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»Mindfulness and respect for other people and nature, appreciating the past, consciously living in the present and being open-minded about the future are the cornerstones of life and work at the Fragsburg.«

Alexander Ortner, owner

Hideaway

SOUL LUXURY FOR GOURMETS, ROMANTICS & WELLNESS LOVERS

On a private hill high above the imperial spa town of Merano – where the sun shines the longest – Castel Fragsburg has been sitting enthroned for nearly 400 years, rooted in rock and soil. And yet the former hunting castle from the 17th century with in total 50,000 sqm seems to sway above the venerable tree tops of the Fragsburg’s rocky cliffs.

In 1954, ownership of the Castel Fragsburg Maternum transferred to the Ortner family. With great subtlety and a flair for the essential things in life, the family succeeded in transporting the vintage building into the present, bit by bit, while also honouring and reviving traditions and having an open-minded view about what was to come. With the purchase of the Castel Fragsburg Paternum, the castle on the mighty clifftop from the 14th century, the Ortner family has reunited the two buildings that originally belonged together. The castle nowadays is used as an eventlocation for weddings and celebrations.

The Ortner family

Culinary THE PERFECTION OF SIMPLICITY

“The highest form of art is to ignore what is insignificant.” is a quote by the South Tyrolean chef, Egon Heiss. Over the course of his long career as a starred chef, he has travelled all over the world and cooked for politicians, Formula 1 stars, royalty and billionaires. Egon is convinced that “if you have seen and experienced everything, you return to the perfection of simplicity.”

Such as the Fragsburg itself the culinary philosophy is deeply rooted in the South Tyrolean traditions and closely linked with an Alpine and Mediterranean sensuality.

In the Gourmet Restaurant Prezioso located in the glass loggia surrounded by a sea of roses and ivy, as well as the gourmet loggia surrounded by wisteria on the wooden terrace, Egon invites to “South Tyrol staged Heiss”. Michelin-starred moments of happiness for genuine connoisseurs who appreciate loving, sensual indulgence, are offered.

One sumptuous option is the famous Breakfast Royale offered by the Fragsburg, which was elected by the Vanity Fair magazine as one of the mighty top ten in Italy.The Fragsburg Gourmet Arrangement includes a 5-course candlelit dinner in the Restaurant Orangerie and the delight of sitting on the scenic terrace with a cinematographic view over the sea of lights in the valley and the giant mountains of South Tyrol.

Gourmet Restaurant Prezioso

Restaurant Organgerie

Chef de Cuisine, Egon Heiss

Suites

AT EYE LEVEL WITH BIRDS AND BUTTERFLIES

The Fragsburg is an all-embracing composition made with devotion and composed of ancient furniture, Art Nouveau, select designer pieces and a hint of Art Deco. The Ortner family has been gently taking care of the Fragsburg since the 50s with their eye for beauty and passion for the past. The 20 suites of the castle hotel were all carefully furnished with a distinctive feeling for colours, and feature noble materials and an extravagant style, are flooded with light and have one, sometimes even two balconies or a roof terrace.

Every room – be it a Double Room Deluxe, a Junior Suite, a Suite Deluxe, the Adlerhorst Suite or a Suite Royale‚ is a curated unique piece which will enchant guests thanks to its graceful mix of Alpine-Mediterranean elegance and is furnished with luxurious details, for example a scenic bathtub or infra-red booth which can be found in some suites.

Castel Fragsburg, a place which unites heaven and earth.

Healing spa

INSPIRED BY THE ANCIENT KNOWLEDGE OF HERBAL MEDICINE

In the 1st Alchemistic Healing Spa Castellum Natura, the first of its kind in the world, the modern alchemist Renate De Mario Gamper, who comes from a South Tyrolean clan of women attuned to nature, personally prepares all care and grooming elixirs from hand selected flowers and herbs. The teacher of healing herbs, incense therapist and nutrition consultant unites the knowledge of cures of her forbears and of the medieval polymath Hildegard von Bingen with the latest insights of science and energy medicine and her unbridled love and reverence for the earth and its gifts.

“In nature we can find all the secrets of healing, wellbeing, and a long, fulfilled life”, is the firm conviction of Renate. Inspired by the ancient knowledge of herbal medicine and the almost-forgotten teachings of alchemy, the Healing Spa Castellum Nautra offers harmonising full-body treatments, massages, healing baths and personal beauty treatments.

The Castellum Nautra team spent three years devoting themselves to the development and preparation of effective products made of hand-picked essences. From this, they created a 100% organic cosmetics range, the Fragsburg Beauty Care, exclusively for the hotel guests.

Sustainability VALUING THE ESSENTIAL

Castel Fragsburg is especially proud of its own Fragsburg Soul Garden. Vegetables, fruits and herbs grow on a 2000 m² large field without the use of any chemicals and the hand-picked ingredients are exclusively harvested for the hotel and restaurant guests. The garden is led by a youth initiative from Merano and in collaboration with Castel Fragsburg they support young people from the region, they give them a purpose and help them to find their calling in life.

For more diversity and authenticity in the gourmet cuisine, Castel Fragsburg works also with producers and farmers from the local area.

The property is supported by a sustainable philosophy. To safeguard this philosophy, the historical walls that give this property its original charm and tell tales of times in the distant past are preserved.

The Ortner family took great care to extend and restore the original hunting lodge. The renovations look like they have always been there. For example, locally grown wood was used in the vintage building when converting the second and third floors back in 2015. Modern technologies also found their way in, enabling to take the next steps towards sustainability. Heat and cosiness, for example, are now guaranteed by large solar panels and a wood pellet heating system, which is fuelled entirely by local resources. The beauty of nature is not just revealed in the garden but is reflected in the beautiful things inside the building, as the flowers that adorn the halls come from the Fragsburg Soul Garden and the surrounding meadows. Equally, the herbs picked in the garden are an important component in the tinctures and ointments in the healing spa. Plastic packaging is just as out of place here as the in in-room amenities such as spa bags and toiletries which are normally found in spa hotel bathrooms.

A place of well-being

A PLACE THAT ENCHANTS AND INSPIRES PEOPLE

Castel Fragsburg is nestled in enchanted castle grounds which stretch out from the boutique retreat for more than 50,000 m², bordering with the highest waterfall in South Tyrol.

Whoever crosses the entrance portal will feel as though they have stepped out of space and time, bursting with inspiration and oddly moved by long forgotten dreams and fairy tales.

Wisterias, roses, jasmines, and hydrangeas are blooming everywhere, and visitors will enter a world composed of sweet scents and colours, soothing birdsong and a peaceful security between the imposing mountains. A winding path made of paving stones starts from the Fragsburg, goes by a hand carved four-poster bed placed under a chestnut, across rose arches, and takes you right to a heated pool with a lookout tower and lounge, sun deck, massage pool and a dreamy lawn for sunbathing located between vineyards and orchards.

Right at the cliff the guests will find the Fragsburg Sanctuarium, a treehouse for yoga and personalized rituals. Fitness fans can use the garden gym, located in a cosy arbour in the huge park.

Castle

HISTORICAL WALLS WITH STORIES TO TELL

Castel Fragsburg, the 5-star hotel, was used as a hunting lodge for the lords of the nearby castle on the mighty clifftop from the 14th century, which nowadays is called affectionately Castel Fragsburg Paternum. With the purchase of the castle only a few years ago, the Ortner family has reunited the two buildings that originally belonged together.

The historical castle is the perfect venue for large festivities. Surrounded by a huge garden, the event could begin here with an aperitif against a grandiose backdrop. Celebrate like royalty in the wood-panelled knight’s halls with their magnificent chandeliers.

Highlights

BIOPHILIA EXPERIENCE

The modern alchemist Renate De Mario Gamper takes the guests on a magical hike where she shows them how they can harness the power of nature, medicinal herbs, flowers and trees to boost the everyday health and well-being. Furthermore she will reveal the secrets of age-old treatments and alternative medicines made from family recipes.

PICNICS

Experience peaceful, picturesque spots in the countryside, beside the highest waterfall in South Tyrol or in the heart of the courtyard of the Castel Fragsburg Paternum and enjoy the seasonal delicacies from the Fragsburg kitchen.

HELICOPTER TOURS

You can experience the mountains in a number of ways. Some of the guests are climbers and will make the painstaking yet rewarding way up the mountain on their own two feet. But some of them will want to soar higher. So why not open up new perspectives on a helicopter flight.The helicopter will pick the guests up and safely drop them off at the hotel Castel Fragsburg.

AWARDS

Michelin Star for the Gourmet Restaurant Prezioso 2023 Relais & Châteaux Well-Being Trophy 2023 Gault & Millau valuation with 4 red toques and Egon Heiss chef of the year 2024 Tripadvisor Traveller Choice Award 2023 Best of the Best Condé Nast Johansens Award Best Dining Experience 202.

NUMBERS

Area: 50,000 m² Construction time: The Relais & Châteaux Castel Fragsburg war built in 1620 and the own castle beside dates back to the 14th century Owner: Alexander Ortner Number suites: 20 Restaurants: Gourmet Restaurant Prezioso and Restaurant Orangerie Pools: Outdoor swimming pool and whirlpool Healing spa: 4 treatment rooms, relaxation room, finish sauna, herbal bio sauna, turkish steam room, infrared sauna, garden gym, treehouse Sanctuarium Partner: Relais & Châteaux, Virtuoso Eventlocation: Castel Fragsburg Paternum.

»This Italian hideaway is an overall composition created with devotion and designed with an eye for beauty and a heart for the past.«

The Ortner family

Forte Village Sardegna

by Giorgia Mauri

Where the extraordinary happenS eVery day

Forte Village is the multi-award-winning destination on Sardinia’s southern coast that has worked tirelessly ever since it was established in 1970 with the sole aim of offering its guests an unrivalled service. To achieve this goal, the resort has been redeveloped and restructured several times over the years. Yet none of those initiatives have been as ambitious as the project launched in 2014 that will come to an end for 2016. Lorenzo Giannuzzi, at the helm since 1994, describes it like this, “We want to prepare Forte Village for the challenge of the next decade:

to be trailblazers in the hospitality of the future.” So the resort is preparing to enter a new era, while jealously guarding and building on the foundations of its success year after year.

“Think of the Made in Italy brand: what springs immediately to mind? The most refined tailoring, the most celebrated variety of food and wine in the world, the most powerful, sophisticated and exclusive cars, a genuine and traditional welcome. And the Forte Village experience, too, with our take on hospitality, wellbeing, leisure, sport, fashion and food – nourishment for body and soul.”

Lorenzo Giannuzzi, CEO and Managing Director, Forte Village Resort

a deStination Within a deStination

Forte Village is a destination of unparalleled allure nestling in a truly wonderful natural setting. It is a masterpiece of myriad shades of blue, with the unmistakable waters of southern Sardinia, nuanced greens, in its luxuriant 47 hectare garden, and – to complete the marvellous Mediterranean backdrop – the pristine white of the beach right on its doorstep.

This corner of paradise, just 25 miles from Cagliari and its international airport, vaunts a special microclimate like no other in Europe, as numerous studies have confirmed. For the promontory towering up behind Santa Margherita di Pula shields the coast from the cold north winds and assures us over 300 sunny days out of 365. This gift of nature allows us to open from March to November every year.

hoSpitaLity With its eight hotels, eight magnificent villas, and over forty suites, Forte Village offers guests a choice of the most suitable accommodation for their needs.

ViLLaS & SuiteS or those looking for an all-round exclusive experience, Forte Village presents a selection of eight spacious, sophisticated villas and over forty types of suite. The eight villas are Forte Village′s prized collection of private residences. Breathtakingly beautiful and superbly furnished, they have joined the exclusive club of Leading Hotels of the World; each has its own extensive private garden with pool. For your entire stay, you can call on all the discreet expertise of your own private butler: luxury has surely never been this easy. A touch of romance, a dash of uninhibited luxury, and all the comfortable personal space you could wish for: that′s what you can expect from the sublime suites, each with a style of their own, within our resort.

5* - Small, elegant and surrounded by beautiful nature, tailor-made for those craving a relaxing stay in a corner of pure paradise, Hotel Villa del Parco, a member of the Leading Hotels of the World group, is all this and much more. Villa del Parco’s rooms and bungalows bask in a verdant setting, where guests can enjoy direct access to Acquaforte Spa. Together, they form an oasis of luxury and elegance where tranquillity and refinement reign. Only at Forte Village you can find places that seem to have come straight out of your most delightful dreams.

Take Le Dune, for example. The resort′s leafy ways lead to a group of elegant bungalows and exclusive suites with first-class personal service and an enviable position as close as you could wish to the resort′s beautiful white sandy beach. Hotel Castello is another beachfront masterpiece. Renovated throughout with its fresh, subtle décor, it is perfect for those seeking to combine consummate luxury with fine design. The fourth- and fifthfloor suites bask in a fairytale sea view for an even more exclusive holiday experience.

Immersed in Forte Village′s age-old pinewood is the Pineta, an idyllic location for leaving every day cares behind and wallowing in pure privacy. Quiet and fresh, each newly refurbished ground floor room has a private patio entrance and garden, surrounded by pine forest. The Hotel Pineta fits harmoniously into our gardens′ evocative atmosphere and is ideal for families and couples alike – a beautiful, peaceful hide-away and pure Mediterranean gem.

4* - The bungalows at the new Hotel Le Palme and Hotel Bouganville boast a private garden that makes each one a haven of tranquillity, the perfect home from home for relaxing and relishing all the experiences that will make your holiday unforgettable. The bungalows are in the resort′s pulsating centre just a towel′s toss from the newly refurbished Oasis pools, surrounded by flowers and typical Mediterranean maquis plants. Some are ideal for families: older kids can be independent in single bungalows of their own, while the little ones can play safely nearby.

And finally, Hotel Il Borgo, nestling in divine natural surroundings, is perfect for large families. Its bungalows offer stunning views with an enchanting mix of trees, sky and sea. And they are ideally placed for Children’s Wonderland, the Oasis pool and all the fun of the slides at Baia delle Palme pool.

CuLinary expLorationS

Everything you eat will be a masterpiece. Or, even better, an unforgettable experience to savour. Choose between more than 30 restaurants and bars allowing over 80 chefs to proudly bring you sumptuous recipes from all around the world, without ever neglecting local traditions. Every menu features fresh ingredients from land and sea, 80% sourced from in-demand Sardinian producers.

As a fitting accompaniment to this spellbinding gourmet spread, our wine cellar vaunts a selection of 350 producers hand-picked from among the finest Italian and international wineries.

And it doesn’t end there. After sating your palate, continue the night in style with shows and entertainment in the lounge bars, exclusive cafés and trendy nightclubs.

A real Michelin constellation

At Forte Village, we catch stars and serve them on your plate. Our multi-starred chefs will turn your holiday into a fabulous culinary experience: the resort is proud to present talents such as Gordon Ramsay, Emanuele Scarello and Alfons Schuhbeck, all amazing exponents of the most ambitious international cuisine.

Gordon Ramsay

Talent, verve, and a taste for drama. With his personal collection of 6 Michelin stars garnered during an incredible career littered with hit TV shows and bestselling books, Gordon Ramsay will surprise you with an extraordinary menu. In the setting of a sublimely elegant seafront restaurant, his creativity

and feel for tradition combine to bring a magical culinary world to life.

Alfons Schuhbeck

Multi-award-winning German chef Alfons Schuhbeck arrived at Forte Village in 2014 in his new gourmet restaurant at the water’s edge in the captivating Forte Bay. With his extraordinary talents as a chef and his deep knowledge of the herbs and spices that are so essential in his creations, he will be conjuring up a very special menu for guests inspired by his “Spice for Life” philosophy. This embodies the perfect equilibrium between the herbs and spices′ health benefits and a quest for flavour to savour. To fully exploit the Spice for Life philosophy of wellbeing without compromising on taste and aroma, Chef Schuhbeck has created a special menu for the Acquaforte Spa complemented by detox, weight loss and energy treatments.

Emanuele Scarello

Having arrived in 2015, the exclusive presence of Chef Emanuele Scarello, holder of two Michelin stars returns to Forte Village. His exquisite Italian cuisine will grace the “Trattoria Italiana”, a restaurant with splendid sea views.

Guilty Pleasures

True food hedonists have something new, sweet and irresistible in store. The culinary triumphs by awardwinning pâtissier Vincenzo Bonfissuto, a master in the finest Italian patisserie tradition, are a tour de force of little temptations. Joining Bonfissuto in the Boutique del Dessert in Piazza Maria Luigia is Gianluca Fusto,

serving up the most irresistible desserts for those looking for a daytime indulgence or dessert at any of the Forte Village restaurants.

Celebrity Chef Evenings

In June, one of the summer’s most prestigious gourmet events begins: the Celebrity Chef Evenings. Exclusively for Forte Village guests, an international constellation of world-famous Michelin-starred chefs will light up the resort sky. Each participant in this two-month event will take centre stage in exclusive evenings at the Forte Bay terrace. From Spain to Germany via France and then Italy’finest regions, the chefs will regale Forte Village guests with a unique interpretation of the best food on Earth.

It will be a gourmet experience where creative flair, imagination and the desire to experiment and amaze know no bounds: a veritable festival of flavours. 2016 have seen the opening of the new elegant Wine Bar & Wine Shop, where you can taste the highest quality wines of Italian international origins.

The Cooking School and the Forte Village Fruit and Vegetable Garden

The Cooking School and its exclusive courses

continue to flourish in the splendid setting of the Forte Gourmet restaurant. Our starred chefs will take turns to lead guests on a journey, revealing the secrets behind the great classic dishes of Italian cuisine. All the ingredients are fresh, genuine and top quality: “zero food miles” raw materials full of flavour, bursting with aroma and deliciousness. The resort is absolutely meticulous about this, too; we also offer products from our wonderful organic fruit and vegetable garden inside the Village.

