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From Home Furnishing Business
NEUTRA & Stefano Gallizioli Present Furnishings Where Culture Meets Function
July 22,
2025 by Karen Parrish in Business Strategy, Designer Weekly, Industry
Stefano Gallizioli and NEUTRA collaborate to create upholstered furnishings unveiled at Milan Design Week 2025. The pieces embody forms that are meant to stand the test of time, weaving connections between materials, and creating space for a silent balance — where beauty is not imposed but revealed. Seating and sculpture meet function, and materiality finds its voice in a refined, harmonious dialogue.
This harmony makes the objects not only timeless, but deeply, intuitively right.
It all began with a sofa — a bespoke piece designed by Gallizioli for the entrance of Emanuele Chicco Busnelli’s offices, the soul behind the company. More than just a seat, it was conceived as a grounded presence: sculptural, solid, and quietly inviting, anchoring the space with understated gravity.
Over time, that initial gesture blossomed into Sao Miguel — a modular constellation of upholstered forms, where soft, fluid lines invite both repose and reflection. Around the central sofa, poufs and surfaces drift like gentle satellites, echoing the scattered terrain of an archipelago. Here, the sofa is no longer just an object — it becomes an inhabitable landscape, a geography of comfort and form.
Alongside Sao Miguel, a second vision emerges — one born entirely anew for NEUTRA: Ordos. Where the former speaks in soft, organic curves, Ordos finds its voice in architecture — in the quiet strength of form and volume. Inspired by the boundless Mongolian desert from which it takes its name, it evokes a horizon where earth and sky dissolve in a seamless breath of sand and stillness.
This vision unfolds in a system of upholstered elements defined by clarity and restraint — a suspended platform composed of distinct, modular forms. Expansive horizontal planes, deep generous seating, and low, continuous backrests echo the vastness of open plains and shifting dunes. The result is not merely furniture, but a place of stillness — a spatial poem that invites pause and contemplation.
Stone and textile — in fabric or leather — converse in tactile harmony with the landscape that inspired them, grounding the composition in a sense of elemental calm and spatial clarity.
The story finds its quiet crescendo in Artemisia — a duet of lightweight seats, defined by a graphic silhouette that seamlessly unites seat and backrest in a single, fluid gesture. Named after the legendary commander Artemisia — the lone woman to lead Xerxes’ fleet — the collection speaks in the language of contrasts: softness and strength held in perfect accord.
Its embracing contours, wrapped in the tactile richness of shaved sheepskin and goat fur, invite stillness and surrender, while the solid wooden frame anchors the form with quiet resolve. Artemisia is not merely a seat, but a companion to the spaces it inhabits — a timeless expression of elegance and intent, equally at home in the intimacy of a residence or the refinement of a hospitality setting. An object to be lived with, and perhaps to be inspired by.
But it is in the choice of materials that the boldest gesture is made. In both sofas, stone — NEUTRA’s signature material — is paired with upholstery, integrating into the design with subtlety and character. It appears in the details, on the surfaces, and in the sculptural joints that enrich and define the pieces. Treated with varying finishings, the stone becomes part of an intimate and tactile narrative.
“Working with NEUTRA means having the freedom to design with depth, knowing that every decision will be approached with respect and sensitivity. It is a continuous dialogue based on mutual listening, where the project unfolds naturally, like a tailored garment,” explains Stefano Gallizioli.
Yet it is in the choice of materials that the boldest gesture quietly unfolds. In both sofas, stone — NEUTRA’s signature element — meets upholstery in a union of substance and softness. Not imposed, but integrated with quiet conviction, stone reveals itself in the details: in the surfaces, the sculptural joints, the subtle accents that enrich and define each piece. Treated with varied finishes, it sheds its usual weight, becoming tactile, intimate. Here, stone is not static; it becomes part of a sensorial narrative.
“Working with NEUTRA means designing with depth,” says Stefano Gallizioli. “It is a freedom grounded in trust — knowing that each choice will be met with care, with sensitivity. It is a dialogue of listening, a process that flows naturally, like a garment tailored to measure.”
What binds the collection is a shared design philosophy: one that is familiar, meticulously crafted, and open to experimentation. Each element is conceived to be interpreted, shaped, and made personal — a living system that welcomes the voice of those who inhabit it.