Boffi, the Italian front-runners in kitchen, bathroom and furniture design, have earned a global reputation for their sophisticated design sensibility and matchless quality. This month, the celebrated company opens its first monobrand store on the African continent in Cape Town’s De Waterkant.

Devotees of the brand, many of them designers and architects, will at last have direct access to Boffi’s understated, elegant lifestyle products right here on home soil.

Enthused about the addition of the Cape Town showroom to their global network, Boffi CEO Roberto Gavazzi says, “South Africa is a tremendously interesting market for Boffi, growing fast in the direction of design furniture. We wanted to get a privileged place in this market as soon as possible. So, we started several years ago to look for a strong professional partner, capable of taking care of the most sophisticated needs of a cultivated local clientele, willing to satisfy their dreams of a really special product. It took some time, but now with the Boffi Studio Cape Town team: Behira, Yaniv, Adam and Neil, we are sure that we can offer the best service that our company needs, to provide quality of life in the homes of our most demanding clients.”

GLOBAL DESIGN ICONS

In a league of its own, Boffi has elevated utilitarian basins, vanities, kitchen units and wardrobes to become covetable works of art in their own right. Through their use of both hi tech and handcrafted methods, synthetic and natural materials, they have created an offering that impacts the way we use our everyday spaces. Their Wood-in Collection, for example, uses Abonos oak that is manually extracted from river basins in the Balkan Peninsula and dates back to between 2000 and 8000BC. Although greatly considered and painstakingly detailed, Boffi’s products convey a sense of refinement and quiet beauty thanks to their design heritage.

A HERITAGE BRAND

Opened by Piero Boffi in 1934, the brand began as a craftsman-led kitchen design company. In later years, sons Dino, Pier Ugo and Paolo joined their father, and Boffi proceeded to expand its offering to include bathrooms and wardrobe systems for a more wholesome lifestyle solution. In the 80 plus years that Boffi has been in existence, the brand has scooped numerous awards like the prestigious Red Dot for its exceptional creations. Products such as 1963’s Minikitchen by Joe Colombo were ground breaking for their time, including in one streamlined trolley unit a hob, refrigerator, drawers, storage units, electrical sockets, a chopping board and pull out work top. The design remains so iconic it recently featured at New York’s MoMA and is part of a permanent exhibition at Triennale in Milan.

HONOURING THE PAST, CELEBRATING THE FUTURE

Under the creative direction of Luigi Massoni, Antonio Citterio and Piero Lissoni, designers from all backgrounds have played a creative role in developing a recognisable Boffi design code and aesthetic. In its history, Boffi has collaborated with countless creative luminaries, including Patricia Urquiola (who designed the Salinas kitchen collection), Marcel Wanders (creator of the Gobi bathtub and washbasin and the Pipe shower) and Naoto Fukasawa (responsible for the Terra bathtub, Sabbia washbasin and bathtub Sabbia and the Lotus washbasin and mirror).

In doing so Boffi’s collections speak a comprehensive design language while offering clients something unique.

Combining time worn production methods such as hand tooling with cutting edge technology, the brand is able to honour tradition, but continually strive for modern perfection.

visit: www.boffict.co.za