‘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.

marsotto edizioni at milan design week 2011 ‘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.

marsotto edizioni at milan design week 2011 ’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.

marsotto edizioni at milan design week 2011 ‘pina, dina, gina, mimma’ by james irvine image © designboom

marsotto edizioni at milan design week 2011 ‘pina, dina, gina, mimma’ by james irvine image courtesy of marsotto edizioni

marsotto edizioni at milan design week 2011 ‘connoisseur’ by james irvine image courtesy of marsotto edizioni

marsotto edizioni at milan design week 2011 ‘connoisseur’ by james irvine image courtesy of marsotto edizioni

marsotto edizioni at milan design week 2011 detail of ‘connoisseur’ by james irvine image © designboom

marsotto edizioni at milan design week 2011 ‘pia’ by james irvine – the piece comes in a wooden crate image © designboom

marsotto edizioni at milan design week 2011 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.

marsotto edizioni at milan design week 2011 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

marsotto edizioni at milan design week 2011 ‘bebec’ by konstantin grcic image © designboom

marsotto edizioni at milan design week 2011 james irvine demonstrating how ‘bebec’ is mounted onto the wall image © designboom

marsotto edizioni at milan design week 2011 ‘poodle’ by naoto fukasawa image © designboom

marsotto edizioni at milan design week 2011 profile of ‘poodle’ image © designboom

marsotto edizioni at milan design week 2011 ‘poodle’ by naoto fukasawa image courtesy of marsotto edizioni

marsotto edizioni at milan design week 2011 ‘eco’, ‘plato’ and ‘neruda’ by ross lovegrove image © designboom

marsotto edizioni at milan design week 2011 ‘neruda’ by ross lovegrove image © designboom

marsotto edizioni at milan design week 2011 installation view image © designboom

marsotto edizioni at milan design week 2011 marsotto edizioni 2011 image courtesy of marsotto edizioni

marsotto edizioni at milan design week 2011 marsotto edizioni 2011 image courtesy of marsotto edizioni

marsotto edizioni at milan design week 2011 ‘lello’ by maddalena casadei image © designboom

marsotto edizioni at milan design week 2011 ‘lello’ by maddalena casadei image courtesy of marsotto edizioni

marsotto edizioni at milan design week 2011 detail of ‘lello’ by maddalena casadei image courtesy of marsotto edizioni

marsotto edizioni at milan design week 2011 ‘soya’ by claesson koivistio rune image © designboom marsotto edizioni at milan design week 2011 ‘soya’ by claesson koivisto rune image courtesy of marsotto edizioni

marsotto edizioni at milan design week 2011 ‘gallery’ by claesson koivisto rune image courtesy of marsotto edizioni

marsotto edizioni at milan design week 2011 ‘gallery’ by claesson koivisto rune image courtesy of marsotto edizioni

marsotto edizioni at milan design week 2011 ‘jeeves’ tables by alberto meda image © designboom

marsotto edizioni at milan design week 2011 installation view image © designboom

marsotto edizioni at milan design week 2011 ‘luma’ by joel berg image © designboom

marsotto edizioni at milan design week 2011 claesson koivisto rune portrait © designboom

marsotto edizioni at milan design week 2011 james irvine and alberto meda portrait © designboom

marsotto edizioni at milan design week 2011 ross lovegrove portrait © designboom

marsotto edizioni at milan design week 2011 joel berg (left) and thomas sandell (right) portrait © designboom