The R24 Coffee Table + Stool Are Weightless Strength Personified

Argentinian architect Paula Valentini reaches for her training and experiences in art and urban planning when designing. Nowhere is it more apparent than in the sculptural R24, a two-piece collection created for GANDIABLASCO. Through the structures of a low coffee table and a low stool, Valentini investigates textile architecture on a small scale. “The image of the weightlessness of bodies held in space and the intention to explore structural fabrics became the guiding light of the project. Through R24 I evoke sensations and images like the evanescence of a bailiff’s wing. It is a useful object and it is also a work in space,” she explains.

Now part of GANDIABLASCO’s outdoor furniture catalogue, R24 was created in exchange with the Museum of Contemporary Art of Buenos Aires and its collection of abstracción geométrica. The challenge was creating furniture pieces that are as light as they are resistant. The innovation lies in its ethereal support, which Valentini achieved by dematerializing edges and substructures and avoiding bracing rings for the appearance of continuity. The results create degrees of opacity, and in the case of the stools, mimic a kaleidoscopic and sculpture when stacked. Added Valentini, “The pieces of the R24 series stand out for their open and slender weave and are surprising for their ability to support a weight close to one hundred times their own.”

The R24 coffee table and stool are handcrafted in India using 5 mm diameter stainless steel rods that are bent, intertwined, and arranged in a structured pattern. A weave is used to create a firm structure. “The curves that make up the pieces are bent in the same plane,” Valentini explains. “Then, the elements are organized and woven around the absent pyramidal body. The braiding manages to bring the threads into contact with each other and create a two-level mesh that distributes the stresses.”

The coffee table and stool can be thermo-lacquered in all the standard tones of GANDIABLASCO’s color chart. The stool is available with or without an upholstered cushion – also handmade in India – that uses a base of Gravidry® filtering polyurethane foam and a layer of wadding on the surface. Both materials add tactile comfort, breathability, and quick-drying properties.

We’d be remiss not to share that the original R24 piece was designed in 2017 for MACBA’s program for the elderly, supported by Mecenazgo Cultural de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. The initiative highlights design as a functional tool to provide solutions to the needs of the elderly. It was then recognized as a finalist in the 8th Ibero-American Design Bienal.