Skip to main content
Hamburger Menu Close

Advertisement

People

This renowned Italian furniture and design company has furnished more than a hundred luxury residences in Singapore

Saporiti Italia has completed high-end condominiums in Singapore such as Le Nouvel Ardmore Apartment, Gramercy Park and the Pearl Island Villas in Sentosa Cove. We speak with group chairman Raffaele Saporiti on the family run company’s contributions to the architecture and design world over the past 75 years.

This renowned Italian furniture and design company has furnished more than a hundred luxury residences in Singapore

Raffaele Saporiti, group chairman and CEO of Saporiti Italia. (Photo: Saporiti Italia)

New: You can now listen to articles.

This audio is generated by an AI tool.

While most children at the age of 10 were spending time playing in their neighbourhoods, Raffaele Saporiti was travelling the world with his father. Sergio Saporiti founded the famous Italian furniture company Saporiti Italia in 1948, which by the 70s had showrooms and projects all over the world.

Exploring diverse cultures, and witnessing how his father communicated with suppliers and clients were all part of the informal education of the now group chairman and CEO of the company. 

“When I was 13, he brought me to Saudi Arabia. I still remember back then in 1974, it was all desert,” recalled Raffaele. One of his favourite cities is Hong Kong, where he has vivid memories of the distinct east-meets-west influences. “You could see the presence of the British Empire and the Chinese mixed together; you could see the towers growing, with the Peak in the backdrop,” he described.  

Raffaele was in Singapore in September for FIND: Design Fair Asia, a furniture and interior solutions trade fair held at Marina Bay Sands. Saporiti Italia’s theme of "Past, Present, Future" highlighted the company’s contributions to the architecture and design world over the past 75 years. It also celebrated its 15 years of presence in Singapore.

Iconic furniture designs exhibited represented the company’s "past". The Miamina chair designed by Salvati & Tresoldi in 1984 won a Compasso d’Oro Award in 1984 while the Jumbo chair, designed by late-Italian architect and designer Alberto Rosselli, was constructed from fibreglass and by modular industrial production that was progressive for its time. Rosselli was also the company’s creative director from 1966 to 1976.

The award-winning Miamina chair designed by Salvati & Tresoldi in 1984. (Photo: Saporiti Italia)

“My father gave me this big gift: Curiosity. To look at things, listen to people, be open-minded, and learn from different cultures,” said Raffaele on the late Saporiti who passed away seven years ago. “The other thing was that he was very friendly and talked a lot like me,” mused Raffaele, who despite being 62 years old presents an extremely youthful demeanour with his enthusiasm and gregarious personality.  

Prior to joining the family business, he studied economics at the Milan Catholic University. He became general manager in 1997 and took on his current position of group manager in 2006.

Raffaele is obviously full of respect and admiration for his father. “My father was a simple person. He was not educated and came from a poor family, but he was very courageous. After working in a small furniture company in Italy for a few years, he proposed to the owners to [explore more interesting avenues]. They told him ‘Just do what we tell you to do’. He left and created his own laboratory,” narrated Raffaele on the company’s beginnings.

Raffaele became general manager of the family business in 1997 and took on his current position of group manager in 2006. (Photo: Saporiti Italia)

One important decision that Sergio made was to engage Alberto Rosselli as the firm’s creative director. Aside from the Jumbo chair, other iconic pieces he designed include the Confidential sofa – one of the first modular systems ever made and engineered to be entirely produced by polyurethane-injected foam.

The company also collaborated with other important architects and studios from around the world, such as Marti Guixe, Shin Takamatsu, Fuksas Architects and John C Portman, the latter of whom designed The Regent, Marina Mandarin (now PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay, Singapore), the Mandarin Oriental, Singapore and Pan Pacific Singapore. Saporiti Italia’s designs are now exhibited in the most prestigious design and art museums worldwide, such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

The progressive Saporiti senior looked to American Modernism and Scandinavian design, marrying aspects of these movements with Italian elegance. “He was one of the first furniture manufacturers in Italy to buy fabrics from Switzerland that were producing the best fabrics at that time. They were more expensive but the quality was better,” highlighted Raffaele. Saporiti Italia was also the first furniture company to collaborate with fashion brand Missoni in 1972, whose fabrics furnish the Miamina chair. 

