Designer Angelo Natuzzi Discusses The Creation Of His Newest Fusion Aspect Of Practical & Smart
Angelo Natuzzi has a true sense of style. He sees the notion of RV design of RVs in modulation. Using a different, more European based chassis with a sense of structure and lightness, this ingenious Italian gentleman found a way to take the essential architecture and standards of the motor home experience and make something new. This is his new creation: the Wonder. Natuzzi sat down with The Buzz to discuss practicality new materials and the key to making an effective yet aesthetically superior RV.
The Buzz: With the 2017 Wonder, you examine style in a very specific package. Can you talk about elegance & inspiration?
Angelo Natuzzi: As you can probably hear, I'm Italian and so my style is more European than American. I think people want something different. And I think this new Wonder is the most European style we have made so far. So that means something fairly clean...as cool as possible...and as fashionable as possible. Basically we tried to use every inch we had. I think that was the main idea: to have something very clean and useful for our customers.
The Buzz: Can you talk about the modulation of the different spaces like the living area. For example, the tv comes up from a recessed space...the seat is flush against the wall...and there is a straight line of sight throughout the design. It is very functional while still retaining style
AN: Basically when you come in, you can see everything inside. It is really open so that means it looks bigger than the real. Inside you have lots of room. It is a really open space. That was always the approach: to make something look bigger. That is why we have two big windows...so you have a lot of natural light. That is why I decided with the floor plan to have as much room as possible for walking inside and for storage. We have a lot of storage but also a lot of leg room to walk around.
The Buzz: Can you discuss the use of materials especially with the front and rear fiberglass masks as well as the counter tops.
AN: Well the wealth of materials....for the front and side masks, we have fiberglass as well as for the rear top...so everything looks designed. It looks really different from alot of Rvs. Everything is built with alloprene in the floor as well as the roof and side walls. This is a brand new thing for us. The floor is finished with aluminum and other materials but that means it's lighter and stronger. It is a pretty good structure. The doors are Italian and of a new material called FENIX NTM which is a very light material that integrates with the alloprene. It is also antibacterial which means there will be very little scratch. It also creates a very tight ceiling. It is very nice material. It also means you don't have a lot of light reflection in the RV. For the eyes it is beautiful.
The Buzz: The outside light mixes with the indoors balanced specifically to create a certain mood. You also have the thermal controlled fans that have rain sensors. Can you talk about technology and how it has evolved the design including the chassis?
AN: For sure. There was a restriction about weight initially. That is why we had to change a lot of the technology inside . For example, we are now using the roof...it is lighter...everything is lighter.. We needed [though] to hit that initial standard...and in that way, we've done a great job because we are 90% within the initial standard. Now everything inside is very lightweight.
AN: [The key for me] basically over the past years is to make everything easier to use. For example, we do not have any handles inside [the Wonder]. You can open all the drawers by pushing them and then pulling them out. That is amazing. You can have a very clean design inside and everything is very functional....even to open the door. But probably the most interesting thing about this one is the large bed. Because you have a full queen size bed which is like 80 inches sideways. So basically if you don't like the mattress you can switch it with another one. It [makes it] really easier to work. It takes like 2 seconds to open. 2 seconds to close. You don't need to remove any cushions...any tables...nothing. Everything folds down on the bed. When you open the bed, everything folds out. So for the RVer, they say “Every time I use the bed, I have to remove lots of cushions or the table”. With the Wonder you don't have to do none of that. It is very very simple. And even when it is down you can go around the bed. It is very unique.
The Buzz: And in terms of the design, the bathroom and the kitchen are right there so you can get to them if you need to.
AN: The feature of the galley for example on this one [allows that] the fridge and the freezer are completely integrated with the rest of the pantry so you don't even see it. The galley is huge. It is the same material as the door [FENIX NTM]. And if you have a toaster or a coffeemaker, we have a little bit of room just for that too. So we have a huge space to work when you're cooking. There are three really big drawers that are [also] self closing. Everything is there the right way. Everything is there for a purpose.
Tim Wassberg
A graduate of New York University's Tisch School Of The Arts with degrees in Film/TV Production & Film Criticism, Tim has written for magazines such as Moviemaker, Moving Pictures, Conde Nast Traveler UK and Casino Player. He enjoys traveling and distinct craft beers among other things.