In the summer of Forte Village you cannot miss the new Cooking Academy, a series of cooking classes running from June to August, for a total of 14 twohour lessons. The Forte Village chefs will teach you their techniques in order to achieve the most famous dishes of Italian tradition. From pizza, homemade lasagna, fresh ravioli and risottos. Other lessons might include sushi preparation, cupcakery, or traditional Italian pastries. A special class will be dedicated to vegan cooking, for those who prefer alternative and strictly organic food, without giving up taste and style of contemporary cuisine. All ingredients will of course be from our fruit and vegetable gardens.

a FairytaLe SuMMer at ChiLdren’S WonderLand

Children′s Wonderland is a little world of happiness and fantasy, where younger guests will discover the joy of a holiday tailor-made for them in one of the resort′s loveliest corners, with a private pool and VIP access to the beach, all in complete safety.

The youngsters will not easily forget their adventures on the world′s best-loved steam train. Thomas the Tank EngineTM himself will be there to welcome the children into this haven of happiness, calling at stops throughout the resort.

The kids will meet amazing playmates at Children′s Wonderland. Starting with BarbieTM and all the themed things for little ladies to do at the BarbieTM Activity Centre, to colour their holidays pink. From this summer, Forte Village also has the driving school with a difference: the fantastic souped-up Hot WheelsTM. There is over 3500 square meters of entertainment specially for children, and its vibrant heart is the new Mario’s Village. This is a proper scale model village, with 9 houses – the fire station, the mini-market, the beauty centre, the cinema, and more – ready to welcome all the kids. It is an enchanting evocation for children of life in a real village, and its star, naturally, is Mario the parrot, modelled on one of the marvellous Ara parrots that live in the resort.

For our youngest guests, the Fisher-Price® Nursery will keep tots aged up to 2 occupied under the watchful eye of our highly qualified professional staff. And still there′s more. Lots of fascinating workshops –from origami to balloon art, Velcro work to ceramics (with top Sardinian craftspeople), and creating objects with recycled materials – will keep the kids entertained with a varied programme of educational

and play activities to stimulate their creativity. The days will fly by, with a succession of shows, music, clowns and splashing around in the pool: Children’s Wonderland, open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., is the dream destination specially for younger guests.

endLeSS FreedoM: LeiSure Land & MarVin’S MaGiC aCadeMy

There are just two rules at Forte Village Leisure Land: “have fun” and “don’t stop”.

It′s a blast! Enjoy a drive on the super-fast go-kart circuit, a game on the eight bowling lanes, and a match on the full-size grass football pitch.

Then, to round off each day in style, let your hair down in the seductive Forte Fortissimo nightclub to the nonstop sounds of DJs and bands.

Leisure Land is great fun, and it′s all there to discover for teenagers and the young at heart

Marvin’s Magic Academy is the first “school of wizards” in the world to come to a resort, which as in magic, is unrivalled. For you we have invited the great British magician, Marvin Berglas, one of the most famous magicians in the world, to reveal his closely guarded secrets for our guests over 10 years of age to learn.

aCQuaForte Spa

The Acquaforte Spa is the place to be if you′re looking for the quintessence in sophisticated beauty and wellbeing.

The sea brings energy and wellness, and Forte Village′s thalassotherapy turns all the benefits of water into an art form.

Indeed, Sardinia has been a spa centre for thousands of years. The Nuragic civilisation, dating all the way back to 1800 BC, practised the cult of water around the lunar and astronomical cycles, as the numerous surviving “Sacred Pits” confirm. This special link with water is also reflected in the island′s various thermal settlements. These include the “Sea spa” near Nora, founded by the Nuragic peoples just a few miles from Forte Village Resort. The archaeological area on the peninsula that culminates in Capo di Pula, a mile or two away, testifies to their quest for wellbeing through

same marine elements that we also consider an inexhaustible source of strength and beauty: climate, water, mud and algae.

For over 25 years, the Forte Village medical team, working with the Thalassotherapy experimental research centre at the University of Milan, has been perfecting a unique, world-leading method based on a series of six baths with different temperature and salinity gradations.

Mother Nature comes to our aid once again to help us keep in shape and live life to the full. That is what you can expect from “Spice for Life”, the revolutionary philosophy championed by Forte Village in partnership with multi-award-winning chef Alfons Schuhbeck, which uses spices to achieve physical and mental wellbeing.

Schuhbeck – Germany′s Ambassador at Expo 2015 –aims to show how herbs and spices can help enhance our all-round wellbeing. “Spice for Life” extends and enriches the offering from the Tisaneria and the Spa Menus, which complement and enhance our Detox, Health & Beauty and Weight Loss programmes.

In tune with the resort′s sporty side, an innovative Medical Centre has also been set up with two clinics and all the electronic equipment needed to offer a complete physical check-up service.

Heading it up will be Prof. Pier Francesco Parra, the doyen of sports medicine, whose patients include the likes of Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams. He is a laser surgery specialist and inventor of the new

treatment that has earned him the nickname “Doctor Laser”. The new Doctor Laser method provides significant results especially in the various forms of muscular, tendon, joint, ligament, cartilage and bone injuries and many other conditions.

Doctor Laser puts an exceptional wealth of experience at your disposal, as Forte Village continues its pursuit of excellent offerings for guests to enhance their wellbeing. Our qualified staff are always on hand to assist with personalised treatments to suit your individual health needs.

The Acquaforte Spa also offers a whole spectrum of other services and treatments. These include aesthetic medicine, massage therapy and fitness –with personalised programmes developed and run by a medical team and a highly qualified group of personal trainers. Plus treatments that combine highquality products and remarkably effective cutting-edge aesthetic technologies, such as radio-frequency treatments, microdermabrasion and oxygen therapy, for any face and body skintreatment need.

Acquaforte Spa combines curative and aesthetic treatments following the principle of judicious refinement to fashion a perfect alchemy of precious essences that unite to create the concept of wellbeing par excellence. In a light, elegant, environmentally friendly marquee hall in total harmony with the location′s natural beauty, Acquaforte Spa will offer benefits that go beyond the series of six baths to embrace a whole world of wellbeing, even in winter.

Forte ViLLaGe Sport aCadeMieS With the ChaMpionS Forte Village′s alter ego is a thoroughbred sports resort.

The Forte Village Sport Academies give kids aged 5 to 16 the joy of playing, training and honing their skills and talents alongside great coaches and players from sports such as tennis, rugby, cricket, netball and many more besides.

We start with the sport that unites the planet: football. Every summer, Forte Village hosts the remarkably popular Chelsea Football Club soccer school, run by the trainers from the famous London team.

It is a passion that crosses the generations, uniting young and old. What better chance will you get to play on pitches that have been graced by top teams from Inter and Roma to the England and Germany national sides?

New to the resort, the Forte Village Indoor Sports Academy Centre is located just a stone′s throw from the Oasis pool on the main avenue of the resort. The centre will host four of our nine academies including Boxing, Dance and Killerspin Table Tennis academies. As ever, Forte Village is a landmark on the international tennis scene, with its 12 clay courts and its roster of coaches packed with Grand Slam champions and professionals. The Tennis Academy offers different courses are available from Individual Junior and Adult Academies and Mental Match Play lessons. The former Wimbledon champion Annabel Croft also runs personalised courses, and last but not least, come and Train with the Stars with players including Ilie Năstase, Paul Haarhuis, Magnus Larsson Dominik Hrbatý and Karel Nováček.

Starting this year, the Forte Village Boxing Academy gives guests the chance to climb into the ring and work with experienced international trainers like Frank Buglioni. This sport is a dialogue between protagonists, a mute spectacle, shorn of language, that needs to be interpreted and narrated within a given situation between the boxers and the spectators. Rugby, cricket and netball are among the Commonwealth′s most popular sports, and now they are here in splendid Sardinia!

Forte Village′s Rugby Academy continues as strong as ever, with side-stepping, try-scoring, tackling and all the tricks of the trade, explained by English rugby legends like Austin Healey and Will Greenwood. The renowned Cricket Academy debuted with great

success in 2012 and is back again with top coaches and players in charge.

There is also the Netball Academy. Netball is a team sport like basketball, but with just the basket and no backboard; it was developed for women but has also become popular among men. It is an easy and exciting game to play, and guests can enjoy it with champions of the calibre of Karen Atkinson , Tamsin Greenway, Pam Cookey and Ebony BeckfordChambers.

For cycle fans, the Forte Village Bike Academy offers the fantastic chance once again to pedal away along south Sardinia′s most spectacular roads, in the company of some cycling greats. Forte Village Tinkoff Bike Academy offers cycling enthusiasts, the possibility to experience a unique training camp with one of the world′s top pro cycling teams, at an exceptional setting.

Additionally, in its relaxing, luxuriant setting, Forte Village Resort offers guests a superb choice of safe, quiet and magnificent cycle routes. With no cars to worry about, younger guests can wheel away to their hearts′ content and even make up new routes every day, without ever needing to leave the resort. For older, stronger riders, Forte Village offers a range of extended cycle excursions along the most delightful roads and paths in southern Sardinia and its marvellous coastline.

Forte Village brings you the amazing opportunity to discover one of the world′s fastest and most exciting sports: basketball.

Under the tutelage of some of the best coaches of the sport, the Basketball Academy trainers will guide guests around this fantastic world with lessons for beginners and improvers aged 6 to 16 on the new full-size court in Leisure Land.

Forte Village has all this and more. The sporting facilities also include activities from zumba and total body workout to aquagym and, last but not least, diving to explore the wondrous seabeds easily accessible from the resort. For those interested, diving courses are run at the resort pools for beginners or experts to work towards PADI certification.

aWardS and priZeS

Forte Village has won the World’s Leading Resort crown at the World Travel Awards for the last 18 years in a row.

To add to that, it is also the World’s Leading Sports Academy Resort – a very important prize for the endless facilities – and the 2015 holder of the World’s Leading Villa award, in recognition of the exclusive Villas. A Forte Village hotel has also been admitted to one of the world′s most exclusive hotel collections: Villa del Parco and the magnificent seafront suites have been listed among the prestigious Leading Hotels of the World for many years now.

Forte Village’s international success, the results achieved in over thirty years of experience, and its unrivalled offering have been studied in a high-level research project published in America by the Harvard Business School.

Loc. Forte Village

S.S.195 Km 39.600 (09010) Pula

Cagliari, Sardegna

e-mail: info@villacastagnola.com www.fortevillageresort.com

Luxury accommodation

Michelin starred chefs

Top sports academies

Beautiful pools

World's Leading Resort

World's Leading Luxury Family Resort

World's Leading Entertainment Resort

World's Leading Sports Academy

World's

Grand Hotel Villa Castagnola Lugano

by Giorgia Mauri

Villa, Art & Gastronomy

The Grand Hotel Villa Castagnola, member of the “Small Luxury Hotels of the World”, is a five star superior Hotel in Lugano and enjoys a privileged position inside a large sub-tropical park, with a beautiful view towards the lake. The elegant villa, built in 1880, combines the charm of a bygone era with the comfort and the care of a modern luxury hotel.

LONG STANDING HOTEL TRADITION

Villa Castagnola, originally built for the Von Ritter, a noble Russian family, was bought, in 1885, by a young Swiss couple of the Schnyder von Wartensee family. They transformed it into a hotel and the family owned it up to 1982, when it was sold to a local family. A total redecoration was then started by the new owners to return the building to its original beauty and provide the highest standards of comfort. Nothing is left to chance!

Every detail is taken care of, to make guests feel welcomed into this “private home”. Elegant art objects are scattered throughout the various public areas: 17th century Gobelin d’Aubusson tapestries in the Salone Camino, paintings of Italian masters in the Sala Bridge, and Flemish masters in the Sala Colonne. With its long standing hotel tradition, Villa Castagnola has become throughout the years, the chosen holiday destination for those guest seeking a deeper and more authentic holiday experience, bankers, artists, writers, all seeking privacy and rest in discreet yet sophisticated surroundings.

ROOMS AND SUITES FOR AN ELEGANT STAY

The hotel offers 4 published in suite, 74 rooms, of exceptional charm, individually styled, with stunning park and/ or lake views, balcony, terrace or loggia. All rooms, of which 32 are Junior Suites and Suites, have individual airconditioning, and provide the most modern comforts.

EPICUREAN & GASTRONOMIC PLEASURE

Restaurant Le Relais - 15 points GaultMillau

In an elegant setting, our Executive Chef Christian Bertogna, offers a light and innovative Mediterranean cuisine, a balance between colors and delicate flavors that you won’t forget. During the warm season, lunch and dinner are served on the outdoor terrace, overlooking the garden and the lake. The Sala Rosa and Sala Goya are the exact setting for celebrations: from family luncheons to business meetings, from wedding banquets to romantic candle light evenings. Open daily.

points GaultMillau

A theme restaurant inside an art gallery. A Restaurant embellished by artwork and sculptures of contemporary artists of international standing, that change every six months. A doorstep away from the Villa Castagnola through the park and across the main street, right on the shore of the lake, the Restaurant Gallery Arté al Lago offers a magnificent and unique view over the gulf of Lugano as well as a dainty cuisine. Signature dishes of our Executive Chef Frank Oerthle are entirely new and original. The menu stands out for Sweetwater and sea food specialties. Admission to the Art Gallery is allowed during opening hours or prior booking.

Restaurant Gallery Arté al Lago - 1 Michelin Star, 16

Cocktail-Bar and Banano Bar. Quickly established as one of the places to see and be seen in, the Bar is renowned as much for its rich, opulent interior as for its menu of new and classic cocktails. Open to both guests and non-residents, the Bar also boasts live piano music. The Banano Bar, set in the great park, right in among palms, banana trees and overlooking a lawn full of flower beds, rose gardens and tall trees. A suggestive spot where to relax for an aperitif throughout the season.

PERFECT BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

Our venue, appreciated for its unique styling and brightness, offers top notch facilities for meetings and events, be it a grand banquet or a less formal luncheon, a business meeting or conference, a private party or dinner, or an unforgettable wedding party. Each of our 10 meeting rooms, with seating capacity of up to 120 people, have an elegant décor, original artworks, direct daylight with large windows overlooking the park, and are equipped with high-tech audio/visual equipment (video conference, microphones, projector, sound system, etc…). Our Clients can choose between small private sitting-rooms and conference halls of different sizes and locations, such as Le Pavillon connected to the park trough the outdoor veranda, or the Sala delle Palme, a large and impressive room, set to recall an oriental atmosphere with its Indian Rajasthan panoplies and Afghan doors dating from the 19th century, and the exceptional indoor greenhouse, full of palms and trees. Whether for 5 or 120 people, the organization combines the greatest attention to the detail and imagination in order to ensure that every function is perfectly monitored and well-remembered.

RELAXING AND FEELING PAMPERED

Villa Castagnola has a spectacular indoor swimmingpool with panoramic views over the garden, a hightech fitness room, a sauna, a bio-sauna, a steam-room, changing rooms with showers, lockers and bathrooms, table-tennis room, outdoor hard court tennis fields and a private terrace on the lake.

The Clarins Beauty Corner provides an extensive range of beauty, grooming and therapeutic treatments for women and men. Open Tuesday to Saturday prior reservation. Also available, is the Danilo Hairstyling, that provides hairdressing services to women and men. Open Tuesday to Saturday.

LOCATION

Despite it being at a short walking distance from Lugano’s City Centre, where you can find museums and the most luxurious boutiques, arriving at Villa Castagnola means plunging into a untainted setting with an breathtaking lake view. The Hotel is well connected to Lugano’s railway station and Airport (only 7Km to the Lugano-Agno Airport), and has easy access to the Motorway.

One last curiosity… On the edge of the park you will find a gracious, tiny Chapel with 17th Century frescos. The Chapel is still in use and it’s the perfect location for a private wedding or a christening. An unexpected spot out of a fairy tale...

Grand Hotel Villa Castagnola

Viale Castagnola 31

6906 Lugano (Svizzera)

Tel. +41 91 973 25 55 - Fax +41 91 973 25 50

e-mail: info@villacastagnola.com

www.villacastagnola.com

CASTAGNOLA_cover.qxp 19/01/16 07:24 Pagina 1

Hotel Principe Forte dei Marmi

by Giorgia Mauri

A little bit of history:

The Italian meaning of Forte dei Marmi is Marbles’ Fort; which gets its name from the fortress that rises in the middle of the main square, built by the order of the Grand Duke Peter Leopold, to defend the coast from outer attacks. During the 20th century, the square became the place where the marbles of Carrara, used by Michelangelo, were stocked and sent to the pier for shipping.

Forte dei Marmi became famous for heliotherapy treatments at the end of 19th century when German artists, such as Isolde Kurz, the architect Adolfo Hildebrand, Satler and Roemerand, Boeclklin came in town. European aristocratic families, the Prince Colonna, the princess Bona di Baviera, Ruspoli, Franchetti and Della Gherardesca, were frequent guests, as well as Admiral Morin and the Agnelli family; as well as famous poets Gabriele D’ Annunzio, Thomas Mann and Eugenio Montale. This brought to the development of tourism in Forte dei Marmi.

Today Forte dei Marmi offers tennis clubs, golf courts, surf and horse riding sessions and traditional and typical beach clubs, which are the main activities in peak season. The opportunity for shopping is endless in Forte dei Marmi, starting from the traditional “Wednesday market” to the most exclusive boutiques and designer shops like Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Giorgio Armani, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana etc.

