A cropped render shows two sections of the Plissè Block's backrest, its cylindrical red velvet bolsters and rectangular seat cushions sitting above a fluted glass base. The composition isolates the sofa's upholstered geometry against a plain grey backdrop, emphasising the contrast between soft form and rigid material.

Luca Ricci Turns Optical Distortion into Atmospheric Furniture

Words by Eric David

Milan, Italy

Milan-based designer Luca Ricci works fluently across art direction, branding and graphic design, bringing to each discipline the same experimental fervour and attention to detail. His recent foray into furniture design translates this background into two custom-designed pieces informed as much by questions of functionality as by the instincts of someone attuned to image-making. Plissè Block, a sofa for Milanese menswear label Fivefourfive, and Flower Block, a DJ console built for Shablo and his collaborators at the Sanremo Music Festival, were created for very different contexts, yet share a precise visual language that combines clean, rectilinear volumes with fluted, translucent surfaces, using optical distortion to turn functional objects into atmospheric devices.

A close render of the Flower Block's corner shows red and white flowers packed densely behind fluted glass, their colour scattering across the ribbed surface. Three chrome hinges run down the vertical seam, marking the access panel used to tend the arrangement.

Flower Block render © Luca Ricci.

A closer view of the Plissè Block within Fivefourfive's Brera store captures its fluted glass corner against dark wood panelling, a mirrored photograph and a glowing orange sconce. The red velvet cushions and bolster cut a warm, tactile note against the cooler tones of glass and timber.

Plissé Block at FiveFourFive's Milan store. Photography by Nicolò Panzeri.

Seen in profile, Shablo leans over the Flower Block console amid stage fog and moody backlighting at Teatro degli Arcimboldi. Sheet music stands, a lit "X" sign and the console's fluted glass volumes populate the hazy, monochrome scene, hinting at the wider band setup beyond.

Flower Block at the Teatro Arcimboldi, Milan, during a performance by Shablo in November 2025.

Commissioned for the opening of Fivefourfive’s flagship store in Milan’s Brera district, designed by Studio Musa, Plissè Block was conceived as the space’s centrepiece. Ricci found his starting point in a historical sketch by Le Corbusier, borrowing the proportions of the architect’s LC2 sofa and stripping the reference back to a set of formal ratios before rebuilding it through an entirely different material logic. Composed of three modules, two side blocks and a central element, and set on hidden castors, the sofa’s structure is made entirely of glass: an inner smooth layer provides support, while an outer fluted layer wraps the volume in a pleated optical skin.

Like pleated fabric, from which the piece takes its name, the fluted surface creates a sense of repetition, movement and controlled tension. As light passes through it, it bends, fragments and softens what lies behind, making the object appear to shift according to viewpoint and illumination. The effect is sharpened by the contrast with six red velvet cushions: three rectangular seats and three cylindrical backrests. Against the cool precision of glass, the red velvet introduces warmth, tactility and an unmistakable note of theatricality, while further accentuating the design’s graphic sensibility.

An angled view within Fivefourfive takes in a floating shelf styled with a turntable, books and a dark ceramic bowl, alongside the Plissè Block's fluted glass frame and red velvet cushions. Exposed ceiling ducting and warm wood panelling complete the store's layered, lived-in atmosphere.

Plissé Block at FiveFourFive's Milan store. Photography by Nicolò Panzeri.

A close render detail captures the Plissè Block's corner join, where fluted glass panels meet at a crisp right angle. Deep red velvet glows through the transparent structure behind, its saturation fading into shadow as the ribbed surface fragments the colour into vertical streaks.

Plissé Block render © Luca Ricci.

An isometric render of the Plissè Block isolates the sofa against a plain grey backdrop, revealing its full three-module composition: two glass end blocks flanking a central seat, all fitted with red velvet cushions and cylindrical bolsters atop a fluted, transparent structure.

Plissé Block render © Luca Ricci.

A corner render of the Plissè Block pairs its fluted glass volume with a glimpse of red velvet cushioning behind, chrome hinges and bolts visible along the vertical seam. The grey studio backdrop keeps focus on the interplay between transparency, colour and hardware.

