TAN, the new experimental design project by Soft Baroque

Saša Štucin and Nicholas Gardner of the Soft Baroque duo have designed a functional sculpture entitled TAN, inspired by the element of the sun and its potential to be both creative and destructive.
The experimental design project, presented by the Marsèll brand, was developed in collaboration with PIN-UP Magazine, a New York-based architecture and design magazine.

TAN is a preview of SUN CITY, Soft Baroque's first solo exhibition in Milan, which will be presented in April 2021 at Marsèll's exhibition spaces in collaboration with PIN-UP. The exhibition project is realised in collaboration with Felix Burrichter, editor and creative director of PIN-UP magazine.



The structure, which has a pyramidal composition, consists of the interconnection of 7 benches that seem to merge with each other.
This seating evokes pre-Christian sites of sun adoration.

Each element is composed of a wooden core and covered with polyurethane rubber pads that recreate a soft bubble surface, specially positioned at the pressure points of a relaxed body.
The tapered steel legs, finished with rubber heads, are reduced to a minimum thickness to accentuate the volume of the upper part of the benches.

The benches were originally produced in an artisan workshop in Slovenia and were entirely hand-covered by Marsèll's workers in the production facility in Venice with classic calfskin leather in a bright yellow colour. The leather looks like a surrogate for human skin, complete even with drops of sweat.



Another point of inspiration for the creation of 'TAN' is the more recent fixation on tanning and the contemporary aesthetics of 'holiday culture'. It is no coincidence that the seven benches were photographed at dawn by Leonardo Scotti for PIN-UP on a beach in the Adriatic Sea.