DESIGN: Made in I-SPACE by FRATELLI DAMIAN
YEAR: 2023
LOCATION: Venice Design Week 2023
DESCRIPTION: HORTUS is a collection of four furniture accessories inspired by the UNESCO World Heritage site, the “Orto Botanico di Padova,” recognized in 1997.
We immersed ourselves in nature, drawing inspiration from its poetry, architecture, and science, captivated by the stories told by the ancient trees of the “Giardino dei Semplici” Each furniture accessory is inspired by a monumental tree in the garden, chosen for its uniqueness and history:
- The Saint Peter’s Palm, currently the oldest plant in the botanical garden, planted in 1585 and made famous by Goethe, who dedicated writings and scientific works to it.
- The Magnolia Grandiflora, likely planted in 1786 and considered the oldest in Europe.
- The Ginkgo Biloba, planted in 1750.
- The Oriental Plane Tree, planted in 1680, with a hollow trunk caused by a lightning strike.
Trees are seen as symbols of life in all its phases, as well as wisdom, prosperity, great strength, adaptability, and rebirth. They renew and revive themselves continuously, much like the human soul. We admired them through the eyes of a child and sought to interpret them through our chosen material: steel.
Each furniture accessory is crafted from stainless steel, polished, satin-finished, and painted in four colors for the smaller collectible pieces: straw gold, bronze, silver, and gunmetal. The larger accessories are made of polished and satin-finished stainless steel, painted in straw gold and cobalt blue, and include hand-painted ceramic elements.
The dimensions of the collection’s pieces were derived from scaled measurements of the real trees.
The HORTUS collection is part of the SERIE UNICA | Craft Design Made in Veneto project, a collection of objects conceived and created by nine artisan companies from Veneto, inspired by the nine UNESCO sites in the region. The excellence of the territory is expressed through craftsmanship and narrated using the language of design.
The collection was officially unveiled during the Venice Design Week 2023 and was awarded the 1st Prize at ARTE FIERA DOLOMITI for Design 2023.