THE HOTEL

Principe Forte dei Marmi is a modern building different from any other in town. From the entrance, Guests can look through the entire property, thanks to the glass walls and doors, and extend the view to the garden and the outdoor pool. The hotel gives an immediate sensation of space, infused with natural light. The PRINCIPE FORTE DEI MARMI materials, used in the common areas and bedrooms, are wood, natural stone, neutral textiles, leather and above all glass, to create a transparency effect, the result is a refined atmosphere and elegant comfort. 28 rooms of which 15 are suites, divided on three floors. Our design bedrooms present glass-fronted bathrooms. Each one gives a sense of freedom and sophistication. All interior furniture are signed by Italian designers such as Antonio Citterio, Armani Casa, B&B, Flexform, Floss and Maxalto.

The Hotel is proud to be part of the prestigious hotel collection of Leading Hotels of the world and part of the American Express circuit Fine Hotel Resort.

ROOMS

Talamo (30 square meters)

Six Classic double rooms. Pure elegance and contemporary style, parquet flooring, no view, marble bathroom with walk-in shower. Lighting and air conditioning touch screen technology. Maximum occupancy is two persons, one king size bed.

Alcove (30-35 square meters).

Seven Deluxe rooms, brightness and light colors, parquet flooring and French windows facing on the garden, Apuan Alps or pool, marble bathroom with walk-in shower. Selection of great wines in the room. Lighting and air conditioning touch screen technology. Maximum occupancy is two persons, one king size bed.

JR SUITE Junior Space (35-45 square meters)

Nine Junior Suites, furbished with Italian design furniture; living corner. Selection of great wines in the room, marble bathroom with walk-in shower, French floor to ceiling windows, garden or pool view. Lighting and air conditioning touch screen technology. Beautiful views on the garden and Apuan Alps. Maximum occupancy is two adults, king size bed. One extra bed or rollaway crib can be added on charge

SUITE: Open Space (45-50 square meters)

Four Suites with an open space: living area, a big sofa and armchairs. Marble bathroom with walk-in shower. French floor to ceiling windows with balcony overlooking our lovely gardens. Selection of great wines in the room. Lighting and air conditioning touch screen technology. Maximum occupancy is two adults, king size bed. One extra bed or rollaway crib can be added on charge

SUITE : 101 Space (55 square meters).

One Suite with an open space: living area, a big sofa and armchairs. This one-of-a-kind suite is located on the first floor, overlooking the gardens in a light and spacious open-air concept. Marble bathroom with walk-in shower & bathtub. French windows floor to ceiling front view. Selection of great wines in the room. Lighting and air conditioning touch screen technology. Maximum occupancy is two adults, king size bed. One extra bed or rollaway crib can be added on charge.

SUITE : The Spatio (90 square meters including private lodge).

The Spatio Suite. This one-of-a-kind suite is located on the first floor, overlooking the gardens in a light and spacious open-air concept. Marble bathroom with walk-in shower & bathtub and a spacious balcony with a wonderful dinner table in the living corner, add a sense of completion to the exclusive atmosphere. Selection of great wines in room and technologies are at your disposal as lighting and air conditioning touch screen technology. Maximum occupancy is two adults, using one king size bed and one or two extra bed or rollaway crib to be added on charge.

Family room

One room with king size bed connected with a twin bed room.

Suite with separate living room

One room with king size bed with a separate living room with a big sofa and two armchairs, the suite has two bathrooms.

EGOISTA SPA

‘Egoista” (Egotist) is the name that identifies the best place to take care of themselves, a wellness oasis where to rediscover the pleasure of harmony and relaxation. In the prestigious Spa of Principe Forte dei Marmi mind and body belnd together and find moments of peace between cutting-edge beauty treatments and tailored programs cuddled by a team of professionals in a discreet and contemporary luxurious space. A 360 degrees pleasure accompanied by the high quality products of the prestigious cosmetic company Natura Bissé, able to propose an innovative technology for the treatments of antiaging skin as NUFACE. From 2015 the SPA offers also the new French line Cinq Mondes, created by Jean-Louis Poiroux. Among the most advanced treatments the guests can find VENUS FREEZE, perfect to stimulate and repair skin tissue and INTRACEUTICALS, based on oxygen, that hydrates and nourishes it. The “Ego massages” are a series of personalized massages tailored to all needs, as the special Tuinà, therapeutic and based on the principles of traditional Chinese medicine: exclusively for Principe Forte dei Marmi, in addition to the rituals of the unique “Signature Collection “. The Egoista Spa is open all year.

RESTAURANTS AND BARS

Principe Restaurant and Pool Bar: Open all year round and at any time, it is a paradise for lovers of excellence: a bright and stylish space where to taste the best Tuscan and Italian traditional cuisine thanks to the eclectic chef Valentino Cassanelli. Framed by a large glass wall that blends with the elegant and refined open garden, the Principe Restaurant is a small oasis where it’s possible to enjoy moments of relaxation and pleasure, with a gastronomic proposal that from breakfast to dinner satisfies the needs of everyone, from families with children to those who prefer a menu with an international flavor .

Ristorante Lux Lucis: This unique restaurant gives the possibility to enjoy the Tuscan haute cuisine in one of the most exclusive locations in Forte dei Marmi A treat for the eyes and the palate can be found at Lux Lucis Restaurant, that overlooks with its impressive terrace the most beautiful view of Versilia thanks to the new glass wall that surrounds it. The Chef Valentino Cassanelli celebrates the flavors and aromas of the Versilia recipes interpreting them in his perfect alchemies, while the wine cellar offers a wide selection of exclusive bottles. The Lux Lucis is reviewed in the most important guidebooks, such

as Michelin, L’Espresso, Gambero Rosso and Italian Touring Club. Ambassador of good wine and new icon of Tuscan cuisine, the restaurant continues to receive recognitions. After the acknowledgment received by the restaurant manager Sokol Ndreko as Best Sommelier in Italy at BIWA 2015 (Best Italian Wine Awards), the Lux Lucis has been recently awarded by the Touring Club with a prestigious “double” recognition: it was awarded “Signature Cuisine” in the new “Hotels and Restaurants of Italy 2016” guidebook, while the executive chef Valentino has won the “Top Prize of Tomorrow” for the talent and the passion with which he leads the acclaimed kitchen staff. The Lux Lucis Restaurant is open from March to October.

Dalmazia Beach Restaurant – proposes a typical local seafood recipes and cuisine. At the beach, the veranda opens up to an unparalleled sea view. Flavours and colours of the sea match perfectly, to create the ideal atmosphere for a delightful and authentic lunch, surrounded by a relaxing atmosphere. Open from April till October.

67 SKY LOUNGE BAR

And on the same terrace of Lux Lucis Restaurant, luxury melts with lifestyle at the “67” Sky Lounge Bar: an eclectic location , perfect for an aperitif with friends or a drink after dinner, with a sophisticated choice of cocktails and champagne to sip during the full calendar of festivals and special events. Thanks to its versatile spaces, the rooftop terrace is the ideal space for all types of meetings and offers the possibility to set up placed dinners, cocktails and corporate parties, private celebrations such as unforgettable birthdays, anniversaries and graduations. The garden and the private beach are ideal for outdoor events , aperitifs and summer dancing nights. 67 Sky Lounge Bar is open every evening from 6.30 pm, while from November to late February is only open on weekends .

DALMAZIA BEACH CLUB

The summer continues until October only at Dalmazia Beach Club, the exclusive beach of Principe Forte dei Marmi and one of the historical beach resorts of Versilia. Here guests can really feel like kings and queens, in a stretch of sand that becomes a luxury lounge with 35 cabins, gazebos and 50 large tents, to enjoy total privacy, but cuddled with personalized service and a staff always at guest’s disposal. And not just relax ... among the activities that can be organized there are swimming lessons, gym with personal trainers, yoga and pilates, paddle, surf school and, to amuse even the youngest guests, the kids laboratory. For sea lovers who want to raise anchor for mini cruises or“five stars”maritime excursions across the coast, the yacht charter service is availablle, on board of the private yacht of the hotel, Yacht Mazarin’72, and explore the coast in the coolest way, from Versilia to Cinque Terre, with a exclusive service on board. Chef Valentino Cassanelli leads the restaurant of the Beach Club, where to taste the finest and freshest dishes of Tuscan tradition and discover the wide range of wines from the cellar. To finish the day, the Egoista Spa treatments corner is at guests’ disposal in the garden and in the relax area where therapists offer their most innovative treatments “on the beach”.

OTHER FEATURES:

Car Parking: the hotel has an underground garage for guests’ cars (valet parking) with up to 30 spaces.

Bicycles: Free to ride around the town, with bicycles provided by the hotel.

Transfer with our driver: On request Hotel will provide transfer on major airports

Please send request to our Concierge Dpt. concierge@principefortedeimarmi.com

MARINA DI PRINCIPE –THE YACHT

Find the complete freedom of the open sea.

Our Mazarine yacht boasts a fly bridge and four cabins: two suites with king bed and private bathroom and other 2 rooms with twin beds sharing one bathroom.

We offer a unique and customized experience, with a yacht charter offering all the benefits and facilities of a floating villa, allowing you to explore a variety of exciting destinations, such as the nearest Cinque Terre and Portofino, in a unique atmosphere of luxury, comfort and privacy.

LOCAL ATTRACTIONS

o Mountain bike: excursions around the Migliarino National Park are also popular with more energetic guests in the cooler months o Hiking or walking through the Apuan Alps: twenty minutes to arrive to the top of Apuan Alps

(Parco della Alpi Apuane ) o Sightseeing Tours: The popular towns of Florence, Pisa, Lucca, Marble quarries of Carrara and 5 Terre are easy to reach and can be explored either independently or with the help of local guides.

o Fashion Outlet Stores: The Mall near Florence is just 45 minutes away and is the perfect spot for excellent designer shopping at discounted prices

HOW TO REACH US

Located on the Tuscan coast, just 20 minutes from Pisa and 50 minutes from Florence. Please contact our Concierge Dpt. for further details: concierge@principefortedeimarmi.com

TRANSFER

Our concierge service will be pleased to organized and quote a transfer for our Guest either in arrival or departure

CONTACTS:

General Manager: Ms Cristina Vascellari vascellari@principefortedeimarmi.com

Reservation department: T: + 39 0584 783613 reservations@principefortedeimarmi.com

General enquires: T : + 39 0584 783636 email: info@principefortedeimarmi.com

GDS CODE: Amadeus PSA172 - Galileo 20971

Sabre 8463 – Worldspan 2172 - Travel Web LW2172 www.principefortedeimarmi.com

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/ HotelPrincipeFortedeiMarmi?ref=hl

TWITTER: @Principe_PFDM

INSTAGRAM: Hotel_principe_fdm

LINKEDIN: PRINCIPE FORTE DEI MARMI

Forte dei Marmi is a little and pretty sea town located in the province of Lucca, in northern Tuscany. Forte dei Marmi has approximately 8000 inhabitants, during 8 months, especially in spring and summer, stylish trendsetting travellers from all over the world are led here by their desire to savour its historical and typical way of life.

In the heart of Versilia ... and a step away from Florence

Hotel Principe Forte dei Marmi boasts a strategic location that makes it an exceptional “crossroads” of the seaside, cultural and artistic Italian tourism. Forte dei Marmi is the pearl of Versilia, one of the most beautiful coasts of Tuscany, which stretches between the sea and the Apuan Alps, and is a place of worship for its lively nightlife, the trendy atmosphere, the uncontaminated beaches and the coolest clubs. But there is more. Forte dei Marmi is a popular stopover perfect for visiting the scenic beauty of the surroundings, from the Ligurian coast of Cinque Terre and Portovenere, to the most famous cities of Tuscany: Pisa and Lucca are 20 minutes away and Florence, the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance and the most famous museums, is just an hour drive away. Easily accessible by train, thanks to the railway stations of Massa Centro and Viareggio, the city is also well connected to the airports of Pisa (35 km) and Florence (105 km).

LOCATION & ADDRESS

Principe Forte dei Marmi

Via Amm. Morin, 67, 55042

Principe Forte dei Marmi

Viale Amm. Morin 67

Lucca – ITALY

55042 Forte dei Marmi (LU)

Italy

Tel : +39 0584 783636

Fax : +39 0584 783637

info@principefortedeimarmi.com www.principefortedeimarmi.com

Negombo

“Living in the sign of beauty”

by Giorgia Mauri

The Negombo Hydrothermal Park nestles in the San Monato bay at Lacco Ameno, on the island of Ischia: a great Garden which houses extraordinary species from every part of the world coexisting in harmony with plants typical of the Mediterranean scrub. A corner of paradise on earth where nature finds one of its most important expressions in the thermal springs. A place for pleasure and wellbeing protected by the nature and stimulated by the water which provides enjoyment pumpering the senses. Negombo is a microcosm which contains all the pleasures and benefits that the thermal waters can give, combined with the sea and the garden that surround it.

The passion for botany of the family of the Camerini Dukes, of ancient Venetian origin, gave rise to the first nucleus of the Negombo Botanical Garden in 1946.

Today the Negombo Botanical Garden is the result of efforts made by many people, a concerted teamwork that involves its owner, Duke Paolo Fulceri Camerini, Marco Castagna, native of Ischia island and curator of the park since the mie 70’s, and the landscape designer Ermanno Casasco who has been working here since the late 1980s creating a garden deeply rooted to the millenary culture of the place, rich in surprises and unexpected solutions, with the variety and the magnificence of plants from Australia, Japan, South Africa and Brazil.*

Thanks to their entrepreneurial choices and their creative solutions today Negombo Park is considered one of the richest basins and most productive sources of thermal water.

* Worth noting are examples

of Orbea variegata (= Stapelia variegata), Hakea, Encephalartos, Macrozamia, Cycas media, Dasylirium, Erythrina, Schinus terebindifloria, a hundred-year-old Ficus magnolioides and the spectacular Eucaliptus ficifolia.

The volcanic origin of the Island has given Ischia one of the richest hydrothermal resources in the world. It has 67 fumaroles 29 catch basins and 103 hot springs. The Negombo has been designed to combine the extraordinary therapeutic properties of the spa waters with a healthy, entertaining holiday. The thermal waters are often effective in the treatment of osteo-articulatory diseases, heliotherapy, massages, sprays, inhalations and thermal pools with hydromassage jets are all available to give an enviable sense of well-being and regeneration.

The spring waters at Negombo are:

Mineral (as they contain dry mineral residues of more than 1 gram per litre)

Hyperthermal (they flow from the spring at a temperature above 40°C)

Alkaline (as they are rich in sodium chloride)

Radioactive (they contain small quantities of the noble gas, radon)

The water at Negombo can add to the individual characteristics listed above the presence of the noble gas Radon, which makes it mildly radioactive and favours the absorption of salts present in the waters into the body. In addition the water, with its anti-inflammatory and soothing effect, after producing an initial feeling of tiredness, goes on to improve muscle tone.

Each of the “pools” the park offers is designed for specific functions: the thermal pools provide relaxation and the prevention of rheumatism and improve the skin; the hydro-massages are there to stimulate the circulation; the Hamam (Turkish baths) are for the elimination of toxins; the sea provides iodine and a place for swimming.

1 Negombo Hydrothermal Park

2 Templare, thermal water spouts (temperature 30° C) Warm water cascades from the tall columns of the “Templare” to give the whole body a natural massage, improving the tone of the muscles in the neck and the shoulders, alleviating tensions. Particularly helpful for those suffering such problems.

3 Nesti, “Life Source” (temp. 30° C) A cascading series of 3 terraced pools that ends with a powerful waterfall, set against a backdrop of stratified tufa in an extremely panoramic location. Secluded and silent, it is suitable for motor rehabilitation. On the level below, a large wooden deck is laid out for sunbathing.

4 Onphalos – a grotto for anthrotherapy (temp. 32°) A tufa cave, 12 metres deep and 4m high, comprising a warm relaxation pool, sauna cave, cold water well and a deep thermal plunge pool. Outside there are seats under water spouts and a series of three hydro-massage jets. Going from one point to another relaxes mind and body.

5 Maya, “Kneipp” pool (temp. 18° C and 38° C) A bath of two separate pools, the larger with hot water and the smaller with cold, with steps and volcanic rocks. In moving from one to the other, the contrast in temperatures stimulates the circulation and generally tones the whole body. At least three immersions, moving from one pool to the other, are recommended.

6 Small Seawater Pool (ambient temperature) Size 3.4 metres by 1.65m, depth 1.45 metres; powerful jets in the pool. Suitable for those who prefer their hydro-massage with sea water.

7 Irrgang – Labyrinth Japanese bath (temp. 18° C and 38° C) The Labyrinth is a circuit of two contrasting pools, one has hot thermal water (38°) and the other has cold water (16°). The lower limbs and feet, crucial points for the venous and lymphatic systems, receive a natural massage from the river pebbles that form the bed of the pool as you walk round. At least 5 complete laps of the Labyrinth are recommended.

8 Negombo American Bar

9 San Montano Beach

10 Hamam – Turkish Bath (temp. 34° C) The Turkish Bath induces a general vasodilatation and, by stimulating profuse sweating, causes the elimination of accumulated toxins.

11 Large Seawater Pool (ambient temperature) This is an Olympic-size pool for gentle swimming. Dimensions: length 33 metres, width 15m. Two depths 0.9 metres and 3m. Suitable for everyone.

12 Marina dell’Arco: seawater pool (ambient temperature) Warm seawater pool suitable for children. Diameter 6 metres – Depth 1.5m

13 Ribollita, thermal pool“Jacuzzi” (temp. 38° C) “Jacuzzi” thermal pool for a maximum of 8 people, 2.2 metres by 1.8m, 0.8m deep. With seats around the sides. Specifically suitable for hydro-massages.

