Designers Andrés Reisinger, Helle Mardahl and Laurids Gallée are among the contributors for Project Materia, a 3 Days of Design exhibition that pays homage to the Italian artisan town of Pietrasanta.
The project is a collaboration between Copenhagen design gallery Tableau, led by floral designer Julius Værnes Iversen, and contemporary art platform Edition Solenne, which produces limited-edition works.
They invited nine designers to produce works in bronze, marble and glass – the three “foundational materials” that have been used for centuries by artists in Pietrasanta, the town made famous by Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo.
The results include tables featuring animal forms, a marble bowl that resembles a miniature quarry, a bronze side table inspired by a tree and a pair of stools that resemble packing crates.
Alongside Reisinger, Mardahl and Gallée, the other Project Materia contributors chosen by Tableau were Cathrine Raben Davidsen, Forever Studio, Jacob Egeburg, Louise Roe, Onno Adriaanse and Willem van Hooff.
“I chose a selection of designers and artists that all work with a different angle on material,” explained Værnes Iversen.
“It’s more of a material research than a showcase,” he told Dezeen. “We wanted to show what the different materials can do, then also what each artist can bring to these materials.”
The Project Materia exhibition began with a visit to Pietrasanta, which is located near the marble quarries of the Apuan Alps in Tuscany.
Michelangelo put the town on the map when he began making sculpture there in the early 1500s. Many other artists, notably Isamu Noguchi, Jean Arp and Fernando Botero, have since gone there to work in marble and bronze.
Pietrasanta is still home to dozens of marble workshops and bronze foundries, while the world’s most famous glass artisans can be found 200 kilometres away, on the Venetian island of Murano.
“These works were produced in the same facilities where Michelangelo made his work,” said Værnes Iversen. “The marble was taken out of the same mountain where his marble came from.”
According to Værnes Iversen, the use of bronze in the exhibition makes it a particularly unusual project.
“Bronze is normally used for fine art, not for functional art,” he said. “It’s very expensive to produce, so it’s mostly used for sculpture.”
For 3 Days of Design, the works were presented on a stepped green installation in a Copenhagen courtyard.
Austrian designer Gallée created pieces blending the figurative forms of the Renaissance with the smooth curves achieved with digital design tools. They include a marble table with horse forms and a bronze table made up of fish.
“I was conscious of the historical significance of these materials,” said Gallée.
“They have such a long legacy in figurative sculpture, and I wanted to tap into that tradition while also reinterpreting it through a contemporary lens.”
Spanish designer and digital artist Reisinger created a trio of vases that resemble delicate flowers, while Danish artist Raben Davidsen created a table and two vases, each boasting voluptuous curves.
“I see function as integrated into a poetic intention,” said Raben Davidsen.
“These objects are meant not just to be used, but also to be contemplated. They can hold memory, ritual, or stillness – function becomes a vessel for emotional resonance.”
Danish glassware designer Mardahl and Dutch ceramic designer van Hoof both created alternate versions of their best-known works. Mardahl’s is a stone edition of her Bon Bon vessel, while van Hoof’s is a glass model of his I Didn’t Do Enough vase.
Other standout pieces include a dish by Copenhagen-based gallerist Roe, formed of balls of green marble, and a table by Dutch designer and wood specialist Adriaanse, made from overlapping marble pieces.
“Knowing that the material used in my table was formed millions of years ago makes it feel incredibly special and humbling to be able to design with it,” said Adriaanse.
Project Materia is on show at Landemærket 10 in Copenhagen from 18 to 20 June as part of 3 Days of Design. Dezeen Events Guide offers a guide to the festival plus more events and shows around the world.
The photography is by Armin Tehrani.
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