comfort at the highest level, it also introduces a new paradigm in furniture design. It invites users to embrace a conscious approach to living, where high-quality design converges with practicality, longevity, and conscious production.

"The affinity with MDF Italia and Snøhetta became clear when we met two years ago and decided to challenge ourselves and push beyond the boundaries of design. At the heart of every decision by Snøhetta lies a deep commitment to sustainability, which became the Array project's starting point. Thanks to this collaboration, we were able to challenge our traditional design canons and approach product development with a completely innovative and unexplored perspective.”, says Marco Cassina, Head of Marketing and Communication at MDF Italia.

Photo: Snøhetta
Photo: Giuseppe RomanoPhoto: Giuseppe Romano
Photo: Giuseppe RomanoPhoto: Giuseppe Romano

 

A complete system

In addition to the modular sofa system, Snøhetta has also designed a family of side tables to complement the Array series. The tables follow the same flexible approach as the sofa modules and can easily be combined and configured. There are four variants, and one fits directly between the modules. The tables integrate easily with the different sofa modules and make Array a complete system for any space.

"Our approach to Array encapsulates Snøhetta's core belief that design must serve the present and honor the future. When MDF Italia challenged us with the ambitious brief to re-imagine comfort, we understood that we had a partner equally eager to challenge the status quo. By developing the design from the inside out, we identified that focusing on a smaller scale could challenge both manufacturing methods and the system's flexibility as a whole. The opportunity to work with MDF Italia is something we value highly, and the result exemplifies the importance of collaboration to explore any ambitious project successfully", says Marius Myking, Director of Snøhetta Product Design.

New standards

Array embodies a progressive approach toward more conscious furniture design and innovation. A keen focus on enhancing the furniture lifecycle and its technical construction from the core represents a paradigm shift in furniture design, where every element is thoughtfully reconsidered/created to prioritize environmental responsibility without compromising quality or comfort.

The system contains six different modules and is available in various colors and textiles made by acclaimed Danish textile manufacturer Kvadrat to ensure a fully customizable system. The modules available are:

  • Seat straight
  • Pouf straight
  • Seat curved in
  • Seat curved out
  • Pouf curved
  • Armrest

 

Download high-res images

Photo credit renderings: Shestakovych Studio for MDF Italia

Photo credit: Giuseppe Romano

Project Facts

  • Project Name: Array
  • Timeline: 2022-2024
  • Client: MDF Italia
  • Location: Italy
  • Status: Completed
  • Disciplines (by Snøhetta): Product Design
  • Typology: Furniture

 

About MDF Italia:

 

MDF Italia is a Milan-based design company. Founded by Bruno Fattorini in 1992 and now run by the Cassina family, it creates and produces designer items and furnishings characterised by design challenge and essentiality of form. The vocation of MDF Italia has always been to create objects that not only become icons but will also succeed in defining the canon of contemporary design. Inspired by simplicity and using synthesis as design methodology, the MDF Italia products are characterised by lightness of form and compositional balance, innovative in terms of technology and materials.

MDF Italia products live in the most diverse contexts, thanks to a universal and timeless design. Essential, functional and flexible, they have no ambitions to dictate the aesthetics of the surrounding area by their presence, but rather respect the spirit of every space they inhabit. With a presence in over fifty countries, MDF Italia counts world-wide realisations in the domestic, corporate and contract sectors.

 

 

 

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About Snøhetta

For almost 40 years, Snøhetta has designed some of the world’s most notable public and cultural projects. Snøhetta kick-started its career in 1989 with the competition-winning entry for the new library of Alexandria, Egypt. This was later followed by the commission for the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet in Oslo, and the National September 11 Memorial Museum Pavilion at the World Trade Center in New York City, among many others. 

Since its inception, the practice has maintained its original transdisciplinary approach, and often integrates a combination of architecture, landscape architecture, interior architecture, product design and art across its projects. The collaborative nature between Snøhetta's different disciplines is an essential driving force of the practice.

Today, Snøhetta has a global presence, with studios in seven locations spanning from Oslo to Paris, Innsbruck, New York, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Melbourne.

Snøhetta is currently working on a wide range of international projects, including the Shanghai Grand Opera House, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Dakota, Harbourside redevelopment in Sydney and La Croisette in Cannes, to name a few. 

Recently completed works include Vertikal Nydalen in Oslo, Beijing City Library, the renovation of Musée national de la Marine in Paris, Orionis - the planetarium and observatory of Douai, Airside in Hong Kong, Esbjerg Maritime Center in Denmark, 550 Madison Garden and Revitalization in New York, as well as Volum lamps for Lodes.

Some of Snøhetta's previous projects include Ordrupgaard Art Museum expansion in Denmark, the Cornell University Executive Education Center and Hotel in New York City, Le Monde Group Headquarters in Paris, including the wayfinding and signage, Europe’s first underwater restaurant, Under, the redesign of the public space in Times Square, the expansion to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Lascaux IV: The International Centre for Cave Art, Powerhouse Brattørkaia and design for Norway’s new banknotes.

Snøhetta’s working method simultaneously explores traditional handicraft and cutting-edge digital technology. At the heart of all Snøhetta’s work lies a commitment to social and environmental sustainability, shaping the built environment and design in the service of humanism. Every project is designed with strong, meaningful concepts in mind – concepts that can translate the ethos of its users and their context.

Among many recognitions, Snøhetta has been awarded the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award for the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, and the Aga Kahn Prize for Architecture for the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. In 2016, Snøhetta was named Wall Street Journal Magazine's Architecture Innovator of the Year, and the practice has been named one of the world’s most innovative companies by Fast Company two years in a row. In 2020, Snøhetta was awarded the National Design Award for Architecture, bestowed by Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. In 2021 and 2022, Snøhetta’s Forite tiles won the Sustainable Design of the Year by Dezeen and Best Domestic Design by Wallpaper* in 2022, and the wayfinding system for Le Monde Group Headquarters was acknowledged with Monocle Design Awards. In 2023, Snøhetta won a number of awards for the Esbjerg Maritime Center and was named Architects of the Year at the Monocle Design Awards, in 2024 included a number of awards to Beijing Library and the BIA 2024 Award to Snøhetta and in 2025, Snøhetta was recognized with the OPAL Special Award for Sustainability, among others. 

Disclaimer: All materials provided by Snøhetta are intended exclusively for editorial use to communicate the specified project(s). The use of this material for commercial or third-party purposes is strictly prohibited. No material may be edited or altered from its original state in any manner. Credit must be given for all content used, acknowledging Snøhetta and/or the photographer or creator as the source. By using Snøhetta's press material, you agree to these terms and conditions.

 

Contact

Snøhetta Akershusstranda 21, Skur 39 N-0150 Oslo, Norway

press@snohetta.com

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