Usually, when we think of woven rattan furniture, the first things that come to mind are those wierd, but kind of iconic, 70s chairs. You know the ones; sort of spindly with peculiar, fan-like high backs.

Hmmm.

That said, Patricia Urquiola has sucessfully dodged the rattan cliche with her fantastic 'Canasta' range for B&B - and we think Studiocharlie have had a similar wicker success with 'Ala'.

Studiocharlie is a design studio based in Rovato, Italy, who recently popped over to Milan during the Salone to show their beautiful 'Ala' screen designed for Vittorio Bonacina.

Its simple geometric shapes fit together to create a faceted concave surface that follows a curved line along the supporting plane - and a torsion along the diagonal lines. At once compact, solid, and at the same time light and transparent, three kinds of texture create areas with different transparency effects.

The concave surface and this horizontal 'developing' suggest the creation of an intimate habitat, thereby defining an "inside" and an "outside". Fitting a number of screens together creates divisions, walls and paths, dividing a space dynamically, and filtering ambient perception without blocking it totally.

Handmade using Manau, Batang and Rattan core, it comes in various finishes: (raw, natural painted, aniline painted, lacquered) plus the base geometry is stable upside down too; so you can change its expanding lines to grow left or right as you wish.