Edra Alice Chair in Polycarbonate with Lighting

Italian designer Jacopo Foggini creates playful modern furniture — he uses industrial materials in novel and exciting ways that frequently break with the constraints of conventional design. His chandeliers, vases and sculptural pieces have an ethereal quality, and each new work merges art and functionalism in rich and interesting ways.

Foggini was born in Turin in 1966. As a young man in the 1990s, he joined the family business in the industrial sector. Ever inventive, he modified a piece of machinery to heat a polymer called methacrylate and make a filament that could be molded with his hands. Foggini used the filament to produce large installations of the colorful spiraling material.

In 1997, Foggini held his first exhibition in the Milan boutique of friend and fashion designer Romeo Gigli. His next major career highlight came in 2006 when he was asked to design the Lampadario da Teatro for the Turin Winter Olympic Games. The chandelier illuminated the stage during a performance by opera singer Luciano Pavarotti. In 2011, he also designed a six-meter diameter matryoshka doll for Moscow Design Week.

One of the most important relationships over the course of Foggini's career has been with furniture manufacturer Edra. Foggini and Edra routinely collaborate on striking tables and chairs, among them the sinuous Capriccio table and the sculptural swivel Ester chair.

Foggini has exhibited at more than 60 venues and galleries all over the world and he has shown his work numerous times at Milan Design Week. He has also designed installations at prestigious hotels, restaurants, theaters and showrooms. Just some of his many projects include the Nhow Hotel in Milan, the Riad Enija Hotel in Marrakech, the Milan Bentley Showroom, the Etro showroom in Istanbul and Vapiano restaurants.

In 2021, Foggini launched the new A’mare collection with Edra at Milan Design Week. A collection of outdoor furniture that sparkles like the surface of the sea, A’mare’s transparent polycarbonate tables and chairs bring color and style out into any garden area or patio space.

On 1stDibs, find Jacopo Foggini lighting, decorative objects, wall decorations and more.

The name Edra is derived from the Greek word exedra, meaning a space for conversation and socialization. True to its name, the Italian furniture manufacturer creates beautiful seating like sofas and armchairs, as well as coffee tables and end tables to go with them. Its unique and heritage-quality modern pieces are sure to become the classics of tomorrow. 

Edra was established in 1987 in Tuscany with the goal of combining traditional craftsmanship and technological innovation into a new style of collectible design. The company wanted to challenge established ideas about how living room furniture such as chairs, tables and cabinets are to look and function, deploying cutting-edge materials and working with unique shapes to produce exciting designs that disrupted the design world.

Part of Edra’s success has been due to its fruitful collaborations with acclaimed designers. The company has worked with Italian designer Francesco Binfare since 1992, producing the iconic Tangeri, Angels, Flap and Essential seating collections. Jacopo Foggini, known for his own innovative designs, is another frequent Edra collaborator. In 2022, Edra and Foggini released the sea-inspired A'mare collection of translucent blue outdoor furniture made from polycarbonate.

Edra has also represented Italy on several international sporting stages. The company was an official furniture supplier for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang and the 2022 Alpine Skiing World Championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo.

Since its founding, the company's contemporary furniture has been added to museums around the world. Today, Edra's designs are held in the collections of New York City’s Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.

In 2022, Edra also exhibited at the Salone Del Mobile, where the brand debuted a chic, pebble-inspired sofa — On the Rocks — that demonstrates the company's continued commitment to originality and ingenuity.

On 1stDibs, find Edra seating, tables and case pieces.