The historic Italian company Alias pursues its design research in line with “Something Else” and presents its new collections, the result of collaborations with notable designers: Mario Botta, Paolo Rizzatto, Riccardo Blumer, Patrick Norguet, and Daniel Rybakken.
Among the new products, the Saturno table collection and the Zeta stool mark the renewed collaboration between Alias and the architect from Ticino Mario Botta; the French designer Patrick Norguet presents the Maddy sofa system, while Paolo Rizzatto unveils the B-kini cantilever chair. Riccardo Blumer continues his experimentation with Alias with the Lanuda chair and Daniel Rybakken expands his collection with the Lira stools, available in two heights.
Alias Saturno Collection
With the Saturno collection, Alias renews its collaboration with the architect from Ticino Mario Botta, which began in the 1980s. The table and coffee table system is characterised by an architectural design in an artful interplay of solids and voids that gives the product lightness and visual dynamism.
The solid central base characterises the entire collection: four MDF elements, dyed in paste with options of black, light grey or chocolate brown, are anchored to a shiny black powder-coated steel cylinder. The result is a sculptural structure, characteristic of Botta’s architectural language, on which surfaces rest, available in various sizes and finishes.
In the 72 cm height version, the tabletop, available in three sizes (ø 140 cm, ø 160 cm, and ø 180 cm), consists of a circular ring element offered in Carrara marble, acid-etched glass, or MDF in the same colour as the base. The tabletop, hollowed out in the centre, comes with a round transparent extra-clear glass insert, designed for those who wish to extend the usable surface. Like a skylight in architecture, this design allows light to pass through, illuminating the sculptural base and creating a refined interplay of transparencies. In the Saturno 48 coffee table, the single leg is proportionally smaller than the dining table and supports a top available in glass (etched, smoked or transparent) or natural stone (Carrara marble, Val Camonica porphyry or Roman travertine).
The Saturno collection is enriched with two exclusive MB Edition versions, representing the perfect stylistic combination of the Ticinese architect. The first features a grey MDF base with black edges, standing 72 cm high, supporting an elegant 160 cm diameter frosted glass top, completed by a refined central clear glass insert. The coffee table in this special edition, on the other hand, stands out with its black MDF base supporting a frosted glass top with a central hole, a detail that echoes the original design.
The geometric purity of shapes and the rigorous compositional balance emphasise the continuity between design and architecture, the hallmark of the design language of Mario Botta.
“In designing the table for Alias, I drew inspiration from Saturn: its shape, with the iconic ring surrounding it, is echoed in the balance between the top and the base. I wanted an object that expressed both lightness and stability, just like a planet in orbit”, says Mario Botta.
Alias Zeta Stool
The Zeta stool, designed by architect Mario Botta, recalls the letter from which it takes its name: two square elements, serving as base and seat, are joined by a diagonal element secured by a comb joint at each end. A second diagonal blades merges with this element, helping to strengthen its structure and giving the design a dynamic and rigorous balance. The result is an object with a strong graphic impact and a distinctive design, an expression of the formal research of Botta, focused on the relationship between horizontal and oblique lines.
Made of paste-coloured MDF, the stool is offered in both a monochrome version (black, light grey or chocolate brown) and in a polychrome version, in which the seat and the base are strictly black, the diagonal element is light grey and the blades are finished in chocolate brown, echoing the use of natural materials and the contrast between light and shadow typical of the poetics of Botta.
The exclusive MB Edition features the introduction of two yellow blades in the polychromatic version. This detail further enhances the interplay of colours and the compositional dynamics of the stool, highlighting the fusion of geometric rigour and material experimentation.
Strongly influenced by the principles of Neoplasticism of Gerrit Rietveld, Zeta embodies a strict geometric logic that articulates the interplay between shape, function, and construction into an essential and recognisable graphic sign. An ideal architectural furnishing piece, in which the precision of construction and the interplay between horizontal and oblique lines express the essence of the design approach of Mario Botta.
“Zeta tells a story full of memory. It is a tribute to Gerrit Rietveld, translated into an object crafted with the sensitivity of our times”, explains Mario Botta.
