Seven furnishings by emerging designers at Lake Como Design Festival

Steel bench on gravel in front of lawn with lake in background

A foldable metal armchair and a nougat-like bench are among the standout products on show at this year's Lake Como Design Festival.

The pieces were chosen from the Contemporary Design Selections show, curated by Giovanna Massoni, which is once again taking over the grounds and outbuildings of the Villa del Grumello, a historic property on the shores of Lake Como.

An open call earlier this year invited submissions from independent designers, makers, artists and architects, responding to Lake Como Design Festival's overall theme of fragments.

This year's theme ushered in creative works that explore the concept of fragmentation in personal, environmental, political, social and literal contexts, reframing it as a basis for creativity rather than destruction.

Some of the participating designers were also invited to stay on-site in Villa del Grumello's guesthouse to foster a sense of community among the designers, as well as potential future collaborations.

Read on for six furniture pieces – and one lighting design – that stood out amongst this year's entrants.

Steel bench on gravel in front of lawn with lake in background

Resourcer bench by Atelier Thomas Serruys

A pair of steel Resourcer benches by Belgian designer Thomas Serruys sits directly outside the Villa del Grumello.

Each comprises a free-cut steel seat supported by nine tapered legs, culminating in small feet shaped like suction cups designed by Serruys to "suggest the act of drawing in, reclaiming and holding onto resources".

A tubular backrest follows the long curve of the seat, with each element galvanised into uniformity by a silver-coloured metallic patina that was applied across all surfaces.

Yellow and blue bench and stool made from metal tubing

Circus by Spinzi

Roman architectural ruins served as the basis for the design of this seating collection by Tommaso Spinzi, the designer behind furniture brand Spinzi.

The stools and benches consist of metal tops supported by rhythmic sequences of metal tubing, cut to differing lengths to represent the columns and pillars of ancient buildings.

Bright colours lend the pieces a 1970s space-age aesthetic.

Orange lamp with red cord in greenhouse

Between Light and Darkness by Yunju Jung

This table lamp by interdisciplinary artist Yunju Jung features a translucent shade made from fabric dipped in resin.

The textile is sewn and immersed in resin before being shaped by hand and stiffened during the drying process. "Through this process, the artificial and natural harmonise to create a single object," Jung explained.

The result is a tactile lamp that casts an orange-yellow glow.

Bench with wood slab inclusions on terracotta floor

Nougat Bar by Studio Högl Borowsky

Stefanie Högl and Matthias Borowski, founders of Viennese Studio Högl Borowsky, looked to the appearance of nougat to inform this range of functional sculptures.

The studio replicated and scaled up the look of the confectionery – formed of a hardened sweet paste studded with nuts – by suspending slices and slabs of various species of solid wood in an opaque block of resin.

Studio Högl Borowsky created a bespoke collection of the pieces for luxury brand Longchamp that sees the resin coloured in pastel tones.

Modular chair components on a blue tiled floor

Lefleté stool-side table by Abreham

Ethiopian designer Abreham has created a modular seating system made from wood and brass that can be reconfigured to form a pair of upright stools, a pair of leaning seats, a pair of chairs or a bench.

Informed by traditional Ethiopian headrests, the pieces can be slotted together, connected or pulled apart and used separately.

"I collect the scattered fragments of my history, fallen along the way, and recompose them in a new form," said Abreham, who is based in Milan. "In a time that separates, Lefleté is my way of stitching."

Aluminium chair in its opened and flat-packed forms

LoungeChair by FlatFlat

Planes of laser-cut aluminium connected with discrete hinges allow this chair by American designer and maker Aidan Reinhold to fold up "in seconds".

New York City, where the designer is based, sees a large amount of furniture discarded on the streets. This informed Reinhold's decision to design a chair that can move compactly with its owner from place to place.

Its all-aluminium composition makes it lightweight, infinitely recyclable and resistant to bending and corrosion, according to the designer, who is a Parsons School of Design graduate and founder of furniture brand FlatFlat.

Table made from marble fragments and stainless steel brackets on an outdoor gravel area

Mirach by Plasma-f

Slivers of reclaimed marble are held together using only tension in this table created by Milanese furniture brand Plasma-f.

The company, founded in 2023 by architect and designer Alberto Smaldone, worked with local marble contractor Frigerio Marmi e Graniti to source stone offcuts for use in the piece, including red, brown, green, beige and white varieties.

The table's stainless steel frame features brackets on each end, which are tightened to bring the fragments together without the need for any form of additional adhesive.

The photography is by Alice Laycock.

Contemporary Design Selection is on show at Lake Como Design Festival from 14 to 21 September 2025. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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