For its creators, De Pas, D’Urbino e Lomazzi, form and function are fused with the elegance of the wooden sticks game of the same name.
In the catalogue since 1973, Sciangai is one of the complements that most represents design from the ‘70s; a period between Pop and a new domestic-functional language (a decade made famous by Emilio Ambasz). The three designers created it for Zanotta by envisaging a very simple shape which was, at the same time, an answer to what was required of it. “Objects must enter into a relationship with the user, and must be easy to use,” explains Paolo Lomazzi in an interview for RAI television. “Everyday objects, domestic objects and objects that we are attached to.” Inspiration for Sciangai was the Chinese game where wooden sticks are held in the hand and then dropped onto a table. With Sciangai each element constitutes a floor support and is, at the same time, a hanging place for hats and coats at its upper extremity, specially shaped to sustain each item.
The eight pieces of wood are connected just above the middle and when they are opened, they create a circumference with a solid base. Elegant, anti-conformist and ecological it is made entirely from solid wood and can be closed when not in use or during packaging, making it much less bulky. The structure is in oak or beech, and can be left natural or stained classic black, wenge or grey. Just recently, in 2009, the piece was reinterpreted by the designers at Fabrica, and renamed Bunch of Tools by Trans-forma, a piece that has now become part of the Edizioni Zanotta, which are all numbered. Winner of various awards including the prestigious Compasso d’oro in 1979, Sciangai is on show in major museums worldwide, such as the MOMA in New York, the Kunstgewerbemuseum in Berlin and the Triennale Design Museum in Milan. An iconic piece and a true archetype of its kind.