14 Shop

15 Head office

16 Ticket office-entrance

17 Theatre-arena

18 Wardrobe, toilet, changing rooms, showers

Irrgang – Labyrinth Japanese

Maya, “Kneipp” pool

San Montano Beach

Large Seawater Pool

19 Restaurant

20 Self-Service

21 Fresh fruit bar

22 Thermal pool “8” (temp. 34° C) A figure of eight pool, two circles with diameters of 4.4 and 5.5 metres, 1.4m deep with strong hydro-massage jets and a thermal waterfall on one side; medium temperature. Slow movements and a stay of 10 minutes are recommended.

23 Thermal showers

24 Car park

25 Entrance to the park

26 Large Thermal Pool (temp. 30° C) This is a low temperature thermal pool that allows free movement and gentle swimming. Staying in the water allows the body to absorb the oligoelements essential for analgesic therapy and, when combined with the correct movements during the use of the pool, all the articular segments will attain greater mobility and elasticity. A stay of 15 minutes is recommended.

27 Entrance to the park

28 Negombo Health and Beauty Centre This is a modern, well equipped centre for health and beauty treatments: 16 cabins, the latest in medical equipment, a covered pool for Aqua Relax, professional therapists and staff. At the Health and Beauty Centre the journey through the thermal spa is complete: in fact, by offering the most advanced aesthetic medical treatments and the most ancient curative practices, it is in a position to not only increase the benefits and pleasures of the thermal spa but of also responding to diverse and personal needs, requirements and styles of life and thought. Beauty and health, treatments and cosmetics are all at one and are no longer to be thought of separately.

29 Circular Thermal Pool (temp. 38° C) 5.8 metres diameter, 0.9 metres deep. With a waterfall on the edge and underwater hydro-massage. Given the high temperature, slow movements are recommended and a stay of 8 minutes.

Nesti, “Life Source”

Large Thermal Pool

Templare, thermal water spouts

Small Seawater Pool

A beach of the finest sand, fourteen swimming pools among marine, thermal and therapeutic where swimming or relaxing caressed by hydro-massages.

A Thermal Department with Turkish bath indoor swimming pool and the most modern beauty-curative treatments in the Health and Wellness Centre (oriental techniques, ancient holistic therapies, aromatic massages, ayurvedics, reflexology, physiotherapy, facial and body treatments, peeling and water relaxation). A continuous emotion, a rare and unusual experience in a corner of total beauty and tranquillity.

Bars and restaurants on the seafront.

Hotel della Baia San Montano

Baia di S. Montano

80076 Lacco Ameno

Isola d’Ischia (Napoli)

ph. 081 986398 - 081 995453

Panoramic gardens where, depending on the season, you can admire plentiful blooms, smell Mediterranean fragrances, pick seasonal fruits. A shop for delightful purchases. And above all the possibility for each customer to take possession of a private corner where feeling like the privileged guest of a garden of marvels.

200 meters from Lacco Ameno, the Hotel della Baia has sixteen rooms (two of which have Turkish baths) that boast every comfort, terrace with garden, five independent annexes set in private wooded grounds, American bar service and light breakfasts in the hotel.

The whole Negombo Hydrothermal Park, with its swimming pools, bathing places, waterfalls, Turkish baths and caves spread throughout – as true “installations” - is a place of wellbeing, as it is a place of beauty, of discovery, of recreation, of sport and of adventure.

In the same way the garden offers many different experiences: the enjoyment of its beauty and the rediscovery of a relationship with nature and its slow pace, a return to the magical and adventurous age of childhood and an appreciation of the complex botanical research behind the rare and unusual plants growing there, subtly blended into the design of the landscape in harmony with the Mediterranean scrub.

And eventually the park allows you an aesthetic experience, an extraordinarily direct and unexpected encounter with the contemporary art, with works by Arnaldo Pomodoro, Giuseppe Maraniello, Lucio Del Pezzo, Laura Panno and Gianfranco Pardi set around the gardens.

“Gli Occhi di Nesti e di Neri” - Laura Panno, 2003

“Arco in Cielo” - Arnaldo Pomodoro,1998

“Rive dei Mari” - Arnaldo Pomodoro, 2015

“Strale per il Negombo” - Lucio Del Pezzo, 2003

“Sprigionamenti” - Gianfranco Pardi, 2015

“Volo” - Giuseppe Maraniello, 2004

YESTERDAY AND TODAY

The necropolis of ancient Pithecusa was constructed in the bay of San Montano. It is one of the oldest Greek settlements in the west.

The Eubei landed here in about 77 B.C., they were probably attracted by a bay that could protect their boats from the winds and the tides as they could move from one side of Monte Vico to the other or could haul their boats on to the beach.

The Eubei were skilful potters and produced vases in terracotta (of considerable archeological interest) which can be admired in the local museum of Villa Arbusto.

The choice of shape and colour reach perfection in the Cup of Nestor.

The park has an open arena containing 1700 seats where congresses, RAI-TV shows held.

On hot summer evenings, classical, popular and jazz concerts have been staged, starring, among others, Miles Davis, Mireille Mathieu, Tina Turner, Ray Charles, Renzo Arbore, Claudio Baglioni, Lucio Dalla, Julio Iglesias, Ornella Vanoni, Roberto Benigni and more.

The bay itself has been the scene of famous film such as “Cleopatra” and the “Crimson Pirate”. And at the end of one of the promontories stands “the Colombaia” (“the Dove-cote”), the beloved residence and refuge of Luchino Visconti.

Every year in the garden takes the important horticultural fair “Ipomea Negombo”.

The next edition will be held on 20/21/22 May 2016.

On the night of 16th May the landing of local saint, Santa Restituta, in the bay, is imaginatively evoked in an ancient popular representation which attracts light-hearted crowds of local people and tourists.

In this spectacular surroundings, the Negombo organizes weddings, celebration parties and gala evenings around the swimming pools and in the restaurant overlooking the sea.

Negombo

Baia di S. Montano

80076 Lacco Ameno

Isola d’Ischia (Napoli)

ph. +39 081 986152

ph. +39 081 986055

www.negombo.it

negombo@negombo.it

Grand Hotel Billia

by Giorgia Mauri

If you want to avoid stormy weather and climb the highest mountains in Europe, come to Italy, in Aosta Valley, on the French and Swiss border.

These friendly “Giants of the Alps” are: Mont Blanc, Matterhorn, Monte Rosa and Gran Paradiso.

The Grand Hotel Billia, placed ideally centrally among the four “four thousand“, is a 5 stars luxury hotel affiliated to Leading Hotels of The World. It is the heart of SAINT-VINCENT RESORT & CASINO, the pearl of the “charming little village” of Saint-Vincent, which became famous, as a summer destination of crowned

heads of Europe, thanks to its hot springs discovered in 1770.

Incidentally, at a few kilometers, in Gressan, there is a stud farm of Arabian horses.

The Grand Hotel Billia is the only Leading Hotel of The World which runs a gambling house, one of the most popular in the Continent, the historic Casino de la Vallée. Furthermore, the hotel has a Spa where you can do exclusive treatments with pure water that flows directly from the mountain peaks, and – in the Congress Centre Billia, with a capacity for more than 1000 delegates - a theater, where worldwide famous artists perform for the Resort’s guests. A photographic exhibition testifies to the success of this historic structure, where events have drawn celebrities such as Sophia Loren, Sean Connery, Vittorio De Sica, Gina Lollobrigida, Marcello Mastroianni, Vittorio Gassman and Alberto Sordi, and film directors such as Federico Fellini and Michelangelo Antonioni. Since 2008 the ‘International Festival of Magic’, with the leading expert magicians of the planet, is taking place in Saint-Vincent.

With easy access to the airports of Aosta, Turin, Malpensa, Geneva - capital of Swiss watchmakingand Milan, capital of fashion and design and venue of the Universal Exhibition EXPO 2015, the Grand Hotel Billia is the perfect destination for a complete and exclusive “Alpine Luxury Experience”.

With helicopter and snowmobile or even on foot, accompanied by the most experienced mountain guides in Europe, you can get up to the mountain refuges over 2,000 meters, such as the Hospice of the Great St Bernard Pass (2,473 meters above sea level), which gives its name to the famous breed of dogs specialized in finding people under the snow. At certain heights, the view extends over mystic landscapes, made of glaciers, lakes, forests, pastures. All this is easily accessible in all safety thanks to the Cervino Guides, whose experience and skill have distant roots in the history of alpine climbing.

Indeed, on July 2015 Aosta Valley celebrates the 150th anniversary of the conquest of the Matterhorn by the mountain guide Jean-Antoine Carrel and the region will promote several important events in partnership with Switzerland.

Another significant moment of summer 2015 will be the inauguration of the cable car “Skyway Monte Bianco”, one of the highest in the world, rising up to 3,466 meters above the sea level, reaching Punta Helbronner, facing “au pair” the Mont Blanc. Already described as the ‘Eighth Wonder of the World’, the cableway will offer high tech spherical booths, which rotate 360 degrees to allow a full view of the surrounding tops of the ‘giants’. Up there, above the four “four thousand”, the sky is so clear that it seems you can touch it with your fingers. The scenery attracts tourists from all latitudes in summer and in winter too, thanks to a ski area of over 900 km of slopes and 300 cross-country tracks. The area has so many unique landmarks noticed by the Stars of Hollywood, so that Marvel Studios and Walt Disney wanted to shoot in the Bard Fort, under the Grand Hotel Billia, the sequel of The Avengers, ‘Age of Ultron ‘.

The hotel building is extraordinary, it dates back to the early ‘900 and is in perfect Belle Epoque style, very sumptuous, with two towers, precious furnishings and vintage decorations. The Grand Hotel Billia has recently been completely renewed by the Architect Piero Lissoni, who mixed the tradition with contemporary design and modern facilities, with 27 suites including two “Presidential” of 100 square meters each. All the rooms support the latest technology, multimedia TV and Wi-Fi.

Surrounded by an age-old park, during summer, the hotel offers a large outdoor swimming pool with breathtaking view.

Even the gambling house has been restored by Lissoni within the ‘Resort Project’. The Casino de la Vallée has been visited by famous people from the world of culture, politics and economy. It covers 3500 square meters on two levels, directly connected with the hotel facilities and with smoking areas characterized by large windows to enjoy the view of the valley.

Close to the hotel, there are tennis courts and, at a few kilometers, you can find the Cervino Golf Club, one of the highest in Europe, with 18 holes.

And after a day on the green, the Resort offers a drink in the bars located in different parts of the complex, in a contexts of design always different, welcoming, discrete or dynamic, and finally the pleasures of the table of skilled chefs in its five restaurants. The choice ranges from the nice “Brasserie du Casino”, open until late at night, to “Gaya - Mood & Food“ which serves the slot area, “Le Rascard Salon et Terrasse” with traditional Aosta Valley cuisine, to the most refined “1908” and “La Grande Vue”, inside the Grand Hotel Billia, for an audience that prefers international cuisine. The dishes are rich in Mediterranean flavors thanks to the contrast of the climate in the area, including the “Adret”, the side exposed to the sun, and the “Envers”, the side in the shade, with two different microclimate.

While appetizers and main courses recipes are made with worldwide famous cheese as the Fontina DOP and Salignön (a cottage cheese with hot and spicy flavour mixed with salt, pepper and chili, which makes superb “entrée” of each menu) made with milk coming from herds in the mountain pastures; the desserts are made with walnuts, hazelnuts, walnut oil, almonds and chestnuts.

The staff of the SAINT-VINCENT RESORT& CASINO consists in local inhabitants who keeps by nature the traditional kindness of the mountains’ people. They welcome tourists with friendliness, with open arms, with a smile, ready to exceed any needs. They will also entertain your children, in the Resort Mini Club or in the nearby equipped playground of Col de Joux,. At the end of the day the Grand Hotel Billia pampers his guest with the “Goodnight praline”, totally handmade and lovingly prepared by skilled local chocolatier.

Viale Piemonte, 72

11027 Saint-Vincent - Aosta (Italy)

Tel. (+39)-0166-5231 - Fax (+39)-0166-523799

www.saintvincentresortcasino.it

Well-being and Charm on Lugano Lake Breathtaking scenery

2,200 m2 SPA area

Panoramic gourmet restaurant Majestic Malcantone swiss mountains

Stylish Suites

Kurhaus Cademario

Relax above the clouds

Kurhaus Cademario Hotel & Spa is a place to rediscover passions, where guests can experience outdoor activities and excursions, have a break and relax.

On a hill, surrounded by nature, there’s an historic building overlooking the region, silent and unique. For over a century, Kurhaus Cademario has been the perfect place for those looking for a vacation dedicated to wellbeing.

Overlooking Lake Ceresio, it enjoys a privileged position: sunny, south-facing, free from fog andprotected from cold winds. Originally founded as an exclusive care home, the property boasts

a 24,000sq ft spa area with a sauna, indoor and outdoor heated pools, and treatments that immerse guests in total relaxation.

The DOT Spa is located at a strategic point of extraordinary energy intensity and strength.

To amplify these same positive influences, the area was designed to leverage and integrate the five geomantic elements that rule the Earth: water, wood, fire, earth, and metal. DOT.Spa’s philosophy is encapsulated in its cosmetics line, which combines the perfection of natural cosmetology with respect for the environment.

The rooms provide every imaginable comfort: they’re all stylishly furnished, equipped with air conditioning, a free minibar, and in some cases, a living room, spa bath and balcony with lake views.

and the majestic Malcantone mountains. There’s also service at the pool, where you can relax while dining.

Well-being and Charm on Lugano Lake

At the gourmet restaurant La Cucina, as well as at the Agra Bar, guests can enjoy delicious international and Italian cuisine, or enjoy cocktails and wine while being enchanted by the incomparable view at nearly 3,000ft above sea level, admiring the beautiful Lake Lugano

Breathtaking scenery

The resort’s recent renovations saw the addition of several exclusive areas for meetings, conferences and elegant banquets. The banquet hall, Monte Tamaro, is modular and can be divided into two units: the Monte Lema room and the Monte Ceresio room. It’s suitable for presentations, celebrations and other events, and holds up to 100 people.

2,200 m2 SPA area

Panoramic gourmet restaurant Majestic Malcantone swiss mountains Stylish Suites

Via Kurhaus 12 - CH-6936 CADEMARIO - LUGANO

T +41 (0)91 610 51 11 - www.kurhauscademario.com - info@kurhauscademario.com

Royal Hotel Sanremo

by Giorgia Mauri

Inaugurated in 1872, the Royal Hotel Sanremo, member of the prestigious company The Leading Hotels of the World, is an exclusive 5-star hotel rich in history and tradition, just the ideal choice for guests seeking luxury, comfort and relaxation: a perfect blend of refinement, warm hospitality and personalized service.

It enjoys a unique location on the charming Italian Riviera of Flowers with stunning views over the Mediterranean Sea, just 45 minutes from Nice International Airport and 30 minutes from MonteCarlo. Set in its lush subtropical park of 16,000 sq m with an enchanting bloom and delicate scents in all seasons, it is only moments from the sandy beach and the centre of town with its Casino and shopping area. It is also the perfect gateway for excursions to the fascinating hinterland and the glamourous French Riviera.

Garden

Hall

Breakfast

Terrace

Marianna suite - Living room

It features 127 rooms and exclusive suites, spacious lobby with panoramic view, piano bar, elegant smoking lounge, children’s playroom and playground with animation programme in high season.

The top-rated cusine offers a choice of delicious and creative regional, Mediterranean and international dishes for an excellent gastronomic experience in the three Restaurants with breathtaking views over the sea: Fiori di Murano, Il Giardino on the terrace and Corallina by the pool.

With a choice of five versatile rooms all equipped with modern technology, the hotel is also the ideal venue for meetings, incentives, functions and banquetings with tailor-made solutions to meet every client’s needs.

Sissi suite - Living room

Sissi suite - Bed room Superior room

At disposal for a relaxing break, the scenic 27°C-heated outdoor sea-water swimmingpool designed by Giò Ponti, a sun terrace, a tennis court and a free use of a sandy beach opposite the hotel from June to September, according to availability. The state-of-the-art Royal Wellness boasts high-end treatments, massage, no-prescription wet zone with large hydromassage pool, emotional showers, Turkish bath, Vitarium and relaxation area, plus a fitness room to pamper yourself and enjoy moments of absolute pleasure in a stylish atmosphere.

Departure

Swimming pole area

Leisure opportunities and entertainments are also available in the town and the surroundings.

Sports enthusiasts have the choice between the horseback riding grounds 3 km away and the 18hole Circolo Golf degli Ulivi 5 km away (30% discount on green fees for hotel guests), playable all year round thanks to the mild climate, while the cycle path and the water sports are within walking distance.

A unique setting combing relaxation, work, gastronomy, wellness and the art of living for an unforgettable stay and exclusive events.

Gazebo

Capriccio gourmet

Tropical garden

Spa

Spa

Management members of TuttoArabi often choose the Royal Hotel Sanremo for their stays to visit their clients and to organize meetings thanks to the strategic location close to the French Riviera, Monte-Carlo and Milan which is only 250 km away.

Not enough? Sanremo is sunny, almost always!

Corso Imperatrice 80

I-18038 Sanremo (Im)

Tel. +39 0184 5391 - Fax +39 0184 661445

reservations@royalhotelsanremo.com

www.royalhotelsanremo.com

Palme room

Design

Ligneah

The soft wood

by Giorgia Mauri

Ligneah was created in 2012 by the strong desire of a father and daughter.

