On the anniversary marking the 110th years from the inauguration of the company, Del Savio Marmi reinvents itself to become Del Savio 1910. The new-found atelier develops the ancient art of Palladian flooring – a technique at the core of the former family-run business –, to valorise its distinguishing traits with a contemporary touch.
Del Savio 1910 reinterprets a centuries-old artisanal tradition, which originated in the north-east area of Italy, between the towns of Pordenone and Spilimbergo, to hybridise it for the global market. This project, lead under the art direction of the Zanellato/Bortotto studio, aims to celebrate and reaffirm the uniqueness, the authenticity, and the value of craftmanship.
The choice of collaborating with the Zanellato/Bortotto studio, founded in Treviso in 2013, is based on the peerless care characterising the professional approach of Giorgia Zanellato and Daniele Bortotto. The studio stands out for its attention towards the genius loci, broadly comprising all those narratives associated with places and lives, as well as the enhancement of companies’ resources, expertise, and diverse identities.
As the creative directors of the project, the duo Zanellato/Bortotto decides to involve two other studios in the project. Mae Engelgeer is a Dutch textile designer, and David/Nicolas is a Lebanese interior and art design studio. These diverse approaches enrich our creative perspective and emphasise the countless virtues of marble, together with its versatility.
These collaborations gave birth to nine collections, three by each designer, which make use of ten different types of marble. All materials are Italian, and the tradition of some of them is deeply rooted in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, such in the cases of the Grigio Carnico and the Fior di Pesco Carnico. All these natural stones are produced and worked in Pordenone, in the headquarter of the Del Savio company.
The slabs of the collection, characterised by thinness and lightness, could be customised to obtain versatile and personalised products. The ten marbles could be also combined to just as many types of cement, to realise a wide range of patterns.
OPUS CERTUM - design Zanellato/Bortotto
This project pays homage to the Palladian tradition by reinterpreting it from a contemporary perspective. The Palladian flooring, realised by juxtaposing various, irregular pieces of marble or other natural stones, is replaced by compositions devised into details and realised by bringing together traditional manual techniques and modern tools. The marble’s swirls and veins are juxtaposed with various patterns of coloured cement to design unique motifs.
Vague echoes the tradition by valorising the irregular, sinuous design of surfaces.
Dot is a play of contrasts, combining the irregular design of the background and the perfect circle drawn upon it.
Optic, finally, is characterised by pieces of the same marble assembled to form an optical illusion where lines are discontinuous and keep chasing one another without never meeting.