When furniture fairs – and with them, the opportunity to meet clients and dealers – were cancelled in 2020 due to the global pandemic, Zanotta US business director Francesco Secchiaroli took matters into his own hands, and gave new meaning to remote working. Eschewing typical digital meetings, he masked up and found a safe way to travel North America (from New York to San Diego, then up through California and across to Toronto) and take the company’s new collections, as well as a few iconic pieces from the catalogue, to those who needed to see them.
Along the way, Secchiaroli was taken by breathtaking views, so decided to photograph the furniture alongside these striking backdrops. The result is a charming portfolio that mixes great furniture design with impressive natural landscapes and man-made marvels.
The ‘Albero’ planter, designed in 1983 by Achille Castigllioni, photogaphed by Francesco Secchiaroli in Monument Valley
Locations visited on this epic design journey include the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Las Vegas, and Joshua Tree National Park. Secchiaroli photographed the 1960s ‘Sacco’ chair, Achille Castiglioni’s ‘Albero’ plant holder, as well as Carlo Mollino pieces, all gaining a new narrative layer as they made themselves at home in dramatic surroundings. New products from the Zanotta collection also feature, including ‘Rider’, a tilting lounge chair by Ludovica+Roberto Palomba; the elegant ‘Nena’ chair by Lanzavecchia + Wai; Patrick Norguet's ‘Dan’ chair; Philippe Nigro’s ‘Louise’ chair; and the leather-bound ‘Tucano’ desk by Monica Förster.
Secchiaroli photographed the collection against some of North America’s greatest natural and man-made backdrops. Setting solitary furniture pieces against the landscape, the portfolio of images, he says, ‘captures both the beauty and isolation we are all feeling while working remotely’.
Lanzavecchia + Wai’s elegant ‘Nena’ chair shown on the Grand Canyon
The ‘Rider’ tilting lounge chair by Ludovica+Roberto Palomba, photographed in California’s Avenue of the Giants
Another shot of the Grand Canyon, featuring Monica Förster's ‘Tucano’ leather-bound desk
On Bryce Canyon, Secchiaroli photographed the ‘Louise’ armchair by Philippe Nigro
In Seattle, Patrick Norguet’s sleek, steel-framed ‘Dan’ chair
A view of Carlo Mollino’s ‘Reale’ desk alongside the ‘Nena’ chair by Lanzavecchia + Wai, photographed in Joshua Tree
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