As soft as stone

A modern-day homage to the elegant geometries of Art Deco design, GamFratesi’s IOI Collection showcases the studio’s dedication to honest materiality and fascination with the interplay of form and space. Striking and unique, the IOI Collection takes its name from the structure of the table legs, each which is formed from twin metal tubes linked by a sphere of brass – the letters I-O-I rendered in physical form.

Retaining this slender base, in black or chrome options, GUBI’s new edition introduces a new material and color to the circular tabletop – travertine in Rippled Beige – and refines its shape. The sides are rounded to create a U-shaped edge that arcs evenly on the top and bottom. This softened, organic form underlines the design’s Art Deco references, echoing the curve of the brass and complementing the lines of the tapering tubular legs.

As well as the addition of a gently curving edge, the new editions of the IOI Tables feature tabletops in travertine – a variety of limestone that GamFratesi has been exploring in other recent design collections including Epic and Doric. Sourced in Italy, the use of travertine gives the table strength and sturdiness, gently offset by the soft curves of the edges, and preserves the natural tactility and warm materiality of the stone in the finished design.

“Travertine has been a prized architectural material since the days of the Greeks and Romans, its durability complemented by its extraordinary aesthetic appeal. The stone lends itself beautifully to reinterpretation in the Art Deco context of the IOI Collection, balancing the uniformity of the design’s geometry with the infinitely varied pattern of the surface.”
– Stine Gam and Enrico Fratesi, Designers, GamFratesi

Travertine’s distinctive aesthetic qualities chime with a widespread and growing appreciation for the authenticity of natural materials, and the comforting connection to the earth that they embody. A result of millions of years of geological activity, travertine is typically found around hot springs, where the action of water and heat creates its characteristically warm, textured surfaces. Because of this unique and varied process, travertine can express many different tones and variations, even within the same colors – the many stories of the Earth written in the stone.

Replacing the marble of the earlier edition, the travertine tabletop in Rippled Beige features a beautiful and complex color pattern, in an almost infinite variety of shades ranging from caramel and cream to ocean gray. Travertine resembles a living material, like wood. In the same way that the knots and whorls in the grain of a timber make each piece stand out, so do the variable linear veins and undulating striations found in the slabs of travertine make each stone entirely unique. In the IOI Collection, every tabletop has an expression all of its own and every piece is one of a kind, with new details to be discovered with every glance.

“The IOI Table design is a modern-day masterpiece. The new tabletop – with its softened contours and the beautifully textured lines and tones of the travertine – elevates the design to its perfect expression. It is a tribute to the Art Deco splendor of the Jazz Age, with a materiality and a contemporary spin that makes it truly timeless.”
– Marie Kristine Schmidt, Chief Brand Officer, GUBI

GamFratesi’s IOI design is available as either a coffee or side table, at three different heights and diameters, and can be used individually or arranged in pairs and groups, and complements many color schemes and interior styles.