These storage units designed by Neri & Hu for the Take Your Time collection of Poltrona Frau, stimulate the curiosity, in a line whose name is an invitation to enjoy the luxury of devoting the time necessary to grasp every single detail. The Chinese term Mi has a double meaning, implying the action of seeking and the concept of secrecy. In the series composed of three items – a high sideboard with two doors, a low cabinet with four doors, and a trolley – the form and the materials join forces to tempt the gaze to peek inside.
The relationship between full and empty, opaque and transparent usually found in this type of furniture has been ‘subverted’ by the designers, who have enclosed the content usually on display inside an oblong shell, transforming a ‘vitrine’ into a top that closes the storage compartment while leaving a glimpse of the interior.
Of the three Mi elements, the trolley stands out for its mobile, versatile character, a décor complement suitable for different uses and rooms, also by virtue of the essential compact arrangement of the full closed and curved form, where the sole concession is the transparency of the upper surface.
The enclosure in plywood covered in Saddle Extra cowhide with a vertical canneté texture is framed and supported by a metal structure with a burnished steel finish on four casters in plastic and black steel. In the upper part, slender burnished steel tubing emphasizes the curved form of the piece, while functioning as a handle. To ‘soften’ the grip, one side is covered in Saddle Extra cowhide matched to the covering of the trolley, available in the four colors of the series, Carbone, Cammello, Polvere and Corda. The doors, for greater lightness, are in sandwich board, while the interior and base of the cabinet are covered in canaletto walnut veneer. The internal shelf in tempered glass can be positioned at three different heights.