Confidential sofa by Alberto Rosselli, one of the first modular systems ever made. (Photo: Saporiti Italia)

Nowadays, monobrand furniture showrooms are a dime a dozen but back then, it was not yet a thing. “Saporiti Italia was the first company in the world of design to do a monobrand showroom, as well as the first to create a global network. In the 70s, my father already had six Saporiti Italia showrooms in the US. In the 80s, there were showrooms in Milan, Paris and Frankfurt and by the end of the 80s, in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Osaka,” Raffaele enumerated.

Then, Saporiti Italia was already working on interiors alongside furniture. In the 70s, Sergio decided to pivot, making that the main business. Three segments now define the company: Saporiti Italia does furniture, Saporiti Interiors furnishes internal spaces and Saporiti AeD works on architectural projects. Raffaele’s brother Andrea is the design director at the company that has outfitted luxury homes, hospitality and commercial spaces worldwide through its offices in Singapore, Italy, Dubai and Lagos.

In Singapore alone, it has completed more than 100 residences, particularly in high-end condominiums such as Le Nouvel Ardmore Apartment, Gramercy Park and the Pearl Island Villas in Sentosa Cove. One notable work is the creation of five show villas for The Nassim by CapitaLand, each inspired by a different Italian city. “That gave us a chance to showcase different solutions; clients can combine one or two ideas from the different villas,” Raffaele commented.   

The company worked on the creation of five show villas for The Nassim by CapitaLand, each inspired by a different Italian city. (Photo: Saporiti Italia)
One of the many apartments furnished by Saporiti Italia in Le Novel Ardmore. (Photo: Saporiti Italia)

Another interesting project in Singapore is Keppel Land's Reflections at Keppel Bay where Saporiti Italia designed the towers’ lobby, the clubhouses and a three-storey super penthouse with a custom-made chandelier made in Murano in Italy, which is famous for its glasswork artisans.

Each project features plenty of customisation, making them unique. “We have the capacity to find solutions [to issues], be it one kilometre from the Saporiti office in Milan or thousands of kilometres away here in Singapore,” said Raffaele, adding that care for detail is another Saporiti Italia trademark.

For Reflections at Keppel Bay, Saporiti Italia designed the towers’ lobby, the clubhouses and a three-storey super penthouse. (Photo: Saporiti Italia)

To be relevant, one also has to be open-minded, he observed. “Saporiti Italia has always been very flexible, open to [change]. For example, we approach sustainability not because it is a trend but because it is right. Our Jumbo chair was originally in fibreglass; we now do it in basalt fibre – a natural material that is recyclable,” Raffaele pointed out. 

He himself is always game to try new things. When asked what his favourite Singaporean food was, Raffaele – a self-declared lover of Asian food – replied without hesitation, “I eat everything and I like almost everything. This morning, I introduced our export manager to the lapis cake. I like it because it’s [tasteful] and colourful – like a piece of design.”  

The Italian is full of admiration for Singapore “because everything works; it’s a small city-state with no resources, little land, and limited manpower and yet it is able to [achieve so much]. I look with a lot of interest at the changes Singapore has been through because in the 70s, I was already here with my father on his work trips. Then, it was a bit boring, just a financial hub. But it has become interesting with [amazing] architecture and attractions like Gardens by the Bay,” he remarked.

At the fair, the presentation of ongoing prolific Singapore interior design work represented Saporiti Italia’s "present". A new collection of technology-driven furniture represented the future while telling the story of the social cultures of drinking – tea for Asian cultures and wine for Europeans. Fuksas Architects designed the Gong Fu Cha table and The Wine, Liqueur and Cocktail Cabinet.

The former was showcased at FIND. The glossy lacquered table set with integrated chairs and a trolley has an in-built LED screen for presenting images and videos to guests, twin induction cooking units for boiling water, water storage and a water waste basin.

The technology-driven Gong Fu Cha Table, designed by Fuksas Architects. (Photo: Saporiti Italia)

“You can ask the table what’s the perfect temperature to boil water for pu-er tea or oolong tea, for instance. Technology is integrated with a touch of Italian design,” mentioned Raffaele on the sleek piece with soft edges.

Traditionalists may turn their noses up at such high-tech furniture but Raffaele is unfazed. “I believe a lot in the integration of smart technology into furniture. In my office in the Saporiti Italia headquarters, I have a table that charges my mobile phone automatically when put it on the tabletop.”

Other creations he envisions include a bedside table that charges one’s phone, becomes a night light with a mere touch and that wakes one up with music. Reflected Raffaele, “Things like that are the future – not just because they're fashionable, but because they work.”

Source: CNA/st

Advertisement

RECOMMENDED

Advertisement