'perpignan, toulouse' by jasper morrison
image © designboom


italian company marsotto edizioni focuses on design and re-evaluating marble within this process.
owned by the husband and wife team of costanza olfi and mario marsotto, the couple saw that there were
no other companies on the market offering smaller marble pieces and they thought there was a niche for
making limited edition furniture objects from the natural stone. with this, they also want to preserve the
experience and ancient manual techniques of marble craftsmen. they have collaborated with some of the most
brilliant international designers have participated in this project with enthusiasm, resulting in a timeless collection
of products.



'perpignan, toulouse' by jasper morrison
image © designboom


on the occasion of milan design week 2011, marsotto's art director james irvine has selected
ten international designers to work on new pieces for the company.
they include: alberto meda, claesson koivisto rune, joel berg and ross lovegrove - who are working with
marsotto edizioni for the first time - along with konstantin grcic, james irvine,  jasper morrison, maddalena casadei,
naoto fukasawa and thomas sandell.



'tiltino' by thomas sandell
image © designboom


though the company continues to work on large scale design, this year's focus was on smaller items
in order to diversify the collection. the designers have been pushed to use marble in unexpected ways,
creating sculptural objects that are still functional. remaining faithful to the philosophy of making products
which are made totally in marble, the pieces are produced by hand with the craftsmanship of the artisan.
marsotto edizioni create their products using the unique material - white carrara marble.

the marsotto pieces are not by any means eclectic. each of the designs are similar and precise in their approach.
their decorative aspects are limited, the designers working only with a select number of gestures.



'pina, dina, gina, mimma' by james irvine
image © designboom


'pina, dina, gina, mimma' by james irvine
image courtesy of marsotto edizioni



'connoisseur' by james irvine
image courtesy of marsotto edizioni


'connoisseur' by james irvine
image courtesy of marsotto edizioni


detail of 'connoisseur' by james irvine
image © designboom


'pia' by james irvine - the piece comes in a wooden crate
image © designboom


in each of the bases of the pieces, an RFID tag is embedded to avoid counterfeiting. they are also numbered and inscribed with the designer's name.
image © designboom


an RFID tag is embedded into the base of each of the marble pieces to avoid counterfeiting of the designs.
in addition, each object is numbered and inscribed with the designers name.



when one holds their phone up to the RFID tag, information comes up onto their screen displaying details of the piece at hand
images © designboom



'bebec' by konstantin grcic
image © designboom



james irvine demonstrating how 'bebec' is mounted onto the wall
image © designboom



'poodle' by naoto fukasawa
image © designboom



profile of 'poodle'
image © designboom



'poodle' by naoto fukasawa
image courtesy of marsotto edizioni



'eco', 'plato' and 'neruda' by ross lovegrove
image © designboom



'neruda' by ross lovegrove
image © designboom



installation view
image © designboom


marsotto edizioni 2011
image courtesy of marsotto edizioni


marsotto edizioni 2011
image courtesy of marsotto edizioni


'lello' by maddalena casadei
image © designboom


'lello' by maddalena casadei
image courtesy of marsotto edizioni


detail of 'lello' by maddalena casadei
image courtesy of marsotto edizioni



'soya' by claesson koivistio rune
image © designboom

'soya' by claesson koivisto rune
image courtesy of marsotto edizioni




'gallery' by claesson koivisto rune
image courtesy of marsotto edizioni


'gallery' by claesson koivisto rune
image courtesy of marsotto edizioni



'jeeves' tables by alberto meda
image © designboom



installation view
image © designboom



'luma' by joel berg
image © designboom



claesson koivisto rune
portrait © designboom



james irvine and alberto meda
portrait © designboom



ross lovegrove
portrait © designboom



joel berg (left) and thomas sandell (right)
portrait © designboom