Unform Studio Debuts Orbit and Axis Collections at SaloneSatellite 2025

Source: Unform Studio

Reported By: Matthew Kennedy

In the blue-hued halls of SaloneSatellite at this year’s Salone del Mobile in Milan, Pennsylvania-based Unform Studio presented a vision of tomorrow that feels strikingly personal, exquisitely crafted, and quietly radical. With its new exhibition A Different Kind of Future, the design studio introduced two new bodies of work: the Orbit Collection, an evolution of their sculptural furniture language, and Axis, the studio’s first lighting series. Unified by a commitment to materials, form, and touch, both collections speak to a future that values human nuance as much as technological progress.

Unform Studio’s approach is grounded in contrast: stainless steel, highly polished and monolithic, softened by generous curves and warm organic textures. There’s a deliberate duality—between sharp and soft, retro and futuristic, digital precision and hand-finished imperfection—that designer Ryan Twardzik leans into with care. These are not visions of a sterile, post-human future. They are soulful, physical, and meant to be experienced.

Displayed against a monochrome baby blue backdrop, the new collections evoke a version of the future once promised by mid-century optimism, reimagined for a generation that values tactility and sustainability in equal measure.

At the heart of the Orbit Collection is the tension—and harmony—between materials. The un14 Orbit Chair is a study in silhouette and texture. Its structure, made from gleaming stainless steel, supports a softly rounded body upholstered in powder blue wool. The form is visually commanding yet invites rest, proving that comfort and complexity need not be at odds. As with much of Twardzik’s work, this is a chair designed to be touched, explored, and lived with—not simply observed.

The un15 Orbit Table plays a similar game of visual layering. Its American walnut top—fluid and rounded—intersects with steel legs that pierce through the surface in a way that feels both engineered and poetic. Precision is everywhere, but never in a way that overpowers the natural character of the wood. The details unfold as the eye travels downward, turning simple geometry into something quietly intricate.

The Axis Collection marks Unform Studio’s debut into lighting design, and it arrives fully realized. Created in collaboration with London-based designer George Goodwill, the series transforms cold material into luminous form through restraint, proportion, and finish.

Each piece—be it the form2 Floor Lamp, form4 Wall Light, or the versatile form3 Pendant Lights in 500mm, 750mm, and 1000mm sizes—employs curved stainless steel as both structure and diffuser. The pendant lights can be installed at various angles or in clusters, offering an adaptable lighting experience without losing coherence. Meanwhile, the form2 Floor Lamp showcases a machined steel base that anchors its slender profile with sculptural weight.

The form4 Wall Light introduces a stepped detail that acts as both design and function—refracting light while creating a subtle ornamentation on the wall. Clean yet emotive, the Axis pieces show how steel can take on a softness typically reserved for ceramics or glass.

What sets Unform Studio apart is not only its formal experimentation but its grounding in regional craftsmanship. Based in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania—a region with deep industrial roots—Twardzik draws from a local tradition of making, filtered through a distinctly contemporary lens. The Orbit and Axis collections are the latest in a growing portfolio that balances playfulness with restraint, sculptural appeal with functionality.

Unform’s international debut last year with The Pop-Up Collection garnered attention from Monocle, Wallpaper, The New York Times, and Dezeen. With these latest collections, the studio deepens its language and further establishes itself as a designer of record in the new generation of American design.

Later this spring, the Orbit and Axis Collections will make their North American debut at WANTED in New York (May 18–20), offering collectors and curators the opportunity to experience the pieces up close.