Milano, Italy
Lorenzo Palmeri designed Nemo, an upright piano for the Venetian piano producer, Zanta Pianoforti. Palmeri’s approach presents a fresh perspective on this classic instrument, resulting in an exquisite piece of design.
Nemo Vertical Piano has been awarded a 2023 Good Design Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
The piano was born at the beginning of the eighteenth century and was stabilized in the form the designers know today around the mid-nineteenth century.
The piano is perhaps the musical instrument that generates one of the strongest physical and environmental relationships with the musician.
Playing the piano is often a journey, like standing on the prow of a ship or piloting a spaceship.
Nemo was designed with the desire to generate a new intensity of the musical experience.
The presence of the curved front allows an enveloping, unprecedented, and powerful distribution and diffusion of sound.
The curve is made to welcome the musician in an embrace that literally leads him into the intimacy of the piano.
The porthole, a reference to the experience of travel, allows a glimpse into the interior of the instrument, and into the fascinating and mysterious world of the mechanics that generate sound.
Each key on Nemo is covered in FENIX NTM®, a material that is pleasant to the touch, anti-fingerprint, extremely opaque, and with thermal repairability of surface micro-scratches.
The black keys are finished by hand, one by one, each one unique, to underline the nature and artisan drive of every aspect of this piano the soundboard is handcrafted in Val di Fiemme with a unique iron casting, details that directly affect the quality of sound and experience of the player.
In addition, Nemo features a fourth pedal (pianos usually have three) which introduces the idea of an acoustic rhythmic element. The pedal is a percussion, which generates a new sound, adding a new voice to the piano.
Project: Nemo Vertical Piano
Designer: Lorenzo Palmeri Studio
Lead Designer: Lorenzo Palmeri
Manufacturer: Zanta Pianoforti srl.
