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Double Loop: The "Air" Mirror by Libero Rutilo

2021-12-15

In 2014, Italian design studio DesignLibero unveiled a genuinely unusual mirror. Despite how unconventional it looks, Double Loop - designed by the studio's founder, Libero Rutilo - can work in almost any interior, and that same year it won an international competition dedicated specifically to mirrors. Here's the story behind the piece, why bent solid wood is so hard to get right, and, at the end, how to choose and place a mirror in your own home.

A Frame Inspired by Fabric and Paper

The "air" mirror is framed in wood, built from two curved bands of solid timber. Rutilo drew inspiration from the pliability of fabric and paper, giving the frame an unusual, flowing, almost weightless form. It's not just a striking piece to look at, either - the shape means the frame itself doubles as a functional shelf, giving it somewhere to rest small objects without cluttering the wall around it.

Despite how simple it looks, this piece demands real craftsmanship. Solid wood is naturally rigid, and coaxing it into a shape that reads as fluid - closer to draped cloth than cut timber - takes serious technical skill. The mirror stands 125 centimeters tall and works equally well in a private home or a public space.

Double Loop mirror in light wood, made of two curved bands of solid timber

Winning a Design Award Built Specifically for Mirrors

Double Loop wasn't just a striking one-off - it won first prize in the Professional category of the 2014 PORADA International Design Award, a competition run jointly by Italian furniture manufacturer Porada and Milan's POLI.design, under the patronage of ADI, Italy's Association for Industrial Design. That year's edition was built around a single, specific theme: mirrors, particularly ones that lean on wood as their primary material.

The jury wasn't small either - it included Arturo Dell'Acqua Bellavitis, dean of the School of Design at Politecnico di Milano; Roberto de Paolis, a design professor at the same institution; Bruno and Tiziano Allievi of Porada Arredi; and representatives of industry publications including Vanity Fair Italy. Alongside Rutilo's win in the professional category, the student prize went to Federica Eleonora Belli, a Politecnico di Milano student, for Weg - an oval mirror holder incorporating a container and a removable leather tray, its form inspired by an egg and by marsupial pouches.

Why Bent Solid Wood Is Genuinely Difficult

Bending solid timber into smooth, continuous curves - rather than assembling a curved shape from small cut pieces - is one of the more demanding techniques in furniture design. It's the same tradition that gave the world Michael Thonet's bentwood chairs in the 19th century, where wood is steamed and shaped under pressure until it holds a new form without breaking or splintering.

Get it wrong, and the wood cracks or springs back toward its original shape; get it right, and you end up with exactly the kind of illusion Double Loop pulls off - a rigid material that reads as soft and pliable.

A Small Object With an Outsized Role

A mirror rarely gets the same design attention as a sofa or a dining table, but it plays an outsized role in how a room actually feels - bouncing light around a space, creating the impression of depth, and often serving as the first thing anyone notices when they walk in. Double Loop is a good reminder that even the smallest, most functional objects in a room are worth genuine design attention - and it earned that recognition in one of Italy's more competitive design circles.

How to Choose and Place a Mirror

A mirror is one of the cheapest ways to transform a room - and one of the easiest ways to spoil it with bad placement. A few rules we use on our projects:

Reflect light, not clutter. The best spot is opposite or at an angle to a window, so the mirror carries daylight deeper into the room. The worst is facing a bathroom door, a TV or a crowded closet.
Proportion. A mirror above a console, dresser or vanity usually works best at about two-thirds the width of the furniture below, or exactly its width if the composition is meant to read as one block.
Height. Hang a wall mirror so its center sits roughly at eye level, about 57 to 63 inches from the floor. A full-length mirror should show you head to toe from two or three steps away.
Mirror with a shelf. Pieces like Double Loop are especially useful in an entryway, where you need both a mirror and a place to drop keys.
Light at the mirror. In bathrooms and dressing rooms, even side or perimeter lighting lights the face without shadows, and a defogging heater keeps the glass clear after a shower.
Paired mirrors. Two matching mirrors flanking a fireplace, bed or console create symmetry and calm. It became a trend back in 2022 and has stuck - more in our look back at 2022 interior design trends.

Mirrors in Seattle Homes

Seattle's long, grey winters make mirrors more than decoration. With short days and diffuse light from October to March, a well-placed mirror opposite a window can make a north-facing living room or a deep entry feel noticeably brighter. Many older Seattle homes and condos have narrow, windowless hallways, and a single large mirror there does more than a row of small ones.

Two practical notes for the region: in damp bathrooms, choose mirrors with sealed edges and good ventilation to prevent silvering damage, and in mudrooms and entries, pair the mirror with a bench, hooks and a shelf so the space works on rainy days, not just in photos. We plan entries this way on our hallway interior projects, and the same thinking about light and reflection carries into our living room design work.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where should I hang a mirror to make a room brighter? Opposite or at an angle to a window, so it carries daylight deeper into the room.

How big should a mirror over a dresser or console be? Usually about two-thirds the width of the furniture beneath it, which keeps the composition balanced.

Is it okay to hang a mirror facing the front door? Yes, especially in a dark entry, where it adds light and depth. Just make sure it doesn't reflect clutter, shoes or an open bathroom door.

What makes a designer mirror worth the price? The material and craftsmanship of the frame, the quality of the glass itself, and how well the piece works as part of the interior rather than just a reflective surface. Double Loop is a good example.

Want even the smaller pieces in your home to pull their weight? We select furniture, mirrors and lighting as part of one coherent design, not as separate purchases.