Alias B-KINI chair
With B-kini chair, Paolo Rizzatto introduces the first cantilever chair from the Alias collection, reinterpreting an icon of 1930s rationalist design that stands out for its cantilever seat and characteristic tubular steel structure.
The design combines technical strict logic and aesthetic sensitivity, with a focus on innovative materials and visual lightness. The stylistic signature of Paolo Rizzatto is reflected in the search for a perfect balance between structure and upholstery, functionality and expressiveness, resulting in an essential and sophisticated seat.
Available in various finishes, B-kini is characterised by a continuous load-bearing structure made of round-section steel profile and a seat-backrest system created, respectively, with a felt band, closed in a loop by an elastic fabric insert, easily removable.
Suitable for residential and professional contexts, B-kini is a solid yet handy chair, where the contrast between the materials enhances the purity of the shapes with a design that combines constructive precision and visual lightness.
“The diversity of the two materials provides a juxtaposition to the simplicity of the two shapes. B-kini arises from this dialogue, a solid, light, elastic, handy, colourful, dressed and interchangeable chair”, says Paolo Rizzatto.
Alias Lanuda chair
With Lanuda, Riccardo Blumer evolves his design research on seats, moving from the wood of Laleggera (1996) to aluminium. Should Laleggera and Lanuda embody the same principle of essential subtraction – the former employing minimal wood thicknesses in a box structure, the latter utilising aluminium sheets crafted with a reticular logic – it is with Lanuda that this research reaches its extreme limit.
The seat takes shape from ten aluminium sheets with a thickness of just 2 mm, which undergo a process of laser cutting and drilling to the maximum possible limit, reducing the surface area to a minimum and making the seat, in fact, nude (in Italian “La nuda” means “Nude”).
Lanuda is available in total black, a colour choice that emphasises the graphic nature of its essential lines and the strong character of its design. With this project, Alias confirms its commitment to experimentation and innovation, a journey already established by the success of Laleggera, consistently in production since 1996.
Alias Maddy Collection
With Maddy, Patrick Norguet designs for Alias an upholstered furniture system that expresses comfort in its most essential form. The project transcends trends to evolve into a synthesis of architecture, compositional structure and production principle. The French designer simplifies the archetype of the sofa, often characterised by complex constructions, reducing it to the essential without sacrificing quality and functionality.
The Maddy collection includes an armchair, a footstool and end modules with armrests or central modules, allowing for flexible and elegant configurations that can be adapted to any space.
True to the Alias philosophy, which emphasises the reduction of geometries in favour of an innovative use of materials, Maddy stands out for its visual lightness and formal cleanliness, combined with an enveloping comfort. The elegance of the collection emerges from the attention to detail, such as the seams and stitching, which enhance its uniqueness and aesthetic value.
“I wanted the design to be an expression of the original concept: a tubular metal structure, a kind of exoskeleton with a coloured finish, on which the seat and backrest are rolled up and positioned. As always, I emphasised the importance of the comfort level that is essential for all products. Maddy is first and foremost a visual expression of its comfort, an invitation affirmed by the arrangement of the seat”, explains Patrick Norguet.
Alias Lira Stools
The Lira collection expands with the introduction of two new stools, designed to provide the same essentiality and refinement as the original model. Designed by Daniel Rybakken, the Lira stool maintains the graphic and minimalist aesthetic of the chair, while introducing an innovative and unconventional approach: the Lira stool, available in two different heights, reinterprets the iconic vertical wooden beams to integrate a narrow, curved seat designed for optimal ergonomic comfort. The absence of a backrest allows the stools to be stacked horizontally rather than vertically, an extremely practical solution suitable for public and dynamic spaces.
“Often with a family extension like this only the proportions of the chair is altered; the seat is made higher and less deep, and the backrest is lowered. The Lira stool goes in a different direction,but feels at the same time so obvious. The core and most visual element of the chair: the vertical beams of wood, is reused but with a narrow and curved seat supported between them. This removes the need for a backrest, and opens up the possibility to “stack” multiple stools horizontally instead of vertically. I find this interesting as it is quicker and easier to use in a public space. Several iterations of the seat were tested to ensure a high level of comfort and ergonomics. The width of the seat opens up the possibility to have multiple sitting positions, either at a right angle, or diagonally”, says Daniel Rybakken.