Maurizio Riva - 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 pioneeded 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 read 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 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.
Most popular now in Italy is American black walnut which his also experiencing huge demand from other countries, especially China. Fifty percent of Riva’s tables are walnut, but given historical experience – Italian walnut supplies were not sustainable in the long term – no modern furniture maker can normally rely on availability of any one species. Red oak might just be an exception, given the enormous natural oak resources in the USA. Oak represents 40% of its total standing hardwood forest; which has a long record of sustainability by natural regeneration supported by a framework of protective legislation.
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. This is one of many characteristics in red oak that offers interesting options for designers of unique and bespoke furniture, and a brand new source of detailed information on red oak’s sustainability, availability and design options is www.americanredoak.info
Cologne is regarded as an essential platform from which to launch new furniture collections into the top end of the central European market and Riva’s stand this year has much to offer. Business was brisk, but with environmental issues increasingly strong in the minds of trade buyers, the promotion of red oak by such leading makers as Riva provides new options for the industry to develop a new fashion in hardwood that consumers can feel comfortable with.

Email: lucy@turnstonecommunications.com