A DIFFERENT
KIND OF FUTURE

 

In a soft, powder-blue room tucked inside the energetic pulse of SaloneSatellite at Salone del Mobile, a different kind of future quietly unfolded. It wasn’t loud. It didn’t glow. There were no screens, no gimmicks. Just stainless steel, American walnut, soft wool—and the unmistakable warmth of something made by hand.

This is how Unform Studio, a Pennsylvania-based furniture and lighting atelier led by designer Ryan Twardzik, made its return to Milan. A year after their celebrated Pop-Up Collection caught the attention of Monocle, Wallpaper, and The New York Times, the studio re-emerged not with spectacle, but with substance. Their new exhibition—fittingly titled A Different Kind of Future—is an homage to the dreams of the Space Age, but filtered through a deeply human lens.

The show introduced two new collections: Orbit, a sculptural furniture line, and Axis, the studio’s first lighting series. At first glance, the pieces shimmer with retro-futuristic flair—polished stainless steel arcs, sharp lines softened by plush curves—but there’s a quiet intimacy that emerges the longer you stay with them. This is not the future as imagined by machines. It’s a future shaped by touch.

“We were drawn to the optimism of the Space Age,” says Twardzik, standing beside the sinuous frame of the un14 Orbit Chair, upholstered in soft blue wool. “But that vision always felt a little... cold. We wanted to reinterpret that spirit with a sense of warmth. Something inviting. Something irresistible to the hands.”

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And it is. The Orbit Chair is at once severe and soft—a gleaming steel frame holding a seat that beckons you to sink in. Its companion, the un15 Orbit Table, pairs rich walnut with stainless steel in a geometric dance of form and precision. Look once, and the shapes feel simple. Look again, and the joinery—how the legs pierce and hold the top—is nothing short of obsessive.

Across the room, the Axis Collection glows with quiet confidence. Developed in part with London-based lighting designer George Goodwill, the pieces are monolithic but never monastic. The form2 Axis Floor Lamp, with its solid machined base, is like something unearthed from a more elegant dimension. The wall sconces reflect light inward, then out again, diffused by stepped bases that blur the line between sculpture and function.

There’s no pretense here—no overdesign, no showmanship. Just purity of form and trust in material. Twardzik’s design language is one of restraint, of reverence for detail. He’s not trying to predict the future. He’s simply inviting us to feel one.

“There’s this misconception that the future has to be fast, sleek, impersonal,” he says. “But I think it can be slow. Thoughtful. Luxurious in its stillness. That’s the future I want to live in.”

And maybe that’s what makes Unform Studio’s work feel so magnetic. It doesn’t shout to get your attention. It waits. And in that stillness, it reminds you that innovation doesn’t always mean invention—sometimes it just means listening, refining, and letting materials speak for themselves.

In the end, A Different Kind of Future is not just a name. It’s a manifesto. One that whispers, gleams, and quietly stays with you long after you’ve left the blue room behind.

The Collections will be available for purchase from Unform Studio’s website www.unformstudio.com

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