There are innovative furniture design companies, and then there is mdf italia, which is in a category all its own. For 34 years, the Milan-based company has been rigorously pursuing a minimalist design practice that seeks to uncover the essence of functional objects — 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 recent feature on the company. “It is minimalism as a method: a process of removal so rigorous that what remains feels close to impossible.”
mdf italia’s founder, Bruno Fattorini, describes the firm’s design method as one of “subtraction.” As Frew explains, this ethos 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 just slender enough, that it appears to defy physics. The modular seating system, Array, which MDF designed in conjunction with the powerhouse Danish architecture firm Snøhetta, embodies a similar principle with its infinitely modifiable minimal elements that recall the legendary Japanese architecture movement known as Metabolism. Array won the Jury Award at the 2025 Architizer A+Product Awards in the Furniture Systems category.
Admirers of Array will also be interested in learning about Goom, another modular sofa system by mdf italia that pushes minimalist precepts well past anything Donald Judd envisioned. Designed by the French architect and inventor Jean Marie Massaud and released in 2025, Goom wasn’t designed as much as it was engineered to maximize comfort while minimizing excess of all kinds. It does so by working with the force of gravity, adapting to the weight of the human body. Think of the experience of “sinking into” an old sofa. Now imagine that same level of comfort in a pristine modern sofa that maintains its shape. This is what Goom achieves through the rigorous combination of structure and material.
Thanks to carefully engineered foam upholstery, the Goom sofa appears to defy gravity.
“The pursuit of excellent comfort was the real design challenge: the aim was to combine an enveloping seat with an appearance that remains consistently composed and refined, characterized by full volumes and pure lines,” explains mdf italia. “This result stems from an in-depth study of materials and a layered construction, with differentiated-density padding and pneumatic foams. A technology conceived to bring together support and softness, turning the seat into a deeply relaxing experience.”
Comfort and lightness are emphasized in the form of the sofa, which appears to float in mid-air thanks to carefully concealed feet. The end cushions float as well, due to their ingenious way they are fastened to the contoured wood end supports. The rhythmic concave of the backrest is another interesting visual detail that serves as a visual signature for Goom. There is no other sofa on the market that quite has this profile.
As a modular sofa system, Goom is fully customizable and can be adapted into endless different configurations. “The collection includes single elements in two different widths and chaise longues, both with an optional armrest, along with two corner modules and two poufs,” mdf italia explains. “Combining these components allows linear, corner or more articulated compositions, adapting the layout to the proportions of any space.”
What sets Goom apart from many modular systems on the market is how effortlessly its flexibility is integrated. Instead of feeling like a collection of separate components pieced together, each configuration appears as a fully resolved object in its own right. This sense of cohesion reflects mdf italia’s longstanding commitment to unity and clarity, allowing even the most intricate arrangements to maintain a calm and visually ordered presence.
Goom’s design also carries a subtle psychological layer. By adapting to the user’s weight and posture, the sofa delivers an experience that feels intuitive and almost tailored. This responsiveness encourages a stronger connection between the user and the object. In design terms, Goom is not a static piece but a functional system that is activated by interaction.
Goom is not the first mdf italia product to be designed by Jean Marie Massaud, who opened Studio Massaud in 2000 and has worked in industrial products, lighting and architecture as well as furniture. His other designs for mdf italia, which include the Rock Table and Flow seating system, similarly appear to defy gravity. As Massaud explained in a 2013 interview with Design Milk, “the world of silence, of wonder, of weightlessness, is my universe.” Massaud names the classic Disney movie Fantasia, as well as his longtime hobby of scuba diving, as key influences for his practice. For him, design is about capturing the imagination — not just meeting user needs. This is true even, or especially, of minimalist design.
A premier example of Massaud’s aesthetic is his 2008 proposal for a flying hotel shaped like a humpback whale, a project he titled “Manned Cloud.” Developed in partnership with the aerospace research partnership ONERA, Manned Cloud was conceived as a dirigible — a form that harkens back to the early, utopian period of air control. One can see echoes of this futurist orientation in Goom, which somehow manages to take the everyday form of the sofa and make it new. The emphasis on foam padding in the upholstery rather than organic material is itself somewhat space-age. And certainly, the ability of foam to retain its shape contributes to Goom’s gravity-defying appearance. And then there is that name, Goom, like a planet from Star Trek.
It is to the credit of the designers that Goom wears all of this futurism lightly. There are very few interiors where it would seem out of place.
In keeping with mdf italia’s commitment to eco-conscious production, Goom is almost entirely made from sustainable materials. The support structures are crafted from wood sourced from responsibly managed forests. The padding is made of polyurethane that includes a blend of recycled materials, and the cushion cover is produced from recycled microfiber.
For those of us who will not have the opportunity to travel to outer space, gravity unfortunately prevents us from knowing what it is like to rest on air. But with mdf italia’s Goom sofa system, one can experience what it feels like to defy gravity — and do so in style.
Designers looking to furnish with mdf italia’s sustainably-designed piece can read more about their seemingly weightless sofa, Goom, here.
