Nairobi

With Nairobi, Baxter opens up a brand new perspective to connect the space between the home and the outdoors. Objects designed to act as intermediaries between one dimension and the other allow us to enjoy the garden as a new experience, similar to an idea of escapism and a personal representation of our time. Sculptural and dynamic, the tables and coffee tables in this collection designed by Roberto Lazzeroni look to the primitivism of African art and borrow its ancestral strength, elaborating it into an organic sign which, by contrast, is reminiscent of the linear purity of oriental Zen thought. “It is a collection that does not need to be stored indoors during autumn and winter. As the seasons go by, each piece blends in with its surroundings until it becomes a familiar presence.” With its warm caramel hue, sandblasted iroko protected by an oil finish conjures up exotic, relaxing visions. It is the face of spring rushing towards summer, that idea of ever-denser and more enveloping light that soothes the spirit. We can see it in the different, changing grains of the wood, making each piece unique. In the low silhouette smoking version and in the taller dining silhouette version, two compact, secure legs supporting a majestic table, we find the sinuosity of an informal character: an invitation not to choose a set side to sit on, the approach to adventure becomes outdoor-friendly. Crossing the threshold into the dining or study area, however, those same characteristics interpreted in the version featuring sandblasted solid ash that has been stained black take on a more solid personality. It is the versatility with which Nairobi succeeds in giving substance to the idea of the world we have built up through travelling and living, the synthesis of the freest experiences and those regulated by the rules of coexistence; it indicates a more relaxed way of welcoming, a conversation without labels. While furnishing the outdoors becomes a way to build a bridge to the imaginary, with the same pieces, at home, Baxter rewrites a page in the rulebook of contemporary living.