Minotti Alison outdoor sofa

Squared lines in iroko

Alison began in 2006 as the first outdoor piece Minotti made, and it still anchors the range. The frame is iroko heartwood, left in view, with straight edges and a 45 degree joint on each arm. Seat, back and arm cushions repeat the same square outline but are thickly padded, so the strict geometry of the wood meets soft upholstery. The system is modular: pieces can be joined into one long sectional or kept apart as single sofas, and the layout can change later if the terrace does.

Iroko is a dense hardwood that copes well with rain and strong sun. The natural finish on Alison Iroko Nature lets the wood deepen to a warm, muted tone as it ages, and iroko left unoiled drifts toward silver gray. The frame never sits directly on the paving. The iroko versions stand on stainless steel tips set into slots in the wood, and the dark brown version rests on low anodized aluminum blocks stained to match. Both details keep standing water and damp away from the timber.

The dark brown version arrived in 2014 with reworked cushions: high resilience polyurethane foam of varying density, wrapped in a water-repellent fiber. Its stain was chosen to sit with the Art Lifescape 02 outdoor fabrics. On a deck facing a view, a long Alison run with a low table in front is the classic setup. Of all the Minotti sofas made for outdoor use, this is the family with the longest history.

Rodolfo Dordoni, Minotti's art director since 1998, worked on Alison with Roberto Minotti. The design also anticipated the company's Lifescape idea, furniture meant for both indoor and outdoor use. For an architect planning a whole house, that makes Alison a way to carry one line from the living room out to a loggia or pool deck, with the same squared profile on both sides of the glass.