Marcello Antonelli, a businessman and former executive of textile companies, and Marta Antonelli, fashion designer, specialized in fashion accessories and trend research, decided to replace animal skin with an ancient material which has always been a ‘companion of mankind’s affairs’: wood.

Their love for animals and the proper respect they deserve, coupled with the need to lessen the impact of factory farming and tanning industry on the environment, a push towards innovation and renewal and the innate passion for fashion and design, provided the boost Marcello and Marta needed to create what they call the fourth material in fashion and design: Ligneah, the soft wood

For months Marcello e Marta Antonelli searched for an eco-friendly material, natural, recyclable, durable but soft at the same time that could replace animal skin. They tried numerous approaches to no avail. Observing the python skin they found the solution; the python skin is composed by a scales sequence creating the entire surface. They thought that this sequence of scales could be applied to a rigid material, modifying it into something soft.

Wood was the answer; it contained all the elements they were searching for:

- Eco-friendly

- Natural

- Biodegradable

- Cruelty free

- Glamour looking

Marta and Marcello told us: “Ligneah stemmed from the desire to create a new material: natural, sustainable and cruelty- free. Wood has given us the answers, and fashion has provided the first area of use. This is how our natural tissue came into being, together with OOD, a fashion brand that uses solely our materials to make products that combine an equal love of design, fashion and the environment.”

However, fashion is only the first sector to have realised the potential of this new material. The uses are endless, because everything that can be made from a textile can also be made from LIGNEAH ®.

Not only different types of wood, but different processes and textures, make this fabric very versatile and suitable for many fields of use.

Fashion, accessories, clothing, footwear, packaging and giftware, mobile phone and computers covers, as well as home and interior design and automotive industry like coverings (for seats and other components usually covered with textiles).

After laser engraving, a water protection layer has been spread to the surface of the material

as it gives the wood strength while remaining flexible.

The final result is a water resistant soft wood ready to be used in the production of shoes, bags and other accessories.

Many types of wood can be processed to produce

LIGNEAH ®

Walnut, birch, ash-tree or panels of different words compounds.

The wood is combined with fabric, and then the surface is scanned photographically before micro-incisions are made with a laser.

Every type of wood is combined with a form of backing, generally made from cotton or natural fabrics.

Depending on its weight and thickness, and on treatments such as resin, this backing will lend the material a greater or lesser degree of flexibility.

In processes that require particular tensile strength, the fabric backing can be applied in a double layer.

This material can be processed in many different ways, multiplying the possible combinations and opening up numerous creative opportunities.

The process that particularly highlights the natural qualities of the wood is water-based silkscreen printing.

Other types of printing can produce some agreeable effects, superimposed on the grain of the wood.

Laser engraving allows us to imprint images or texts on the surface, and can be applied either before or after the protective treatment.

The perforation process can be carried out simultaneously with or after the process of engraving the wood.

Weaving allows one to achieve some highly original effects. This process is carried out entirely by hand.

Inlay work allows you to create various shapes and forms by combining elements with contrasting appearance.

Like the perforation process, the inlay work can also be carried out both before or during the engraving phase.

Micro-incisions made by laser help to increase the pliancy of the wood panel. The closer together the lines of incision, the softer the wood becomes.

Marcello and Marta Antonelli, father and daughter. Marta graduated in Languages and International Communication (Roma Tre) and in Fashion Accessories and Shoe Design (European Institute of Design). Marcello has managed major textile companies.

OOD is the fashion brand that uses solely LIGNEAH®, our natural tissue, to make products that combine an equal love of design, fashion and the environment.

OOD is committed to a beauty that is also good.

Our leather is made of wood: cruelty-free, sustainable, selected and processed in an environmentally responsible way.

We believe that making an eco-compatible choise does not mean sacrificing design.

Style depends on the quality of the idea, not on producing it at the expense of animals and the environment.

We are committed to proving that sustainability is not just a word.

Our wood comes from certified forests, managed ethically and with respect for the local ecosystems.The certification guarantees the traceability and origin of the wood.

We produce 200 bags and 150 pairs of shoes from a single tree, we then plant another tree for every product we sell. By choosing OOD you are not only protecting the world, but also helping to make it a better place.

OOD is a partner of Tree-Nation and supports its reforestation projects to combat climate change and deforestation.

OOD chooses its own materials, following the principles outlined by Greenpeace in its guide for selecting wood.

It is amazing how many combinations can be created by working with OOD.

So do not believe anyone who tells you it is only wood.

Every time you choose us, you are choosing the future you want for our planet.

Every time you buy one of our accessories, you will receive an OOD Tree-Nation certificate. The certificate confirms that because of your purchase OOD will plant a new tree.

With a single tree sourced from ethically managed forests, we can produce more than 100,000 bracelets. Moreover, for every bracelet sold, we plant a new tree.

That is why when you choose OOD you are also choosing to contribute to the environment.

We chose Tree Nation because it is an independent international organisation committed to fighting climate change, desertification and poverty by promoting and supporting reforestation projects in different parts of the world.

Our bags collection is inspired by Greek mythology, and by the nymphs who have given their name to the main pieces.

These wonderful woodland creatures have inspired OOD shoppers as well as clutch bags, in a collection that extends to other accessories: wallets, tablet cases, mobile phone covers. Soft, clean lines to enhance the beauty of the material.

The playful art of contrasting textures and fabric, with colours that adds lightness and humour to our perforated bags.

“...For me, seeing a project come to life is an indescribable feeling... because it contains the whole meaning of Ligneah, the substance that is transformed in time through creativity, commitment and passion.

...When a job is created with passion, anything that is created and takes shape assumes a unique magic of its own.”

Marta Antonelli

www.ood-italy.it www.ligneah.com info@ligneah.com

Marketing information: www.mymantra.com

ermesponti

A local design company who works globally in luxury retail, luxury marine and residential projects.

“Bespoke interiors can be the perfect portrait of you”.

by Giorgia Mauri

ermes Ponti in person, Paolo and daniela. By Martino lombezzi - Contrasto

Talking to daniela and Paolo Ponti of ermesponti, an italian company highly specialized in custom made furniture for interiors, located in Mantua, italy.

l l l - let’s begin with the firm’s history. When was the company established?

Daniela Ponti -The very first workshop was set up by Walter Ponti ( ermes’s father) in the thirties as a typical family business. it was only an ordinary carpenters’ workshop. after the second World War the workshop began to develop very quickly and when ermes took over, the business thrived for decades. at that time, in the sixties, the company worked both for industrial design and made-to-measure furniture. Ermes was a very lucky young entrepreneur. He began to work with one of the most famous designers in design history, Gio Ponti. after he graduated in architecture at the university of Florence in 2001, Paolo (ermes’ son) went into the family business and in a few years he radically changed

it. He focused the business on custom-made furniture. of course, he encouraged the craftsmen’s skills, but he also improved them thanks to his own new ideas of lean production and organization. His revolution was silent and quiet - like he is - but it produced a radical change in staff and ways of working. despite the western economic crisis, we are still here due to his management skills.

anyway, i think we can describe our core business with two simple words: bespoke interiors.

We design each interior with the client in mind. actually, we design it together with him.

l l l - interesting story! it is not so usual hearing about a family business which grows from one generation to another. and now - in the middle of this deep crisis of italian consumer spending, what is ermesponti’s core business right now?

Daniela Ponti - We haven’t been really affected by this crisis till now. of course we feel the italian and european economic situation. although we are a local company (we are based in the northern part of italy and most italian GdP comes from there), we actually work globally. our projects are scattered all around the world!

We design and produce bespoke furnishing for each site-specific project. There is only a glass door between our workshop and our office. i must say it, we have a first class workshop! Just imagine. it’s like a tailor shop in Naples or in savile row in london. as soon as you enter, we are able to design and make the perfect suit for you, your own suit. We think that an interior is like a bespoke suit and maybe more - it can be a portrait. Maybe the best portrait of a client and it can also be more comfortable than a bespoke suit.

you can never imagine how a bespoke interior can improve the quality of your life. The quality of life, of working. We often ignore it the quality of life. so we miss one of the most important pleasures of life.

We simply translate his requirements, his needs and also his dreams, into architectural form, space and rooms, all of which suit him perfectly.

starting with a white sheet of paper, we sketch together his ideas, always bearing in mind location requirements. even the site has its own peculiarities. louis Kahn used to say that each room knows exactly what it wants to be. We call it “genius loci”. But, to be more practical, what we do is to match the client with the location. We create his own space. That’s all.

visit: http://notes.ermesponti.it/en/2013/11/ermespontipresentation-to-ideo-mercer-street-nyc/

l l l - as we know there are lots of companies in italy specialized in furnishing.. What’s the key feature of ermesponti? Why should a client choose you?

Paolo Ponti - actually, we are not a simple carpenters’ shop. We are an interior-design firm. We guarantee the highest quality at the lowest possible cost and in the shortest time. That’s what we do for each client.

We are able to do that because we are in charge of all the process, end-to-end.

This is the most important lesson we learned from the history of the Italian Renaissance one of the

most famous entrepreneurs of our time too, steve Jobs admitted learning from leonardo da vinci and Michelangelo to achieve excellence. you have to be responsible for all processes.you must be involved from the creative phase to the making. only if you know how things are to be done, can you really design them in a proper way. When raffaello designed something in his huge workshop, he perfectly knew how his pupils had to make it. one of the worst errors of our western culture is that we have forgotten that man always learns by doing. There’re lots of people who design something without knowing what it’s made of.

sketches and drawings of the Corneliani Flagship store’s facade in shanghai, By Martino lombezzi - Contrasto

There’re lots of people who design something without knowing what it’s made of.

Corneliani Flagship store: viP room in Milan. Photo by Cristiano Cossu. site works and final realization in comparison (only three working weeks)

Corneliani Flagship store - work in progress

l l l - Can you give us some examples for a better understanding, please?

Paolo Ponti - of course, we have plenty of examples and it might be useful to have a look at our case histories on the ermesponti website (ermesponti.it). But, anyway, one of them could be the Corneliani flagship store in Montenapoleone street, Milan. We gave a complete turnkey service to Corneliani. We did the restoration project of the entire building. as you can see from the picture below, we made the designs for the furnishing to integrate with structure and fittings. This is the cylindrical viP room; you can see how the design is site specific its circular shape comes from the features of the layout. The idea was to house the structural column over there and a structural beam was cut to let the staircase pass here.

http://notes.ermesponti.it/en/2014/04/from-design-toarchitecture-from-design-by-to-designed-for/

alberto our master carpenter in charge of production was able to build it and install it in 4 working weeks. The key point is that if you design interiors considering how to coordinate site work and furniture production together. you definitively save time and money and achieve the best solution according to the brief that sergio Corneliani gave us.

Paolo and daniela Ponti

another impressive example can be our case histories for sanlorenzo yachts. We began to work for the Marine industry only in the summer of 2010 and since then we have completed 14 yachts. We bring to this traditional field all our experience gained in luxury retail and just after the very first two yachts we were able to reduce the time schedule by 50%! We also did a good job with costs. We managed to reduce total cost by almost 30%.

sanlorenzo yacht ’s steering-gear. Photo by Cristiano Cossu.

as italian architects, we think this is part of our own cultural background and ways of thinking.

l l l - you gave us an example from luxury retail and one from luxury marine. What about residential projects?

Daniela Ponti - This is absolutely the sector in which our skills and approach can express themselves at their best. as architects we are deeply engaged in interior design and we are firmly convinced that the crossfertilization between these different fields is a feature of utmost importance. and as italian architects, we think this is part of our own cultural background and ways of thinking. i mean, moving across different disciplines such as architecture, art, interior decoration and carpentry.

let me gave you a last example. When we took charge of the design of the new Corneliani flagship store facade in shanghai, we expressed the strong bond between the fashion brand based in Mantua and we invented a new pattern by re-using a wellknown decorative motif of andrea Mantegna (the world-famous painter of the italian renaissance who lived and worked all his lifetime here in Mantua). Mantegna himself painted this being inspired by donatello’s altar in Padua. The latter, in turn, was inspired by a famous facade of roman ruins..

But what is most impressive is that Corneliani took this pattern as its own brand. They used it for their collection. so check out how creative fields can inspire each other: from painting to architecture and even fashion!

see the video about it: http://notes.ermesponti.it/ en/2013/06/poddapontiarchitetti-design-the-newcornelianis-brand-pattern/#more-272

i think this is the italian forte! We are inventors... in the literal sense!

Corneliani Flagship store’s facade in shanghai.

ermesponti

via romana Zuccona,18 s. Biagio di Bagnolo s vito

Mantova - italy

Phone +39 0376 251 266

info@ermesponti.it

www.ermesponti.it

drawing for Corneliani Flagship store’s facade in shanghai.

INTERIOR

Massimo Pelati Perelli CEO

Y YACHTS ITALY 20122 MILANO

Via Cosimo del Fante n.2

Mob.: +39 348 2667623

@: massimo.perelli@yyachtsitaly.it Web: yyachts.de

INTERIOR VIEW white oak

INTERIOR VIEW blonde teak

INTERIOR VIEW blonde teak

Stiltje.se

by Pamela Moell

Tile boutique and webshop from Sweden to worldwide

by Giorgia Mauri

I have met Pamela Moell every year for a decade now at the most important morphology shows in Europe, mostly in Menton and at the World Championship in Paris. She is the owner with her husband of Moell&Moell Arabians which is house for top quality Arabian horses. A passion for Arabian horses and an established professional relationship with Tutto Arabi have always made talks and conversations obviously revolve around the special characteristics of this or that wonderful Arabian.

But then also driven by the inspiration that gave birth to the LLL project dedicated to luxury, leisure and lifestyle, as its claim reads, I wondered who was behind one of the protagonists of the Arabian horse beauty show system. And I discovered a story that I want to tell you.

Pamela is a beautiful 53-year-old woman from Sweden, her gaze resting on objects and people with curiosity, as if to discover what lies within, beyond the surface.

Somehow this is exactly what she does in life, her profession. She markets surface coatings that have a soul. She deals in natural stone, with its disjointed and irregular surfaces, pieces of stone with a story to tell, which when laid emanate an evocative scent, and give a very precise imprint to the homes or places they cover.

Beneath the surface a soul then. A soul that chooses and is chosen. As in life.

From her social profiles shines through a desire, almost a need to tell her story, to explore what lies beneath that surface. Particularly on her business profile @stiltje.se Pamela entertains her more than 571,000 followers by suggesting inspirations taken from the world of interior design that always bring back that imprint given by natural materials, natural colors and that light that so gently skims the stone and transforms it to an enveloping

and soft invitation to return to the origins. Then in the midst of those posts is her emerging, without makeup and without filters, making it clear that behind that incredible avalanche of beauty and research there is a person who wants to take contact, who wants to go beyond the surface, who is telling us that there is a hidden world and inviting us to know it. Just as she does with stones and materials when clients ask her for interior design advice and she accompanies them to discover the ‘genius loci’ of the place where they live and the materials that can give voice to that unique narrative.

How did the idea of opening Stiltje come about?

It all started when I was looking for a stone floor for our house and couldn’t find anything I liked that was affordable in Sweden, so I decided to import it myself. I found a stone (just visible in picture) that I liked in India and decided to import a full container. Since it was much more than we needed, I sold the surplus at a local warehouse. I realized this was a way to make some money and imported another container. That was how STILTJE was born in 2001. The name STILTJE means “calm” in Swedish and that is how I want my materials to be from the beginning. Calm and persistent. They don’t need to be changed. My materials should live in the house for generations and become more and more beautiful. That was my idea from the beginning and it still holds true.

What did it mean to you, what mark has it made in your life?

Stiltje has had a huge impact on my life. I always say it is my fifth child. I gave birth to it and raised it with all the energy I had. It is a creation of the heart.

I have a background as a molecular biologist, and at the time of the importation of my first conteiner I was working as a teacher. A job I enjoyed but that did not ignite my passion. So after building my own company

for a few years while working as a teacher, I took the plunge and worked only with my own company. It was one of the best steps of my life and I was able to do what I loved full time. It was incredibly hard work, but it was worth it to see the company grow from a dream to an international company.

How did your passion for interior design and love of materials come about?

It’s in my genes. My mother always dragged me to auctions and always had ideas that made simple things look fantastic. Stones have always appealed to me and since the age of 5 I have been part of a club of collectors of different stones. Stones have always been close to me because they carry with them a history far back in time. When I enter a church or an old building, I always look at the stones and feel the signs of the past. That is why I love only handmade materials and those from nature. They give a soul to the house. I rarely buy new items, and when I do, they are always handmade.

What are your future prospects and plans?

We are currently opening a showroom in Mallorca, and my intention is to work more with client projects, since now Stiltje is more or less going it by its own. I want to create houses with the spirit of Stiltje all over the world. I am also starting a new international webshop www.zellige.online for zellige tiles only, on which I want to have one of the best selections in the world.

Which materials have the most market today and which are your favourites?

All the materials I sell are my favorites but in different houses. I can’t sell things I don’t love. This has also been a rule from the beginning of the company. I don’t like trends in materials, because you should create a house that you love so much, that you don’t want to change it for any trend. This is trendy and good for our nature and future generations.

Of course, Zellige is trendy, as we opened a webshop just for them, but recently someone asked me if I didn’t get tired of Zellige, and I don’t get tired of it. They can create so many different designs and can be used in both antique and modern interiors.

When you tackle a project what do you start from?

I always try to get into the mind of the client. It is not me who has to live in the house. It is not my soul that has to be visible in the house, but that of the owners, and my job is to help them find it. I always start with the “difficult” materials. Floors, windows, faucets, switches, etc. to get the feel of the house. These are also the elements that cannot be changed easily and must remain. Then continue with the “easy” parts. The more special the project, the longer it will take to find the right items. I have contacts all over the world to find them, but it takes time and the client needs to be aware of that. The more exclusive - the more time.

