La prestigiosa rivista americana I.D. ha selezionato ‘Rotola’ come uno dei 150
migliori progetti di industrial design dell’anno e l’ha pubblicata sul 53rd Annual
Design Review 2007, dedicandogli la prima di copertina e più pagine all’interno.

> rotola

ROTOLA

So what if this furniture wheel might not spin as multi-directionally as its manufacturer promises? “I just like the roundness, the shininess of the object,” Dunnigan said of Rotola’s injected-polyurethane tires wrapped around hollow zinc-alloy shells. “If I were a crow, I’d steal it for my nest.” The 90-millimeter wheels, available in a surprising palette of red and orange as well as more predictable chrome and black, were designed by Turin, Italy–based architects Adriano Design for the Milanese manufacturer OGTM, who promises that Rotola—in their words a “virtually nonexistent wheel-hub” that “magically rotates around nothing”—can support up to 150 pounds. The jurors doubted those claims of flexibility and also feared the locking mechanism would prove hopelessly fragile. “If you put your foot on the lever, it will break off,” McQuaid predicted. But Alhadeff defended Rotola for its graphic impact: When the wheel is spun to the right of any furniture leg, he pointed out delightedly: “It forms the b from the Bloomingdale’s logo.”

> ID MAGAZINE site