Minotti Torii Nest outdoor sofa and armchair

A circle of woven cord

The back is the whole idea. A tubular steel ring, drawn as a perfect circle, is strung with cord in a pattern taken from Vienna straw, the woven cane of bentwood chairs, opened up to a wider mesh. The cord comes in ecru or dark brown. Because the weave is open, air and light pass through it, so the chair looks lighter than its cushions suggest and dries fast after rain. Nendo drew on Japanese tradition for the structural details, which keeps the profiles thin.

Below the back, the seat sits on natural teak or on mahogany stained dark brown, and the frame stands on varnished aluminum legs with a polished bronze-colored finish that resists fingerprints. Teak handles sun and rain and, left unoiled, goes silver gray. The outdoor seats come as an armchair, a lounge armchair and a small dining armchair. Each is available fixed or on a swivel base that does not spring back, a mechanism Minotti presents as new for outdoor seating.

The 2023 sofas take the circle and stretch it. The curved sofa seats two inside a continuous corded back, and the round sofa wraps the seat in a full curve, the nest the name promises. Both are compact, which suits a city terrace or a hotel roof. As the outdoor sofa Minotti grew from a single armchair design, Torii Nest works well in matched groups: a curved sofa facing two armchairs, or one round sofa with a swivel chair beside it.