What are the must-haves in a renovation or design?

In a renovation I always want to save the old things if possible. To keep the soul of the house and at the same time make it look and function more modern. Old houses are easier than new ones.

For a new building the difficult thing is to give it character without being boring and rigid. In this case it is even more important to use natural materials that help the house become a home.

For me, every project has to be special. I really care about the characteristics of the owner, the surroundings and the age of the house. It can be old, modern or somewhere in between, but the implementation of the project must give the house something special palpable when you enter it. This is my goal.

You sell to international customers. How important is the use of social media in running your business?

What contribution have they made to your management?

For the past seven years, social media has been my only way to reach people. I have been very successful in this regard and have built my international market. It is a lot of hard work but also a huge opportunity for me, a small Swedish designer, to reach international attention and eventually become a household name in the industry. Thank you social media!

Design and interior design is a world in which women are very much present, but in materials you are a pioneer!

Today, based on your experience as a woman, entrepreneur and mother, is there anything you would like to say to women and mothers who are in entrepreneurship or thinking of starting a business?

Just do it. And don’t do it in traditional women’s areas. They are too full of competition. Start in an area with few women. Be strong (and unfortunately we have to be a little stronger than men). Never be flirty, but look like a woman. Use your instincts as a woman and the talents we are the only ones to have and work hard. Do not be afraid to make mistakes, that is the part that takes you forward. And you will succeed.

BRAND PROFILE

As social media helps people to connect more and know each other internationally , there’s somebody you knew through socials who inspired you as interior designer, architect or artist?

Giancarlo Petriglia’s identity is recognisable from mythological guardians of the gold and of the It’s from this concept of preciousness that the brand philosophy was “My aim is simply to create luxurious and glamorous bags”. Main focus

Social media inspires me a lot and connects people from all over the world with the same tastes and interests. For me it has a huge impact on the way I work and think. Sure, it gives me a lot more work to keep track of the whole ‘world’, but I see the benefits as much more important than that.

All his creations are handmade in Sicily, where the designer re-discovered edition of Who’s on Next, sponsored by Vogue Italia and Alta Roma. and recognition as well as a satisfactory distribution

The people who inspire me the most are mostly not in my field, but artists of various kinds. Art, sculptures, jewellery, etc. and of course Arabian horses!

AWARDS:

2015: Giancarlo Petriglia exhibits his creations at La Triennale in Milan for curated by Vittorio Linfante and

Talking about craftsmanship which are the countries/places where you find your favorite items as complement for the houses you work on? Where is your inspiration the most?

2015: Winner of the contest held by Italian Fashion Chamber and White Ypsilon (official sponsor of the event) that will become

2012: Winner the Who’s on Next 2012 Edition for accessory promoted by

Today I find material all over the world, there is no specific country that is better than another. One country is better on marble, one for processed limestone, many on different types of handmade tiles.

I think I work with about 15 countries for tiles at the moment. For articles I also have collectors in Asia, in different countries, South America, Africa and many others.

Pamela, it is a very interesting world of yours and I thank you for giving us a taste of it and for inspiring us with your words. We will treasure this.

@giancarlo_petriglia

www.giancarlopetriglia.com

entrance, Cennet Koyu, Bodrum, Turkey

“Of a Wandering Gardener”

by Giorgia Mauri photos from Ermanno Casasco’s archive

Ermanno Casasco

Of a Wandering Gardener is the new book by Ermanno Casasco, edited by Maestri di Giardino Editori. Inclined to the captivating anecdote as little as to the solemn existential reflection, Ermanno Casasco’s book runs through its inevitable kaleidoscope of people, landscapes, gardens, sometimes in the synthesis of a seemingly rapid but never distracted glance. A voyage through a journey, divided in three sections, and led by an “I” within an infinite present in which one can continuously discover, try, plan and work, where everything is always new and there is no time to allow oneself to be moved. At least in writing. Because the Wanderer knows exactly when it is necessary to stop, suddenly, highlighting the turning points, the lessons learned and those given, the challenges to oneself upped to the limit with the excuse of a craft employed to continually push back its own frontiers. Here too, as in other celebrated “green” autobiographies, along with the plants and the garden you can see the world. And you see it as it really is.

Ermanno Casasco has always worked on assignment (never chasing tenders or competitions) designing and creating real works of landscape (not only parks or gardens but also large estates that he has restored) in Italy, Switzerland, France, Morocco, the United States, the Caribbean, Australia, Polynesia, Russia, Turkey and Kurdistan.

He was born in the Parma Apennines. Educated in England and in California, he graduated with a degree in Industrial Chemistry. In 1977 he began working as a gardener, and in 1979 he attended a fouryear course in Landscape Design at the Merritt College in Oakland, California, US. Since 1994, he has been the Professor of garden design at the Agricultural School of Parco di Monza; green design teacher at the School of Castello Sforzesco in Milan and gives seminars at the Accademia di Brera in Milan.

In 2011, 23 founders decided to connect their skills and experience in gardening giving birth to Maestri di Giardino, which means “masters of gardens”, contributing to raise and spread the art of landscape design. Maestri di Giardino is a group of italian gardeners whose worldwide experience is at the service of private or public. Journalists, cultural promoters, architects, pr and experts in the field work with them focused on the association’s goal. Maestri di Giardino is also editor about gardening and landscape design. It has already edited many books and Of a Wandering Gardener by Ermanno Casasco, preface by Arnaldo Pomodoro, is having big success.

www.maestridigiardino.com

Ermanno Casasco

Garden, Cennet Koyu, Bodrum, Turkey

“A garden must be beautiful all the time. It sounds odd, but, in spite of having created gardens the world over, I still haven’t thought about the garden of my life. Perhaps because every time I start a new garden I’m bursting with enthusiasm for that one, and each time it seems the best. I like making gardens anywhere, I have no preferences because each place teaches me something new. The Italian climate can vary enormously. In the south you can use large plants capable of creating an “instant garden”. But nothing can compare to the beauty of northern gardens because their foliage reveals and marks the seasons. My favorite plants are those which enhance the sense of time passing in a garden: flowering plants, and leaves which change colour and fall revealing harmonious forms. The garden must be beautiful the whole year round, not just in spring when the roses, rhododendrons, geraniums or impatiens burst into bloom.

Villa’s terrace, Cennet Koyu, Bodrum, Turkey

I like groups of shrubs at the edge of a lawn, both the more tidy one from pittosporum to boxus, and the wilder ones. I delight in vigorousgrowing flowering shrubs such as the dogwoods, lagerstroemias, oleanders and hydrangeas. This is what modern gardens are about: they must be designed with spaces and volumes that create both a strong and an ordered impression. Order and disorder: bushes and a lawn that looks like a natural glade, an unrestricted micro-landscape, easy to manage. This is how I conceive a garden: order and disorder.

If I had to say what my really favorite plants are then I would choose olive trees, oaks, beeches, cypresses and palms. Among flowering plants I prefer shrubs, especially cornus floridas because, like the whole family of the viburnums, they are ornamental, discreet and showy at the same time.

Swimmingpool in the garden, Cennet Koyu, Bodrum, Turkey

Garden, Ayvalik, Turkey

Negombo SPA Park, Ischia, Naples, Italy

For me, the olive tree is the emblem of the Mediterranean garden which hasn’t just one face but thousands, of the peoples and cultures that gave the Mediterranean its history. “Mare nostrum” as the Romans called it, was a melting place of civilizations from Asia, Africa and Europe, and here, more than anywhere else, cultural exchanges were constant and took root. In this bed of civilization the Mediterranean garden was born and continues to evolve.

Ermanno Casasco Landscape Designer Via Sambuco, 9 - Milan

ph. +39 02 83 21 347 studiocasasco@libero.it

www.ermannocasasco.com

Garden of a rebuilt ex-monastery, Alibey, Turkey

Terrace in 5th Avenue, New York - photo by Laurent Benoit

Garden, Cennet Koyu, Bodrum, Turkey

Nanni Valentini’s sculpture, garden in Zeme Lomellina, Pavia, Italy

My work as a landscape designer has always been stimulated by this tradition and by the great challenge it represents in the creation of gardens. This forty-year experience that has taken me along the ancient routes but in the opposite direction: from northern Italy to the origins of history, to the Magna Grecia with the Sicilian gardens, to the Arab world in Maghreb, to places under the modern crescent moon of Turkey, among the skyscrapers of New York and the tropical climate of the Caribbean.

Terrace in 5th Avenue, New York - photo by Laurent Benoit

Terrace in 5th Avenue, New York - photo by Laurent Benoit

Therefore I never design a garden in abstract terms, for its own sake, but I elaborate it with reference to the site and my own Mediterranean roots. This adaption to or acceptance of the place allows me to maintain the harmony of the leaves and colours with the surrounding landscape, to balance it with volumes and spaces. Moreover, I never create a self-contained garden but I seek to open it up towards the landscape. And I insert the formal order of the Italian garden without making it rigid or angular, to be in harmony with the ideas of the natural garden. This is way I feel about gardens, mixing the farmer and the traveller that are in me.

“Moto terreno solare”, by Arnaldo Pomodoro, Simposio Minoa garden, Marsala, Italy

There are reasons of a structural nature relating to the construction of a garden that led me to make this choice. A respect for the place itself first of all, and the knowledge that the intensity of light and the play of shadows are fundamental for a garden.”

Garden-terrace, Crema, Italy

Negombo SPA Park, Ischia, Naples, Italy

Ermanno Casasco

Arnaldo Pomodoro, the most celebrated Italian sculptor in the world, has collaborated with Ermanno Casasco in several works, creating some of the most beautiful and successful installations, where the landscape project perfectly complements the sculpture.

“In 1990 - recalls the Maestro - Casasco asked me to plan a sculpture for the park that surrounds the Simposio di Minoa, a large banqueting hall in Sicily near Marsala. From then on our collaborations have brought about interesting and original solutions. At the Negombo SPA Park on Ischia, for example, my sculpture Arco-in-Cielo became the gateway that opens the way to the upper part of the park and sketches a green-blue segment in the garden that adds its indecipherable messages to those deeper ones of the plants and water. For the cellar I conceived for the Castelbuono Estate of the Lunelli family at Bevagna, the impressive earthworks designed with the utmost care by Casasco created a new proportional relationship between the spaces and volumes, enhancing the equilibrium and the harmony of the architecture in the surrounding natural environment. Casasco has always managed to find the right proportions between the size of the work, the vegetation and surrounding space, profoundly interpreting the meaning of every single sculpture and making it possible for them to be read in full”.

“Arco in cielo”, by Arnaldo Pomodoro, Negombo SPA Park, Ischia, Naples, Italy

Carapace by Arnaldo Pomodoro, landscape design by Ermanno Casasco, Tenute Lunelli, Castelbuono Bavegna, Perugia, Italy - photo by Pietro Carrieri. Courtesy of Tenute Lunelli - Tenuta Castelbuono

Giancarlo Petriglia

Giancarlo Petriglia, born in 1973 in Milan, since his early childhood showed a particular attitude towards fashion, accompanied by a great artistic sensibility. He studied at the Naba Academy, graduating with honours, and from there, he immediately starts to work in an important fashion design department: Trussardi. Artistic director and personal assistant of Mrs. Trussardi, Giancarlo quickly distinguished himself for his common sense and careful study of the market, consolidating these skills through the development of the Men’s, Women’s and Accessories collections. After spending eight years in close contact with leading figures of Maison Trussardi, he continues his experience in different product design departments, and his love for accessories grows consequently. During these years he had close collaboration with important figures representing points of reference in the luxury market, like Nicolas Ghesquière, Vincent Darrè, Mariuccia Casadio, just to name a few.

Giancarlo Petriglia, since his early particular attitude by a great artistic He studied at graduating with work in an important Trussardi. Artistic Giancarlo quickly careful study consolidating

Women’s and After spending Maison Trussardi, he continues and his love

During these representing Ghesquière, just to name

His first Spring Summer 2012 collection is immediately welcomed by the reference mostly thanks to its emphasised made in Italy identity achieved thorough the The designer keeps receiving the necessary incentives to move forwards from In fact he wins the Who is on Next 2012 edition for accessory promoted by last 4 year as Artistic Director for the Piquadro collections. Furthermore, he followed the leather goods design directions for other brands a few and curated the relaunch as Creative Director of the Brand “Luana Italy”.

His first Spring Summer 2012 collection is immediately welcomed by the reference market mostly thanks to its emphasised made in Italy identity achieved thorough the expertise of leather handcrafted manufacturing. The designer keeps receiving the necessary incentives to move forwards from different sources. In fact he wins the Who is on Next 2012 edition for accessory promoted by Vogue Italia and Alta Roma with his collection Spring Summer 2013. In 2015 Giancarlo Petriglia exhibits his creations at La Triennale in Milan for the exhibition “Il nuovo vocabolario della moda italiana” curated by Vittorio Linfante and Paola Bertola.

2015: Winner of the contest held by Italian Fashion Chamber and White in Milan for the creation of an accessory for the Lancia Ypsilon (official sponsor of the event) that will become part of merchandising online Giancarlo worked for 4 year as Artistic Director for the Piquadro collections.

Furthermore, he followed the leather goods design directions for other brands such Moreschi, Trussardi and Cruciani, just to name a few and curated the relaunch as Creative Director of the Brand “Luana Italy”.

Mary Bag in Pop Snake

Mary Bag in Silver Crocodile

Mary Pochette in Pop Snake

Giancarlo Petriglia’s identity is recognisable from its logo: two parallel griffins, mythological guardians of the gold and of the most precious things on earth.

It’s from this concept of preciousness that the brand philosophy was born and took shape. The designer synthesize it saying: “My aim is simply to create luxurious and glamorous bags”. Main focus of the collection is the Made in Italy craftsmanship.

All his creations are handmade in Sicily, where the designer re-discovered the mastery and the emotions of this land. The brand keeps incessantly gaining notoriety and recognition as well as a satisfactory distribution throughout the best worldwide shops.

Erato Bag in Gold Lizard

Erato Bag in Silver Snake

P-Bag in Metallic Snake

“Every woman is a work of art, and as such should always carry one with her”

Giancarlo Petriglia

As a modern researcher, for the next summer collection Giancarlo Petriglia invites us to live with him his personal vision of the world, discovering it through the decoding of his most mysterious and unusual aesthetic canons.

“I don’t want to create simple bags, I want to create “BAGS”, written in quotation marks and all capital” is the designer’s statement, which breaks with the classic canons of leather goods, in favor of a search for heterogeneous models and proposals that cannot be classified according to the codified schemes; real works of art that are detached from the ordinary, which reveal an inherent changing and transformable nature.

A collection that celebrates good taste for ideas, filtered through the joyful irony characteristic of the brand, which shuns any garment of excessive seriousness. A research that is expressed in its highest degree with a new decoration, which celebrates the brand’s iconic Griffin logo in a rampant guise, to protect a fluid world in constant evolution and change.

Shaped with care and attention by the designer, as the creator of new sensitivities, the new Petriglia models are the spokesman for a movement of culture and style that enhances the passion, innocence and spontaneity of creativity, inviting anyone who wishes to, to be part of it.

Paloma Bag in Metallic Snake

Mary Bag: Ambassador of the collection, the Mary Bag is a transformable shoulder bag that never ceases to amaze. The frontal pochette is removable, and can live independently enriched by the luxurious Venetian chain, or left in its seat to complete the bag, like a diamond in its bezel.

Hourglass Bag: In the fluidity of the passage of time, Giancarlo Petriglia weaves the praises of an eternal movement with the Hourglass bag, whose mirrored and inverted shape of the two fronts is a game of refined architectural construction.

Baby Bag: Designed to be always carried with you, the Baby bag is an embrace of rare beauty. A real extension of someone’s body, to transmit a message of emancipation and freedom.

Materials and colors:

A radiant and exaggerated palette, a declaration of love for the unnatural and the fantastic. The chromatic contrasts are outlined through associations of contrasting colors, characteristic of Petriglia’s creations. Calf leather with bright and saturated tones, with sensual textures and surfaces. The precious skins of snakes, lizards, acrochords and crocodiles are offered in the most precious and luxurious shades of gold and silver.

BRAND PROFILE

BRAND PROFILE

Giancarlo Petriglia’s identity is recognisable from its logo: two parallel griffins, mythological guardians of the gold and of the most precious things on earth.

Giancarlo Petriglia’s identity is recognisable from its logo: two parallel griffins, mythological guardians of the gold and of the most precious things on earth. It’s from this concept of preciousness that the brand philosophy was born and took shape. The designer synthesize it saying: “My aim is simply to create luxurious and glamorous bags”. Main focus of the collection is the Made in Italy craftsmanship.

It’s from this concept of preciousness that the brand philosophy was born and took shape. The designer synthesize it saying:

“My aim is simply to create luxurious and glamorous bags”. Main focus of the collection is the Made in Italy craftsmanship.

All his creations are handmade in Sicily, where the designer re-discovered the mastery and the emotions of this land. He won the 8th edition of Who’s on Next, sponsored by Vogue Italia and Alta Roma. The brand keeps incessantly gaining notoriety and recognition as well as a satisfactory distribution throughout the best worldwide shops.

All his creations are handmade in Sicily, where the designer re-discovered the mastery and the emotions of this land. He won the 8th edition of Who’s on Next, sponsored by Vogue Italia and Alta Roma. The brand keeps incessantly gaining notoriety and recognition as well as a satisfactory distribution throughout the best worldwide shops.