Plissé Block render © Luca Ricci.

Positioned centrally within Fivefourfive's Milan store, the Plissè Block anchors a moody, wood-panelled interior furnished with mirrored photography, sculptural donut lights, and a shelving display of books, ceramics and a turntable. Fluted glass and red velvet give the piece a scenographic presence within the space.

Plissé Block at FiveFourFive's Milan store. Photography by Nicolò Panzeri.

A detail of the Plissè Block's corner shows the sofa's two-layer glass construction: a smooth inner shell wrapped in an outer fluted skin. Light bends and fragments along the ribbed surface, while the red velvet cushion and cylindrical bolster introduce warmth and softness against the cool material.e.

Plissé Block at FiveFourFive's Milan store. Photography by Nicolò Panzeri.

A close render study of the Plissè Block's corner shows its fluted glass panels catching soft grey reflections, punctuated by exposed chrome bolts and hinges. A sliver of red velvet cushion is just visible along the top edge, hinting at the warmth concealed within the cooler, ribbed structure.

Plissé Block render © Luca Ricci.

  • A side-elevation render of the Plissè Block isolates its full fluted glass face against a plain grey backdrop, chrome hinges and bolts visible at each joint. A red cushion glimpsed through the upper section offers the only note of colour within the otherwise monochrome composition.

    Plissé Block render © Luca Ricci.

  • An abstract render isolates a block of saturated red, fading to grey, behind the Plissè Block's fluted glass panelling. Chrome hinges and bolts punctuate the right-hand edge, offering a minimal, almost painterly study of colour bleeding through ribbed, transparent material.

    Plissé Block render © Luca Ricci.

  • A cropped render shows two sections of the Plissè Block's backrest, its cylindrical red velvet bolsters and rectangular seat cushions sitting above a fluted glass base. The composition isolates the sofa's upholstered geometry against a plain grey backdrop, emphasising the contrast between soft form and rigid material.

    Plissé Block render © Luca Ricci.

  • A rendered detail contrasts the Plissè Block's smooth red velvet bolster with the sharp vertical fluting of its glass frame. The composition isolates the meeting point between soft upholstery and rigid, ribbed material against a neutral studio backdrop.

    Plissé Block render © Luca Ricci.

A wider render of the Flower Block's two-piece composition shows dense red and white flowers filling the smaller block on the left, while the larger block beyond appears emptier, its fluted glass tinted faintly rose by reflected colour.

Flower Block render © Luca Ricci.

Theatricality also defines Flower Block, and for good reason: the DJ console was designed for Shablo, Guè, Joshua and Tormento's joint performance at the 2025 Sanremo Music Festival. Built from transparent fluted plexiglass rather than glass, it consists of two volumes, a long horizontal block and a vertical support column, both hollowed out to accommodate floral arrangements. The choice of flowers is not arbitrary. Best known for its music festival, Sanremo has also been hosting an annual flower festival for more than a century, cementing its reputation as the "Città dei Fiori", or City of Flowers. Placed inside the console, the flowers appear blurred, multiplied and abstracted by the ribbed surfaces, transforming it into a mesmerising floral tableau.

Here, too, functionality is carefully absorbed into the design. Hidden wheels allow the console to move without interrupting its clean silhouette, a raised perimeter ledge conceals cables from the DJ equipment, and rear access panels allow the flowers to be easily arranged and replaced.

On stage at Teatro degli Arcimboldi, a pianist, Shablo at the Flower Block console and a vocalist at the microphone perform together beneath a red velvet curtain. The console's fluted acrylic panels glow pink under stage lighting, framed by illuminated circular floor markings and a matching side unit.

Flower Block at the Teatro Arcimboldi, Milan, during a performance by Shablo in November 2025.

A render detail of the Flower Block's rear access panel shows red and white flowers directly through an unfluted section of glass beside the ribbed casing, with a hinge and circular latch hole visible. The pairing shows both the sharp and fragmented views the material offers.

Flower Block render © Luca Ricci.

  • A tall, cube-like render of the Flower Block shows its floral arrangement from a symmetrical corner view, red blooms and white flowers refracted through fluted glass on both visible faces, with a clear top surface completing the volume.

