Salone del Mobile 2024: Roberto Palomba talks about Nalu, a new collection for Talenti

3 May 2024

The Hawaiian wave and the colors of the Mediterranean Sea are the visual cues from which the idea for the Nalu collection arose, and it’s the latest project by the Palomba Serafini studio for Talenti. Presented at the Salone del Mobile in Milan, it is composed of sofas and seats for the outdoor living and dining area, coffee tables and rugs.

With a strong chromatic innovation, since strong, Mediterranean colors take the place of the classic neutral shades usually used for outdoor collections.

Alongside the color palette, another element characterizes the collection: the movement of the backrest of the sofa which folds on itself to evoke, as Roberto Palomba says, the movement of Hawaiian waves.

What is the name of the new collection for Talenti and what are its main features?

It’s called Nalu and it’s a slightly different collection compared to those previously made for Talenti. A slightly lighter collection that carries a more “polarizing” sign, we worked with the company on aluminum casting which becomes a very characterizing element together with the cushion that wraps the backrest and, indeed, resembles a wave.

Hence the name Nalu which is precisely the Hawaiian wave that immediately conveys an idea of holiday and exotic atmosphere that we liked to bring. Then we designed the fabrics with a particular line with a different step to convey this dynamic idea of wave and movement linked to nature.

What elements does the collection consist of?

Now the collection consists of a series of seats, both sofas and armchairs, a table chair both with and without armrests, a series of low tables and a dining table.

As far as materials are concerned, given that we are in an outdoor environment, is there any innovation from this point of view?

We have used materials that are 100% waterproof with lacquered aluminium, waterproof textile and all the soft parts that can easily be used outdoors without any type of problem as we have now extensively tested with Talenti. There are no technological innovations because we have already reached such a level of performance of these products that we still have to “metabolize” what we have available.

What are the color choices relating to this collection and what kind of life do you imagine for these elements?

It is a colorful collection, much more colorful than traditional sofas where beige dominates with very relaxing shades. Nalu is a more energizing collection because we used various colors combined in a striped fabric with a dominant that can be green/blue or red and gray and with the lacquered part which takes up one of the color themes, we will develop others in the future.

The tiles on the table have this ceramic appearance with an almost artisanal idea and therefore on the one hand there is this technological idea of aluminum fusion mixed with fabrics which instead seem stolen from English shirts and the tile which is part of a more Mediterranean world.

This idea of contamination is very strong, like a wave that somehow brings together all these different elements and creates a quite unexpected environment.

And this idea of the total look is also very nice because we have studied a carpet that somehow takes up the theme of the stripe: even if it seemed a bit excessive at the beginning, when we test it, we see that it really conveys an idea of a total look.

It is certainly intended for spaces that are not necessarily very large – even if the product can be available in different sizes, even very large ones – and therefore I have much greater versatility than the large sofas to which we have been somewhat accustomed up to now.

And therefore, it can also be set on terraces, patios and similar spaces. It is a very versatile product and with these bright colors it can be aimed not only at a young audience but at those who generally seek energy.

Watch our exclusive interview with Roberto Palomba on Instagram

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