Tama
by Valerio SommellaTama
Ethimo and Valerio Sommella have reworked the traditional concept of side table to create a series of ‘precious’ single-material furnishing accessories.
Tama is a collection of coffee tables in enamelled ceramic with a pure simple design that belies their sophisticated production process, the result of carefully balanced essential aesthetics and high-quality artisan manufacture. Their Japanese name recalls the idea of something precious and harmonious and their circular, compact shape copies the silhouette of a typical African drum, suggesting a sense of sharing and rhythm.
Valerio Sommella
Valerio Sommella is an Italian industrial designer, born in Cortona, Tuscany, and raised in Milan, where he graduated from the Design Department of Milan Polytechnic. He spent the initial years of his career working between Milan and Amsterdam before establishing Valerio Sommella Design Studio in 2009. He partners with Italian and international companies, designing a wide range of product typologies. Each project serves as an avenue for him to express his design philosophy, which delves into the language of objects through formal, material, and technological research. He perceives his creations not as chapters of the same book, but as short stories, each with its own plot, characters, and conclusion, all unified by a consistent narrative. Throughout his career, he has collaborated with renowned companies such as Alessi, Alcantara, Apple, Moooi, Nemo, Kdln, Honda, Falmec, Konica Minolta, Panasonic, RH, and many others.