    Flower Block render © Luca Ricci.

  • A close render detail shows the Flower Block's base construction: a chrome hinge, bolted fittings and a castor wheel anchor the fluted glass panel, its scalloped edge catching soft directional light against a plain grey backdrop.

    Flower Block render © Luca Ricci.

  • A diagonal render detail pairs the Flower Block's clear, fluted top edge with a mass of red flowers pressing against the glass below, the panel at right taking on a faint rose tint from the reflected colour.

    Flower Block render © Luca Ricci.

  • An isometric render of the Flower Block shows its full transparent volume packed with a dense floral arrangement, glimpsed through fluted glass panels that fracture the reds and whites into rippling vertical lines. The clear, unfluted top surface offers a calmer counterpoint.

    Flower Block render © Luca Ricci.

  • A monochrome architectural render looks up at the Flower Block's fluted glass corner, where a hinge and bolted fitting mark the seam between the ribbed panel and a plain, unfluted surface beyond. The dramatic angle lends the structure an almost building-like scale.

    Flower Block render © Luca Ricci.

A black-and-white portrait captures Shablo at the Flower Block console, dressed in a patterned satin shirt and sunglasses, hands on the Pioneer DJ equipment. The console's fluted glass panels catch dramatic side lighting, their vertical ribbing rendered in sharp monochrome contrast.

Flower Block at the Teatro Arcimboldi, Milan, during a performance by Shablo in November 2025.

A structural render of the Flower Block shows its fluted glass shell without any floral arrangement, exposing hinges, a circular latch hole and a castor wheel against a plain grey backdrop, emphasising the console's bare construction.

Flower Block render © Luca Ricci.

At Teatro degli Arcimboldi, Shablo performs alongside a live band including vocalists, a saxophonist and a trumpeter, all in matching blue jumpsuits beneath saturated pink and green stage lighting. The Flower Block console glows at the edge of the frame, its fluted glass catching reflections of the surrounding colour.

Flower Block at the Teatro Arcimboldi, Milan, during a performance by Shablo in November 2025.

A tighter corner render crops in on the Flower Block's floral display, red and white flowers dominating the lower two-thirds of the frame while the clear, fluted top edge remains sharply defined above.

Flower Block render © Luca Ricci.

A close corner render isolates the meeting point between two fluted glass panels and a plain grey backdrop, the black seam and scalloped light pattern along the fluted edge revealing the material's construction in fine detail, without any floral arrangement in view.

Flower Block render © Luca Ricci.

Seen together, the two works suggest how Ricci's graphic sensibility informs his furniture design. Minimal in form yet visually seductive, both pieces are functional objects that double as scenographic presences, using material properties like transparency and texture to shape how each object is perceived. In this sense, Ricci's foray into furniture reads as an extension of his previous practice rather than a departure from it: a translation of the same instinct for image-making into objects built to be used as much as seen.

Within Fivefourfive's Milan store, Luca Ricci's Plissè Block sofa sits against a dark wood-panelled wall lined with mirrored black-and-white photographs and three sculptural donut-shaped wall lights. Fluted glass catches the surrounding warmth, while red velvet cushions echo the carpet below, softening the otherwise cool, reflective structure.

Plissé Block at FiveFourFive's Milan store. Photography by Nicolò Panzeri.

An abstract render detail dissolves the Flower Block's floral arrangement into vertical streaks of red, white and green, refracted through the fluted glass casing. The clear panel along the top edge remains sharp, contrasting with the fragmented colour below.

Flower Block render © Luca Ricci.

Shablo performs behind the Flower Block console at Teatro degli Arcimboldi in Milan, November 2025, its fluted surface glowing amber under warm stage lighting. Dressed in a red velvet blazer, he adjusts the Pioneer DJ equipment set atop the console's ribbed, transparent structure.

Flower Block at the Teatro Arcimboldi, Milan, during a performance by Shablo in November 2025.

A render of the Flower Block reveals a dense arrangement of deep red blooms and small white flowers glimpsed through its open side panel and fluted glass casing. The ribbed surface fragments the colour into vertical streaks, with a castor wheel visible at the base.

Flower Block render © Luca Ricci.