AWARDS:

AWARDS:

2015: Giancarlo Petriglia exhibits his creations at La Triennale in Milan for the exhibition “Il nuovo vocabolario della moda italiana” curated by Vittorio Linfante and Paola Bertola

2015: Giancarlo Petriglia exhibits his creations at La Triennale in Milan for the exhibition “Il nuovo vocabolario della moda italiana” curated by Vittorio Linfante and Paola Bertola

2015: Winner of the contest held by Italian Fashion Chamber and White in Milan for the creation of an accessory for the Lancia Ypsilon (official sponsor of the event) that will become part of merchandising online

2015: Winner of the contest held by Italian Fashion Chamber and White in Milan for the creation of an accessory for the Lancia Ypsilon (official sponsor of the event) that will become part of merchandising online

2012: Winner the Who’s on Next 2012 Edition for accessory promoted by Vogue Italia and Alta Roma with his collection S/S 2013

2012: Winner the Who’s on Next 2012 Edition for accessory promoted by Vogue Italia and Alta Roma with his collection S/S 2013

@giancarlo_petriglia

@giancarlo_petriglia

@giancarlo_petriglia

/Giancarlo Petriglia

/Giancarlo Petriglia

www.giancarlopetriglia.com

www.giancarlopetriglia.com

www.giancarlopetriglia.com

HOURGLASS Bag in Karung Snake

“Every woman is a work of art, and as such should always carry one with her”

Giancarlo Petriglia

Art Photography and

Ettore Favini

by Giorgia Mauri

photo by Roberto Marossi

Ettore Favini was born in Cremona, Italy in 1974.

His works map the relationship between people and their environment and tend to be site-specific, developed through a growth process that renders them living organisms, never truly finished: open-ended devices of vision in which the work partakes in life and the viewer becomes an active participant.

Awarded the Artegiovane prize from the Milan and Turin Chambers of Commerce (2005) and the prestigious Premio New York from Columbia University (2007), Favini has been shortlisted for the Castello di Rivoli prize (2009), and shared the 48th Premio Suzzara (2013) with Antonio Rovaldi.

He has shown his work, among others, at the Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Villa Croce, Genoa; MAN – Museo d’Arte della Provincia di Nuoro; Italian Academy of Columbia University, New York; ISCP, New York; Ocat, Shanghai; SongEun Art Space, Seoul; Centre for Contemporary Art Futura, Prague; Manifesta 9 Parallel Events, Genk; Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin; Villa Panza, Varese; GAM, Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Milan; PAC, Milan; MAGA, Gallarate; Santa Maria Maggiore, Bergamo; CCC Strozzina, Florence; Villa Medici, Accademia di Francia, Rome; Fondazione Pastificio Cerere, Rome; American Academy, Rome; Fondazione Olivetti, Rome; Museo Riso, Palermo.

He is currently on the Visual Arts faculty of NABA – Nuova Accademia di Belli Arti in Milan.

Arrivederci

curated by Chiara Vecchiarelli

curated by Chiara Vecchiarelli

For Arrivederci, Favini has engaged in a journey through the land of Sardinia and the stories of the island’s weavers. Urged on by the desire to come into contact with one of the Mediterranean’s oldest traditions, the artist visited the many textile workshops of the island, receiving as gifts over a hundred woven items from artisans, artists and stylists. The single fragments of fabric, along with the stories they carry with them, constitute the material from which a new corpus of works has come to life.

The works created for the MAN Museum the relationship between warp and woof is transformed into the figure of a new relationship between time and space: the different temporalities of the events that generated the very texture of the stories encountered converge in the space of the work for the period of the exhibition. The warp of the many wefts of a common narration, the exhibition will also constitute a two-fold homage to the sea. It is literally like a sail that the memories linked to the different weaves unfurl in the exhibition, since from our relationship to the sea come the cruising sails that contributed to the composition of an installation that will be on display at Villa Croce, as well as the form of the large sail made out of the donated weaves that will cross the rooms of the MAN Museum: A choral portrait of the island capable of transforming the temporal limbo announced in the title into the wish that soon we shall meet again, which every exhibition implies.

Ettore Favini

Arazzo (Pink Sardinian), wool, linen, cotton, naturals pigment, Portland, zinc oxide, silicates of sodium, 2016 detail

photo by Dessì-Confinivisivi

Genova, wool, linen, cotton, silk, copper, paillettes, 2016

dx: Arazzo (Pink Sardinian), wool, linen, cotton, naturals pigment, Portland, zinc oxide, silicates of sodium, 2016 installation view at MAN_Museum, Nuoro (I)

photo by Dessì-Confinivisivi

Arrivederci, pibionis cotton sew on curtain, 2016, cabin 4001 Grimaldi Lines Cruises detail

photo by Dessì-Confinivisivi

Always the Mediterranean sea is a place for exchanges of people, ideas of goods. The sea as a “shaker” of cultures. The sail is a travel idea, but is showed suspended, locked like a dream of the trip, the cloth strip running through the sail is like a road, another journey within a journey.

In the works are always present two fabrics a blue fabric (shades of blues of the Mediterranean) from the European culture (north) and an African fabric (south). Every work is the result of a reflection articulated through collages of fabrics coming from worlds and cultures different from each other. This encounter, pulling close materials as jeans – a Western emblem – and wax or java – representative fabrics of different souls of Africa, that here is chosen as not- Western part

of the world, brings to light paradoxes that not only are productive, but also strongly cultural. For, as much as the West has followed an economical policy based on production decentralization, Africa too, for its part, has been able to adapt and accept to have its fabrics produced by European labour, such as English or Dutch.

Such a juxtaposition, therefore, reflects a necessary relationship between two parts which are ideologically and culturally distant, but interconnected by trading and social necessities, bringing to light a two-way cultural short-circuit. Thus what is affected here is the possibility to pinpoint to which culture a product belongs, while the artist plays with what we normally recognize as ‘natural’ or identify as ‘artificial’.

During the two exhibitions in Nuoro and Genoa, that will take place at a short distance from one another, a work by Favini will travel aboard a ship sailing between Sardinia and Liguria, making the waves uniting the two lands an exhibition venue just as the museums involved. Arrivederci is premised on the relation between the warp and the weft, it creates a choral portrait of the island turning the temporal limbo announced by the title into the wish to meet up again embedded in every exhibition. Here,

the wish is to meet up again in Genova: a port city where the journey of all those who leave the island or return to it begins or ends. Moreover, Genova has a long tradition of weaving, from its brocade tapestry to the silk velvet made in Zoagli to the indigo color and the Genovese cloth that fostered the myth of blue jeans around the world. The textiles gathered by the artist will be brought to Genova, dyed with blue, and subsequently sewn to create new forms that speak of places that have the sea inside: stories of journeys, contamination, and exchange. As the warp on which many narratives are weft, the exhibition will also serve as a twofold homage to the sea, which keeps all sort of objects, and to one of the main symbols of Genova: the Laterna, the lighthouse visible from everywhere in the city, an object as hybrid as the people and traditions of the Mediterreanean Sea. Textiles of different origins will therefore be transformed in Genova so as to bring “the Mistress of the Seas” back to life in the museum space. Mindful of the stories of the Villa, the artist will work on the museum’s façade recreating the tent system once used by the Croces to provide shelter against the sun and heat of the summer season. His largescale environmental installation will be made by sails.

installation view at Villa Croce Museum, Genova (I), photo by Henrik Blomqvist

Arrivederci, Zoagli’s velvet, chenille, brocade, PVC cristal, 2016 photo by Henrik Blomqvist

You certainly took your sweet time, mixed fabrics dyed in blue and hand sewn, photo, variable dimension, 2014

Private View, stool wood, leather, iron

Private View begins with the process of discovery, knowledge and vision of the natural landscape in connection with the urban one, a dialogue between the Arno and the city of Gallarate. The artist designed a route along the course of waterway that crosses the city; a walk that is accessible through a map and a collection of portable chairs, which can be collected freely in various part of the city. With a map and a chair, people can follow the course of the river, discover views and risk perspectives chosen by the artist and add their own personal Private View. In the museum, an installation element records the geographic shape of the Arno and, as a result, the entire pathway. The work is also characterised by a mirrored surface which amplifies the idea at the base of the whole work, the interaction and appropriation of the river itself by the public.

Private View, wooden bench and engraved brass plate, 2007 permanent installation 6th St. & Ave B Garden . New York (US)

To say nothing of the dog, mixed fabric, wooden frame, 2014 with Antonio Rovaldi installation view at PAC, Milano (I)

Alcuni uomini scrivono la storia, gli altri la leggono”, 150 sheets of handmade paper , botticino marble, 2011, 50 X 70 X 15cm

courtesy: Aike Dellarco Gallery, Shanghai (RPC)

Private View - 2016 - Maga Gallarate

Verdecuratoda, friut trees, iron, neon lights, photovoltaic power plant, irrigation system, environmental dimension, 2008 permanent installation, collection of Public art of Turin municipality

Albarrán Cabrera

“The Mouth of Krishna”

by Giorgia Mauri

Albarrán Cabrera are the photographers Anna Cabrera and Angel Albarrán. They are a couple and have been working together in photography since 1995. Their work has been exhibited in different galleries and trade shows in Spain, Japan, Lebanon, France, Germany, Italy and the United States. Their images are made using traditional processes like platinum printing, silver halide printing and pigments over gold. As professional printmakers they have collaborated with other photographers and institutions around the world.

Anna Cabrera was born in Sevilla, Spain, in 1969. She is a photographer and a teacher.

Angel Albarrán was born in Barcelona, Spain, in 1969. He is a photographer and curator. Both are currently based in Barcelona, Spain.

www.albarrancabrera.com - www.albarrancabrera.tumblr.com

Giorgia and Simone Leo, Brauli Teixidó and Fernando Peracho Murillo, (Valid Foto Gallery), Angel Albarrán and Anna Cabrera in Barcelona.

Japan 2013 #131

Human beings use their sensory system to transduce the physical world to the realm of the mind. The received information is interpreted, creating our perception of the world around us. Space, time and reality are, in fact, concepts created by us to understand our own reality.

But despite this mental capacity, it seems really difficult for us to accept and understand that we are part of this infinite reality. The same concepts that we invented to help us understand our existence, have become incredibly complex when we think about them in depth.

For over twenty years we both have been exploring the concept of reality believing that the humans

are the eyes of the universe. Using photography we can show that the very concept of a universe is a human construct and therefore exists because we all acknowledge its existence.

With photography and our imagination, we can explain concepts that are hidden from our perception. We need this tool to generate visual metaphors that help us understand our reality, what we are and what the world around us is like.

Being aware is not just an important part of life, it is life as we know it. With photography, we want the viewers to increase empathy and arouse interest towards their reality.

Sevilla 2013 #161

Girona 2014 #212

Japan 2013 #126

Japan 2013 #133

Japan 2013 #125

Japan 2013 #146

NewYork 1999 #99

Japan 2014 #218

Japan 2013 #127

Japan 2013 #166

Japan 2014 #350

Notes about the prints

The prints are made using different techniques and processes: silver gelatin printing, colour pigment over gold leaf and platinum printing.

The Silver Gelatin process is the classic analogue printing process for black and white images.

Color Pigment prints over Gold is a process invented by the photographers that is derived from Japanese ancient printing techniques and the artisanal technique of kirikane. Gold leaf is applied to the back of the copy, which is printed in a very thin Japanese paper.

The effect of the metal gold applied to an object is better explained by the Japanese writer Junichiro Tanizaki: “Gold is not something to be seen in a brilliant light, to be taken in at a single glance; it should be left in the dark, a part here and a part there picked up by a faint light. Its florid patterns recede into the darkness, conjuring in their stead an inexpressible aura of depth and mystery, of overtones but partly suggested.”

Platinum printing was one of the first print processes invented in the history of photography. Although difficult as well as costly to create, platinum prints are the crème de la crème of photographic art. Two aspects that make the platinum/palladium prints so special and loved by photographers and so treasured by collectors and investors are beauty and permanence. Platinum prints exhibit an expanded tonal range from warm black, to expanded mid-tone greys. The platinum whites are delicate. They are also among the most permanent objects produced by man. A platinum/palladium image, properly made and preserved, can last thousands of years.

Since its invention in the late 1800’s most of the great photographers in the history of photography have all produced beautiful images in platinum or palladium.

Japan 2013 #138.

“The Mouth of Krishna”

There is the story of the infant Krishna, wrongly accused of eating a bit of dirt. His mother, Yashoda, coming up to him with a wagging finger scolds him: “You shouldn’t eat dirt, you naughty boy.” “But I haven’t,” says the unchallenged lord of all and everything, in spot disguised as a frightened human child. “Tut! Tut! Open your mouth,” orders Yashoda. Krishna does as he is told. He opens his mouth and Yashoda gasps. She sees in Krisna’s mouth the whole complete entire timeless universe, all the stars and planets of space and the distance between them, all the lands and seas of the earth and the life in them; she sees all the days of yesterday and all the days of tomorrow; she sees all ideas and all emotions, all pity and all hope, and the three strands of matter; not a pebble, candle, creature, village or galaxy is missing, including herself and every bit of dirt in its truthful place “My Lord, you can close your mouth,” she says reverently.

In any part of the universe there is a whole universe – Hamlet saw the infinite space in a nutshell; William Blake saw a world in a grain of sand, a heaven in a wild flower, and eternity in an hour.

The rhythms of nature give us the opportunity to show this cosmic complexity using photography. Photographing

Japan 2013 #104

these images we are not describing the motif; rather the experience of universe multiplicity generated by them. Our conscious is a wrinkle in the universe asking about itself. With a photograph a new wrinkle is created. This “wrinkle” is not only an image, but also a three-dimensional object, a trigger for the mind of the viewer.

Valid Foto BCN Gallery

Buenaventura Muñoz 6, Baixos

08018 Barcelona, Spain

www.validfoto.com

Kochuten Gallery

GS Daiichi Hushimi Bld. 2-16-10

Nishiki Nakaku Nagoya Aichi 460-0003 Japan

www.kochuten.net

Canary Island #217

Yamamoto Masao “Small things in silence”

by Giorgia Mauri

Yamamoto Masao is one of the most important Japanese photographers. Born in Aichi Prefecture, Japan in 1957. Studied painting before he chose gelatin silver prints as his artistic medium. The first gallery show in 1994 at Shapiro Gallery, San Francisco and a solo exhibition at Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York in 1996 led to many other gallery shows in the U.S. Since 2006, he has been actively showing at galleries and museums in Europe, Japan, Russia, and Brazil. Media coverage includes NY Times and other major art magazines. Yamamoto lives in Yatsugatake Nanroku, Yamanashi Prefecture where he enjoys creating his work while being close to nature.

http://www.yamamotomasao.jp/

“Small Things in Silence”

I have been expressing myself through art for the past 40 years.

During these years I constantly asked myself:

What did I see? What did I not see?

What did I say? What did I not say?

My quest for answers to these questions led to my creations.

I was unsure about my niche in this universe, my “place” in this existence; and I needed to believe in art in order to keep on living.

On my journey of self-discovery, I stopped often and made many detours. The works I “dropped” along the way mark my footsteps - chaotic and inconsistent as they might be.

When I look back upon my path, I realize that the one consistent motif in my work was my obsession for small things. I feel joy when I discover seemingly insignificant things that may be easily overlooked. I am interested in those awkward feelings – such as when you miss a button hole or are stalled and lost in a disorienting fog. I prefer whispering my messages in a soft voice instead of speaking them out loud. My messages may be so soft as to be mistaken for illusions.

I know I will carry these feelings with me for a long time.

I hope that the faint waves that my work emits, grow into quiet, yet eloquent messages that will be reaching you.

Yamamoto Masao

Yamamoto Masao

Nakazora, #1073

KAWA=FLOW, #1591

KAWA=FLOW, #1613

Nakazora, #811

A box of Ku, #13

KAWA=FLOW, #1508

KAWA=FLOW, #1620

KAWA=FLOW, #1576

KAWA=FLOW, #1582

KAWA=FLOW, #1595

I enjoy watching transitions in nature.

“KAWA=Flow”

Clouds in the sky are all different from each other. While watching the clouds, I realize I am seeing beyond the clouds. I may be focusing on the clouds, but my mind is immersed in something else.

There is a Haiku poem Ryokan (1758-1831), a Zen monk, wrote. It goes like this:

A Japanese maple leaf

It turns to show its back

It turns to show its front

Before it is time to fall

This Haiku has made a great impact on me.

I believe Ryokan wrote about life through using the metaphor of falling leaves.

Life is an accumulation of moments. There are moments when leaves show the sunny front, and there are moments when they show the dark backside. But at the end, all leaves fall and decayed.

Ryokan’s attention to the sound of the nature, and realization of how humans are but a part of nature, made it possible for him to write this poem. I imagine how Ryokan led his life enriching, soothing, and purifying people’s mind.

“Active passiveness,” a teaching of Zen, influenced me, too. It is necessary to acquire the sense of active passiveness to reach a steady mind and body. When you achieve a calm feeling by finding yourself integrated into nature, you will develop a respect and humbleness towards the whole universe. You will be enveloped in a deep sensibility of the universe, and the earth you are placed on. This thinking is widely known in Budo (martial arts.) I try to sharpen my sensibility to reach this state of mind when I photograph.

Yamamoto Masao

Recent major exhibitions:

2014 “Shizuka=Cleanse”, Craig Krull Gallery, L.A.

2013 “Narrow Road to the interior” contemporary Japanese artists, SMoCA, Scottsdale (U.S.)

