Eros Collection by Angelo Mangiarotti
The Eros project could be considered the second stage of the thirty year long research that, in a certain way, started with the M tables. With Eros, the gravity joint already featured in M, becomes explicit and visible.
The configuration of this erotic (hence the name) male-female joint (to quote Angelo Mangiarotti’s own words: “giunto maschio-femmina che per fortuna funziona ancora” - a male-female joint that luckily still works), is dictated by the characteristics of the material itself and at the same poses some requirements to the material itself. Eros “needs” the weight offered by marble, the Master’s favourite matter, to ensure its stability. The truncated-cone legs’ geometry is the best possible to guarantee proper weight distribution.
The open eyelet’s shape is derived from a very specific manufacturing need. Working structurally so close to the edge of the top the fracturing of the marble during installation became more than a concrete possibility. The “weak” and structurally irrelevant, not load bearing part of the top was therefore removed during production resulting in one of the most sensual details in post-war furniture design.
