Exhibitions Marble and stone in the new 2022 collections Text by Laura Barsottini Add to bookmarks Lithea, Pensieri Panteschi, design Elena Salmistraro, ph. Nino Bartuccio Unusual and surprising creations, with technological and craft excellence shattering the rigidity of the material into a flow of emotions Rigor and seduction. A tactile and conceptual poetry that plays on the geometric rigidity of stone and marble shaped into emotional forms by skilled human technology. The brands present at the Salone del Mobile.Milano, specialized in working marble and stone, presented unusual and surprising creations, daring unexpected and impactful forms. These materials are not easy to work with, but their fascination is irresistibly bound up with ancestral and archaic values, myths and rituals from distant cultures. Or, by contrast, they make it possible to create inlay work with contemporary vibes bordering on irony. In any case, they are creations of a design that seems timeless, suspended in a dreamlike dimension that fuses the organic and inorganic. The result is products of excellence that have their roots in craft skills and lived experiences, in which the apparent coldness of the medium is shattered – there is no other word for it – in a formal synthesis that bypasses the rigorous rules of the material. Marble is the noblest testimony to the passing of time, a balance of strength and frailty that makes it precious as well as the supreme narrative material for some of the most extraordinary artworks in history. To the Salone del Mobile.Milano, Citco brought its vision: to distribute in the world artworks by Contemporary Masters made with the most precious materials and with a capacity for fabrication that is unequaled, in a new classicism made up of muses, drapery, masks and plastic forms that aspire to international stages. Here to prove it are: Fenix, the fireplace designed by the Campana Brothers; éternité, the table created by Jean Nouvel; and Nuphar, the fountain by Zaha Hadid Studio. Citco, éternité, design Jean Nouvel, ph. Franco Chimenti Shapes that are lost in time, fabrications that assemble different materials in courageous experiments. In the exhibition space designed by Lorenzo Bini, a domestic interior consisting of enclosed and protected spaces but in continuous dialogue with the exterior, Tacchini presented its products in stone and marble: the Dolmen tables by Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance, like time-weathered sculptures seeming to emerge from the ground; the tables Kanji, Mill and Trampolino by Monica Förster, where marble intersects with wood in an interplay of graphic thicknesses; the Togrul table by Gordon Guillaumier with a polyurethane base, hand-spatulated clay finish and marble top, in round or oval versions. Tacchini, Mill, design Monica Förster, ph. Andrea Ferrari In a stand transformed into Casa Lithea, the Sicilian company, an excellence in the field of stone cladding materials and accessories, presented the brand new Isola delle Correnti touch lamp designed by Martinelli Venezia: in marble, it switches on, off and modulates the brightness of light simply at a touch. To this novelty is added the engraved wall Tracce in nero marquinia, next to the set of Sesi coffee tables designed by Martinelli Venezia; the Terre Arate wall, in which smooth and concave parts in pietra pece are engrafted onto other striped parts made from grigio billiemi; and the whole Pensieri Panteschi collection by Elena Salmistraro: the Gadir wall, the Specchio di Venere table, the Sibà stools and the Limarsi and Tracino vases. To these is added the Favare decorative panel with its distinctive three-dimensional graphics. Lithea, Sesi, design Martinelli Venezia, ph. Nino Bartuccio An innovative and contemporary brand, Imperfetto Lab is a guarantee of creativity, playing mainly with ductile materials such as fiberglass, modeled in a natural form. But research like that contained in the brand’s vision could hardly resist the charm of natural matter. So here is Ciottolo, a small limited edition of seating made from SM Marble Verde Alpi, a material made by combining resins and grit from the finest marbles, of different sizes, colors and textures
Exhibitions Salone del Mobile.Milano 2024: outdoor furnishings combine research, experimentation and innovation C. S. Bontempi Sciama