Species: American red oak
Manufacturer: RIVA 1920
Architect: Matteo Thun

If you had asked Italian architect and designer Matteo Thun the clichéd question ‘what’s cooking?’ during the IMM furniture fair in Cologne in January, you could pretty much guarantee that the answer would have been ‘Risotto alla Gorgonzola’. His installation – most definitely that and not a show kitchen – at the entrance to the Living Kitchen area, was one of the few places where a kitchen was doing exactly what it was intended for  - producing delicious, wholesome, simple food.

The kitchen combined Thun’s twin passions for wood and for food. His risotto was cooked ‘al dente’ – just the right amount, neither raw nor fully cooked – and this was also the inspiration for his kitchen concept, ‘La Cucina’. It deliberately harked back to a time before gadgets and mechanisation, when simpler kitchens centred around conviviality. ‘I am not a friend of all these electrical controls,’ Thun said. ‘It is against the nature of our Mediterranean approach of sitting and talking to nonna (grandma).’  

So at the entrance to an exhibition that showcases some of the most advanced technology, Thun took a deliberately simplistic approach. His kitchen focused around three key themes – a central tripod with a cooking pot, an area for preparation, and an area for storage. Among this were seats for the all important activities of talking and eating.  And not surprisingly, amidst elements supplied by some of the best product companies was plenty of his favourite material – wood.

Some of this wood had a special resonance. The American red oak used in the storage elements has a history. The pieces were used originally in a series of ‘beacons’ that Thun designed for last year’s Milan furniture fair. Deliberately unfinished, this timber was always intended for re-use. Originally cut and prepared at the factory of furniture maker Riva 1920, north of Milan, it went back there for reworking into some of the elements of Thun’s ‘Al Dente’ kitchen.

These elements are again deliberately very simple – open shelves where everything is available to the eye. ‘You find immediately what you need for preparation,’ said Thun. ‘It is the opposite of the American kitchen where everything is hidden away. You need a great memory.’

But whereas he decries the need for memory in the preparation of food, memory is one of the reasons that Thun loves to work with wood. In the case of the particular elements of red oak that were used in Milan, he said ‘the beauty is not in the appearance. It is in the memory of how they have been used before.’  And, he added, ‘The patina is the memory effect of the surface of wood, it is what I love. I believe that we all fall in love with the patina of the history of the surface. That is why we wear stonewash jeans that bring history artificially into cotton. With wood, like an old farmer, the wrinkles tell the history of a wonderful life.’

Thun is convinced that ‘Wood is the material of the 20th Century, not concrete. On a rainy day, wood used internally will absorb humidity and make you feel better. It also improves acoustics.’ And there is an additional reason for using American red oak. In this particular instance, he is using a material that has already been used before. But in broader terms, there is a pressing argument for its use. Traditionally, the material, unlike American white oak, has had restricted application in Europe. Riva 1920 for instance, has no history of using the material. Yet American red oak is the most abundant species in American temperate hardwood forests, making up 35% of the total resource. Sustainable management of forests requires that such abundant resources are exploited as fully as possible.

Recognising the importance of this, Thun rethought some key pieces of furniture that he had previously designed for Riva 1920 in American black walnut (another beautiful, but less abundant timber). Thun’s Light table is now also available in red oak and he has designed a matching bench.  It appeared on Riva 1920’s stand at IMM, along with charmingly chunky Ludo stools by Terry Dwan and Riva’s own Second Life bookcase, both existing designs now realised in American red oak.

If Thun is ever disingenuous, it is when he describes his furniture design by saying ‘We are going back to no design, to stupid design. It’s not about shape but about going back to maximum stupidity.’ His benches are certainly simple but they are supremely elegant, with a slenderness that can only come from a superb understanding of how his material works. Indeed he paid tribute to the makers of the benches by saying, ‘Riva understands that detail is not just beauty but also guarantee of durability – aesthetic durability.’

One could certainly imagine sitting on those benches of Thun’s at a table, eating wonderful food and talking. He believes that it is at the heart of healthy living. In Italy, he says, ‘We eat too late, we have no breakfast – but we are healthy because we have conviviality, with the family.’ This is at the heart of the Slow Food movement that originated in Italy, and it is not surprising that Thun is involved, having a share in a chain of restaurants called ‘Vapiano’ (go slowly) that are being rolled out across Europe.

If his interest in food is very Italian, his enthusiasm for wood is more uncommon. ‘Apart from their sailing boats, Italians have no relationship with wood,’ he says. But Thun is setting out to change that. If he succeeds it will not only be the risotto but the whole way of living that will be ‘al dente’ – just right.

By Ruth Slavid