Cordea marks first collaboration between Francesco Favaretto and Masiero

In this interview, Italian designer Francesco Favaretto talks about the inspiration and journey behind his Cordea lighting collection, developed in collaboration with the Italian decorative lighting company Masiero.

The collection reinterprets the classic industrial lamp with an aluminum lamellar head, in a contemporary aesthetic and material key, seeking that “up to date” extra touch given by the strap, called Cordea in Venetian dialect.

The challenge for Favaretto was to design lighting that works well both indoors and outdoors.

The Cordea outdoor collection is a modern design interpretation of iconic lights found in industrial warehouses. It belongs to Masiero’s Giardini catalog and draws inspiration from the genetic code of the industrial world.

The collection includes suspension and wall lamps, as well as a table version with a practical rechargeable battery. The combination of materials, finishes, and colors softens the rational stiffness of the industrial design, allowing for warm and comfortable atmospheres in any outdoor space.

For indoor use, the Cordea collection represents an addition to Masiero’s Dimore catalog and features pendant luminaires in three brilliant finishes for the metal body. These pendant lights can be combined with three different colors proposed for the leather strip, offering flexibility in design options.

To get a better insight into the collections, we asked the designer some questions.

What inspired you in creating this collection? And how was its name chosen?

Francesco Favaretto:

“Cordea arises from the desire to reinterpret the classic industrial lamp with an aluminum lamellar head, in a contemporary key from an aesthetic and material point of view, seeking that extra “up to date” touch given by the ribbon, called, in the Venetian dialect, Cordea.”

What was the project’s journey? Were there any changes/evolutions/overhauls during development?

Francesco Favaretto:

“Cordea marks our first collaboration with the Masiero company and, in fact, from the presentation of the project to its realization, the collection has not undergone significant formal aesthetic changes. From a material point of view, the lamellar head, which historically is, and should have been made of aluminum, has had a pleasant “turn” in plastic material, in polypropylene precision, having found availability from the company to invest in molds.”

Can you describe how the choice of materials, colors, and finishes was made?

Francesco Favaretto:

“It is our design nature to try to make several materials dialogue in a single product. For Cordea, there are even 4 materials, and production techniques that coexist. Metal sheet turned for the lighting body, the company‘s production DNA, the lamellar head printed in injection-molded plastic, and the strap in (2 materials) from which it takes its name.”

How, in your opinion, does this collection complete and represent an evolution of the Masiero catalog? What are its strengths on a commercial level?

Francesco Favaretto:

“Cordea’s strength is that it is a collection for both indoor and outdoor, not taken for granted for a lamp. Designed as Masiero’s first outdoor collection, we didn’t want to stop at the exterior and entered the interior with more luxurious and warm finishes and materials.

However, this does not detract from the fact that the outdoor version can also live very well inside a home. Cordea’s strength on a commercial level, therefore, will be this flexibility, transversality, and ductility of the collection, which allows us a trait d’union between interior and exterior, respecting certifications for outdoor that often limit creativity.”

It is not easy to design lighting that can work well both indoors and outdoors. What were the key points of this development?

Francesco Favaretto:

“It is not easy because outdoor certifications are very limiting! So we started by trying to design the most beautiful collection of lamps for the outside, and then enter the interior. The result satisfies me a lot. I hope it does for you too!”

If you were to recommend it to architects and interior designers, which are the environments for which this collection is best suited?

Francesco Favaretto:

“Cordea was born precisely from my desire to make a “total look” collection that could cover the widest possible number of spaces, making interior and exterior dialogue as a single space. So from the pendant versions to the wall one, up to the table, floor, and even the footstep. There will only be the embarrassment of choice.”