There are innovative furnishings design companies, and then there is mdf italia, which remains in a classification all its own. For 34 years, the Milan-based company has actually been rigorously pursuing a minimalist style practice that looks for to discover the essence of practical things– and then push it even further. “This is not minimalism as a style, the stripped-back aesthetic you can apply to anything,” Architzer’s Sam Frew wrote in a current feature on the business. “It is minimalism as an approach: a procedure of elimination so extensive that what stays feels close to impossible.”
mdf italia’s creator, Bruno Fattorini, describes the firm’s design approach as one of “subtraction.” As Frew describes, this values can be seen in mdf italia classics such as the Tense table, which at 13 feet (4 meters) in length is just long enough, and its legs simply slender enough, that it appears to defy physics. The modular seating system, Selection, which MDF designed in combination with the powerhouse Danish architecture company Snøhetta, embodies a similar concept with its considerably flexible very little elements that recall the legendary Japanese architecture movement known as Metabolic process. Array won the Jury Award at the 2025 Architizer A+P roduct Awards in the Furnishings Systems category.
Admirers of Array will also be interested in finding out about Goom, another modular sofa system by mdf italia that presses minimalist precepts well past anything Donald Judd pictured. Developed by the French architect and developer Jean Marie Massaud and released in 2025, Goom wasn’t designed as much as it was engineered to optimize comfort while lessening excess of all kinds. It does so by dealing with the force of gravity, adapting to the weight of the body. Think about the experience of “sinking into” an old couch. Now picture that very same level of comfort in a beautiful contemporary couch that keeps its shape. This is what Goom attains through the strenuous combination of structure and material.
Thanks to carefully engineered foam upholstery, the Goom sofa appears to
levitate.” The pursuit of exceptional convenience was the genuine style difficulty: the goal was to combine a covering seat with an appearance that remains regularly made up and improved, identified by complete volumes and pure lines,” describes mdf italia. “This result originates from an extensive study of products and a layered building and construction, with differentiated-density cushioning and pneumatic foams. An innovation conceived to unite assistance and softness, turning the seat into a deeply relaxing experience.”
Comfort and lightness are stressed in the form of the couch, which appears to drift in mid-air thanks to thoroughly concealed feet. Completion cushions float too, due to their innovative method they are attached to the contoured wood end supports. The rhythmic concave of the backrest is another intriguing visual detail that functions as a visual signature for Goom. There is no other couch on the marketplace that quite has this profile.
As a modular couch system, Goom is completely customizable and can be adapted into limitless different setups. “The collection includes single aspects in two different widths and chaise longues, both with an optional armrest, in addition to two corner modules and two poufs,” mdf italia discusses. “Combining these parts permits direct, corner or more articulated structures, adapting the layout to the percentages of any space.”
What sets Goom apart from lots of modular systems on the market is how effortlessly its flexibility is integrated. Instead of sensation like a collection of different components pieced together, each setup looks like a fully dealt with object in its own right. This sense of cohesion reflects mdf italia’s longstanding dedication to unity and clarity, allowing even the most detailed plans to maintain a calm and aesthetically purchased existence.
Goom’s style also carries a subtle psychological layer. By adapting to the user’s weight and posture, the sofa provides an experience that feels user-friendly and almost customized. This responsiveness motivates a stronger connection between the user and the object. In design terms, Goom is not a static piece however a practical system that is triggered by interaction.
Goom is not the first mdf italia product to be developed by Jean Marie Massaud, who opened Studio Massaud in 2000 and has operated in industrial products, lighting and architecture along with furniture. His other styles for mdf italia, that include the Rock Table and Circulation seating system, similarly appear to defy gravity. As Massaud explained in a 2013 interview with Style Milk, “the world of silence, of wonder, of weightlessness, is my universe.” Massaud names the classic Disney film Fantasia, along with his longtime hobby of diving, as crucial influences for his practice. For him, style is about catching the imagination– not simply meeting user requirements. This is true even, or specifically, of minimalist style.
A premier example of Massaud’s aesthetic is his 2008 proposition for a flying hotel shaped like a humpback whale, a project he titled “Manned Cloud.” Developed in partnership with the aerospace research study collaboration ONERA, Manned Cloud was developed as a dirigible– a kind that harkens back to the early, utopian period of air control. One can see echoes of this futurist orientation in Goom, which in some way handles to take the everyday kind of the sofa and make it brand-new. The focus on foam cushioning in the upholstery rather than organic material is itself rather space-age. And certainly, the ability of foam to keep its shape contributes to Goom’s gravity-defying appearance. And then there is that name, Goom, like a world from Star Trek.
It is to the credit of the designers that Goom wears all of this futurism gently. There are very few interiors where it would seem out of location.
In keeping with mdf italia’s commitment to eco-conscious production, Goom is almost totally made from sustainable materials. The support structures are crafted from wood sourced from responsibly handled forests. The padding is made of polyurethane that consists of a mix of recycled materials, and the cushion cover is produced from recycled microfiber.
For those people who will not have the chance to travel to deep space, gravity sadly prevents us from knowing what it is like to rest on air. However with mdf italia’s Goom couch system, one can experience what it seems like to levitate– and do so in design.
Designers looking to furnish with mdf italia’s sustainably-designed piece can find out more about their relatively weightless sofa, Goom, here.