Design Miami/Basel 2016: Italian design collective Nucleo has continued to cast furniture in resin, this time including a classic bentwood Thonet chair among three new pieces for Cologne's Ammann Gallery (+ slideshow).
The iconic No 14 chair by Michael Thonet – a staple in cafes around the world – joins a wooden bench and tray as the latest additions to the series titled Souvenir of the Last Century, which has previously included a trapped ladder and stool.
Appearing like found archaeological artefacts preserved in rock, the 19th- and 20th-century objects are encased in a clear epoxy-resin. The casting process creates bubbles and variations in colour within the solid substance.
Nucleo sees the works as a means to conserve and reinterpret the handmade crafts of the past.
"They buy and preserve old pieces of furniture from around the world and make them the inner life of the new pieces," gallery owner Gabrielle Ammann told Dezeen in 2015. "The casting process and how it reacts with the old objects is always unpredictable."
Turin-based Nucleo is a collective of artists and designers comprising Piergiorgio Robino, Alice Carlotta Occleppo, Stefania Fersini, and Alexandra Denton.
Previous works by the studio include an acrylic stool coloured to simulate semiprecious stones, and a table with antique wooden legs and a polished resin top.
Nucleo created the Souvenir of the Last Century works exclusively for Cologne's Ammann Gallery, which displayed them at this year's Design Miami/Basel – held in the Swiss city of Basel from 14 to 19 June 2016.
Elsewhere at the collectors' fair, Nilufar Gallery presented bronze furniture modelled on tree branches by Kiki van Eik, while Galerie Patrick Seguin resurrected a demountable office by French Modernist designer Jean Prouvé that was previously used as a swingers' club.