RIVA ADOPT RED OAK AS A KEY SUSTAINABLE HARDWOOD

Internationally renowned Italian furniture maker Maurizio Riva launched a new collection of American red oak furniture, designed by Terry Dwan, at the Cologne Furniture Show in January. Speaking at the show, Riva said that he now appreciates that, as one of the most sustainable hardwoods, red oak is able to take the pressure off other hardwood forest resources. Riva is no stranger to American hardwoods having pioneered some of the most exclusive and contemporary European designs in black cherry during the 1990s. Today the company, which has 500 distributors around the world, uses mainly American black walnut and white oak.

Maurizio Riva is highly sensitive to environmental issues, working with some of the world’s top designers and architects including Renzo Piano from Genoa. As with many leading Italian furniture makers, all their emphasis is on temperate hardwoods and red oak now gives them another option, particularly as supplies of cherry and walnut are not endless. Riva regards red oak as the “brother of European and American white oak with a colour that is warm and beautiful” which he hopes will be appreciated by the company’s many customers.

Terry Dwan, a well known American designer working with Riva has created the STRONG BOX collection of solid hardwood furniture for Riva under the banner RIVA 1920. The LUDO console and the FALO’ stool were the two pieces selected to be presented in red oak at Cologne.

Asked how Riva found red oak as a material for furniture making, the answer came back that just as with white oak, they had no particular problem in working it. However, they did find some darker veins inside the wood which were mainly cut out before use - although some can still be seen in one of the stools.

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