“KAWA=FLOW” Städt. Galerie im Schloss, Isny Allgäu (Germany)

2012 “Shizuka=Cleanse” , Galeria Massimo Minini, Brescia (Italy)

“YAMAMOTO MASAO” , VALID FOTO GALLERY, Barcelona

2011 “YAMAMOTO MASAO” , GALERIA MARCELO GUANIERI, Sao Paulo

“KAWA=FLOW” , MIZUMA & ONE GALLERY (CAOCHANGDI PHOTOSPRING 2011), Beijing

2010 “KAWA=FLOW partⅡ” , Semina rerum, Zurich

“KAWA”, GALERIE CAMERA OBSCURA, Paris

“YAMAMOTO MASAO” , Robert Koch Gallery, San Francisco

2009 “KAWA=FLOW”, Photomonth in Krakow 2009, Krakow (Poland)

“KAWA=FLOW”, FORUM FOTOGRAFIE, Köln (Germany)

“KAWA=FLOW”, POBEDA GALLERY, Moscow (Russia)

Emilio Isgrò

“Unequivocal Sign”

by Giorgia Mauri

Il Seme dell’Altissimo, 2015

white marble Altissimo

environmental dimensions

Inscription on marble stairs

Orange seed enlarged 1 billion 500 million times.

Weight of the seed 23,400,000,000 milligrammes.

The fruit will weigh 23,400,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000... tonnes

Il Seme dell’Altissimo (The Seed of the Altissimo Mountain) is the representative sculpture by Emilio Isgrò of the Expo Milano 2015 and of its core theme: Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life.

It symbolizes the life and the hope for the development of humanity and is embodied in an orange seed that has been enlarged 1.5 billion times.

“I chose the Seed as a symbol of the Expo Milano 2015. Indeed it is a global idea more and before than to be only a symbol. Everybody all over the world knows the orange fruit, it immediately recalls the Mediterranean Sea and our Land.”

As it has been turned by the artist into a universal icon of nourishment, The Seed of the Altissimo Mountain is placed at the Main Entrance of Expo Center, West Gate, a privileged transit for million of visitors which are attending the fair and will do within the end of October 2015.

“Even if the title can reminde of an ascetic meaning, the Seed of the Altissimo Mountain has the laical vocation which lets Art exist.”

The sculpture has been made by the specialized artisan workers of Henraux Spa from the design project by Isgrò. It is made of the precious Calacta white marble extracted from the Altissimo mountain near Lucca in Tuscany. Its origin gave the inspiration to the title of the artwork,

il Seme dell’Altissimo, The Seed of the Altissimo Mountain.

Archivio

Milan - Italy www.emilioisgro.info archivio@emilioisgro.info

Emilio Isgrò

“This seed (the seed of the art, the seed of life, the seed that you like) contains in itself the theory of what it is or may become.

In 1998 I was asked by the city of my birth, Barcellona in Sicily, to come up with something which might express a strong, unmistakably constructive spirit of my land. What I proposed was a seed. Or rather, an Orange Seed, as symbol of a continental island, Sicily, open to all history and all stories, impossible to be reduced to a single cultural model. It is certainly not by chance

that my choise fell on a tiny orange pip instead of on one of the much more recognizable and acclaimed symbol of modern post-consumer society. That society was, and still is now, too strong to need help from art.

I did not work on cloning the planet representing what is already in itself too visible as it doesn’t need further representations. I, more modestly, represented the invisible.

The seed that one cannot see. But which is there.”

This is the story of the Orange Seed, the Proto-Seed by Emilio Isgrò, which has inspired The Seed

Mountain.

of the Altissimo

Il Seme dell’Altissimo (The Seed of the Altissimo Mountain) Expo 2015. Photo: Andrea Valentini.

“Art can give its results only when it is validated by the concrete interests of the society which needs art as it needs food and air to breath.

That’s why I enthusiastically devoted myself to the creation of the Altissimo Mountain for Milan, for the Universal Exposition first and then for the city, mindful of the Orange Seed made many years ago.”

“All of my work has been born under the sign of the possible and of necessity. What we need now are poets, not “intellectuals”. An artist is responsible for what he does, not what he says.

Where an artist, at Expo, in the heart of an Italy that is changing, dares to implant a Seed seven meters high, probably at that point, soon or later, somewhere close by, someone decides to implant a new fabric, a company capable to produce something that the world urgently needs but of which no one has never thought.

For this one needs art: to give courage to the brave ones, not to look at themselves in the mirror.

The Orange Seed remains the most global symbol because everybody knows it: chinese people, americans, indians, japanese people the same way.

Somebody asked me why I chose to work on enlarging a tiny seed only few millimeters large, almost invisible, instead of concentrating myself on italic symbols already famous and bigger, like Colosseum or Pisa Tower. The reason suggests the meaning of italian way: taking small things and turn them into something bigger.”

by Giorgia Mauri

Expo Milano 2015 provides an opportunity to reflect upon, and seek solutions to, the contradictions of our world. On the one hand, there are still the hungry (approximately 870 million people were undernourished in the period 2010-2012) and, on the other, there are those who die from aliments linked to poor nutrition or too much food (approximately 2.8 million deaths from diseases related to obesity or to being overweight in the same period). In addition, about 1.3 billion tons of foods are wasted every year. For these reasons, we need to make conscious political choices, develop sustainable lifestyles and use the best technology to create a balance between the availability and the consumption of resources.

Art is an expression of uniqueness, a common language for describing a country’s identity. That is why artists from around the world have come to the Universal Exposition in Milan with all the works that best describe their era and their society, intent on sharing the message that life is beautiful.

Dichiaro di essere Emilio Isgrò, 2008. (I Declare I am Emilio Isgrò) Luigi Pecci Centre For Contemporary Art

EMILIO ISGRÒ: WHO IS HIM

Conceptual artist and painter, poet, writer, playwriter and director – Emilio Isgrò (Barcellona in Sicily, 1937) is definitely one of the most famous and prestigious Italian artists at intenational level. Isgrò has given life to the revolutionary and originally artworks in the limit of the so called second Avantgarde of the seventies, that has gained him the participation to different editions of the Biennale of Venice (1972, 1978, 1986, 1993), the first price of the Biennale of San Paolo (1977), the participation to such important shows as for example the one at the MoMA in New York in 1992, at the Peggy Guggenheim Foundation of Venice in 1994, at the anthologies in the Pecci Museum of Prato in 2008 and at the National Gallery of Modern Art in 2013. From 1956 to today he has been living and working in Milan, except for a short period in Venice (1960-1967).

Emilio Isgrò was one of the initiators of the erasures (cancellature) of tests, applicated to encyclopedias, handwritings, books, maps and also to cinematic films.

“The erasure, says the artist, is not a banal negation but moreover the affirmation of new means: it is the transformation of a negative sign in a positive way. It was probably a gesture only at the beginning, one of the many gestures an artist made to leave a personal mark in life and in the world…As a matter of fact I saw it changing in the process of making it, year after year, minute after minute, and it bent to my artistic wishes better than I wanted or expected.”

As a sculptor, in 1998, he has idealized and realized an Orange Seed for the city of his birth, situated in front of the ex-station of Barcellona in Sicily, starting point of the couriers of oranges towards the north of Italy and Europe during the years of the exportation. His artwork The Seed of the Altissimo Mountain, inspired by the Orange Seed in Sicily, is its monumental sculpture proposed as universal symbol of the Expo Milano 2015 core theme: Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life. After the end of the Universal Exposition the artwork will be donated by the artist to the city of Milan and it will be placed inside the Sempione Park in the center of the city as a permanent emblem of hope for umanity.

Modello Italia, 2012 (Model Italy) Csac, University of Parma, Art Section

In the early sixties Emilio Isgrò started creating his cancellature (deletions or erasure), that means working by acting on texts and manually covering some parts of them. Words are deleted with heavy marks which leave only small fragments of sentences still readable.

In 1964 Emilio Isgrò made his first works by making interventions on text-books, and on pages in particular: he manually covered most of them. The words were erased with thick marks, and only small fragments of written sentences, or even a word only, were left to be read.

Over time, that mark was made on maps, telex, cinema, sheet music. It anticipated the most typical expressions of conceptual art.

Codice ottomano della solitudine, 2010 (The ottoman code of the loneliness)

Russland, 2007

“Erasing is a contradictory gesture lying between destruction and reconstruction. The words, and the images after them, are not offended by the erasures, which on the contrary nourish with new lifeblood a signifier that carries many meanings: the prime essence of every art work. The erasure explains more than it says. “Erasure” is not a method of destruction or removal, but can instead be a moment of revelation, to highlight what is concealed. I delete words to safeguard them, it is a gesture of salvation.

The text is hidden, but it is there, though illegible.

The erasure certainly serves to create an absence and to start the viewer’s brain working, always wanting to know ‘what lies beneath’. But at the same time (and this function is much more important) it is a specific, unequivocal linguistic sign. The language element and visual perception interact, the viewer is induced to make an ideological and interpretative reflection on the subject.”

Wunderkammer, 2013

Girolamo Savonarola, 2014

Flairs For everyday luxury

Josef Hoflehner - Mosque and Birds

“Essence of a Place”

by Giorgia Mauri

Josef Hoflehner

Paris, La Tour Eiffel La Nuit

Josef Hoflehner was born in 1955 in Wels, Austria, when the country was still under allied occupation. He grew up in a family where the camera was used so rarely that as many as three Christmas holidays would be captured on one roll of film. Although Austria could boast awesome mountains and a great natural landscape, it had no coastlines, deserts or empty spaces where one could see the horizon unimpaired. At the age of 20, Hoflehner purchased a camera and began to travel. An early award for photography began to open doors professionally and his career has continued to develop with amazing success.

Shanghai, Skyline

Each of Hoflehner’s photographs achieves a perfection of composition that seems to defy the possibility that it could ever be seen any other way. Gripping in their ultimate solitude and the unexpected natural beauty they capture, Hoflehner’s photographs take his earthly subject matter to raise it to an almost mythical level, defining the essence of the place. In these rare and elusive moments, the natural and the man made are brought together in a poetic interplay of light and shadow, emptiness and structure. Through his images, we are moved to a new level of observation and exposed to a world where the chance and an underlying natural order coexist with our own built environment.

New York City, Central Park, 2011

Copacabana, palms, 2010

Hoflehner’s exquisite silver gelatin prints are found in a constantly growing number of public, private and corporate collections around the globe; notable collections include Polo Ralph Lauren, AT&T, Fidelity Investments, French banking giant Societe Generale and GAP/ Banana Republic. Josef has exhibited worldwide, he was voted Nature Photographer of the Year 2007 and is set to release the fourteenth monograph of his work in Fall 2012.

hoflehner@me.com

www.josefhoflehner.com

Hawaii, Stargazen Mauna Kea Volcano

Japan, Door Open Wide

JOSEF HOFLEHNER PHOTOGRAPHER

Ginza, Tokyo

Mosque and Birds

New York, Central Park Nights West

Gotham City, 2011

Jet Airliner

New York City, Chrysler

Wavebreakers, 2007

HARDCOVER BOOKS

Waiting for the Sun (2015)

Jet Airliner:

The Complete Works (2012)

ZNZ (2011)

Unleashed 3 (2010)

China (2009)

Jet Airliner (2009)

Nine (2008)

Li River (2008)

Unleashed Two (2007)

Iceland (2006)

Yemen (2006)

Unleashed (2005)

Gegendum (2004)

Frozen History (2003)

Southern Ocean (2002)

SELECTED SOLO-EXHIBITIONS

2015 | Galerie Nikolaus Ruzicska, Salzburg, Austria

2014 | Young Gallery, Brussels, Belgium

2014 | Joseph Bellows Gallery, San Diego, USA

2014 | Open Shutter Gallery, Durango, USA

2014 | Acte 2 Galerie, Paris, France

2013 | Michael Hoppen Gallery, London, England

2013 | Galerie Nikolaus Ruzicska, Salzburg, Austria

2013 | Paris-Photo (Solo-Show), Paris, France

2013 | Werkhallen, Bonn, Germany

2012 | Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York City, USA

2012 | Galeria Valid Foto, Barcelona, Spain

2012 | Acte 2 Galerie, Paris, France

2012 | AD-Galerie, Genolier, Switzerland

2012 | Galerie Monika Mohr, Hamburg, Germany

2011 | Atelier Jungwirth, Graz, Austria

2011 | Rheingalerie, Bonn, Germany

2011 | Local Galeria, Mexico City, Mexico

2010 | Stephen Cohen Gallery, Los Angeles, USA

2010 | Acte 2 Galerie, Paris, France

2010 | Galerie Nikolaus Ruzicska, Salzburg, Austria

2010 | AD-Galerie, Genolier, Switzerland

2009 | Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York City, USA

2009 | Galeria Hartmann, Barcelona, Spain

2009 | Galerie Monika Mohr, Hamburg, Germany

2009 | Eckhart Gallery, The Hague, Netherlands

2009 | Young Gallery, Knokke, Belgium

2009 | Galerie 206, Berlin, Germany

Josef Hoflehner

2009 | John Cleary Gallery, Houston, USA

2009 | Brucie Collections, Kiev, Ukraine

2008 | Stephen Cohen Gallery, Los Angeles, USA

2008 | Tao Gallery, Hong Kong, China

2008 | Young Gallery, Brussels, Belgium

2008 | Galerie Albrecht, Munich, Germany

2007 | Galerie 206, Berlin, Germany

2007 | Atlas Gallery, London, UK

2007 | Camera Work, Berlin, Germany

2007 | Stephen Cohen Gallery, Los Angeles, USA

2006 | Atlas Gallery, London, UK

NOTED COLLECTIONS

Elton John Photography Collection

AT&T Collection

Gap/Banana Republic Collection

Polo Ralph Lauren Collection

Societe Generale Collection

Cleveland Clinic Collection

Crédit Industriel et Commercial (CIC)

Fidelity Investments Collection

Banque Crédit du Nord Collection

Sprint Nextel Collection

Dubai International Financial Centre

American Board of Emergency Medicine

Christian Liaigre Collection

Norman Foster Collection

Lane Crawford Collection

Retrospective 1975-2015

Introduction by W. M. Hunt published by teNeues

Size: 30 x 32 cm / 11 3/4 x 12 3/5 in.

224 pp., Hardcover with jacket

217 duotone photographs

Text in English

€ 79,90 $ 95 £ 65

ISBN 978-3-8327-3296-7

The worldwide recognition he has received attests to the tremendous impact of his work. This Austrian photographer, who has been shooting primarily, though not exclusively, in black and white for over 40 years, captures surreal moments in his photos. Reductions and overexposures help him discover special elements and draw both technical and substantive contrasts between the spectacular and the banal. His subjects everything from peaceful, expansive Icelandic landscapes that look like paintings to jets coming in for a landing just above people’s heads fascinate the viewer. Even more astoundingly, all of these contrasting facets of nature and technology bear Hoflehner’s distinct stamp. No matter what topic Hoflehner is skillfully weaving a photographic narrative around, his work exudes incredible serenity and focus. Maybe that’s what we find so compelling. Whether it’s a photo of a New York skyline or a Malaysian tea plantation, his images have a soothing, contemplative effect on the viewer, although there is also a painful undertone of transience and social criticism.

JOSEF HOFLEHNER was born in Wels, Austria in 1955. He got his first camera at the age of twenty and began shooting and experimenting with photography. His photos of landscapes, architecture, and objects are highly sought after both in Europe and around the world, and are part of

Valid Foto BCN is a project coming from the initiative of 4 people who decided to open a space dedicated to the exhibit of photography and events related to the medium.

The gallery is run by Fernando Murillo Peracho. Fernando’s aim is to join the effort of others, both past and present, to make photography an object of interest to the uninitiated public and also to satisfy those who are already knowledgeable about this art form.

It is located at Carrer Buenaventura Muñoz 6, at the corner of Avinguda Lluis Companys, in an area known locally as Arc de Triomf and part of the Eixample neighbourhood. The nearest tube station is Arc de Triomf. The gallery is closed to the Parc de la Ciutadella with its gardens, the Catalan Parliament, the High Court of Justice of Catalonia and the lively Born district.

The gallery’s commitment is to promote photography as a valuable art form. It presents and promotes artists within the gallery own space, as well as outside its wall. Valid Foto committal is to give the right expertise to clients and to inform the willing public about the photographic medium.

Artists

Masao Yamamoto, Toni Catany, Josef Hoflehner, Colita, Ricard Terré, Álvaro Sánchez Montañés, Albarrán Cabrera, Berta Vicente Salas, Carlos Ventós, Luis Vioque, Pedro Madueño and Pentti Sammallahti among others.

Opening Hours

Tuesday to Friday, from 10 to 2pm and 5 to 8pm. Saturday, from 11 to 2pm.

info@validfoto.com

www.validfoto.com

VALID FOTO BCN GALLERY

luxury leisure liFesTyle

Flairs For everyday luxury

arnaldo Pomodoro - sphere n. 3, 1964 bronze, ø 60 cm (Photo by aurelio Barbareschi)

by Giorgia Mauri

Arnaldo Pomodoro

“Signs”

Pomodoro’s Studio, detail. Photo by Emiliano di Mauro

Arnaldo Pomodoro was born in Montefeltro in 1926 and spent his childhood and education in Pesaro. He lives and works in Milan since 1954. His sculptures are found in the most important public collections and sited in urban spaces all over the world.

Memorable retrospectives have consolidated his reputation as one of the most significant contemporary artists. His traveling exhibitions have toured throughout Europe, America, Australia and Japan. He has taught in the art departments of various American universities and has been the recipient of many prestigious awards. Ever since the beginning of his career Arnaldo Pomodoro has also been active in stage design, creating “spectacular machines” for numerous theatrical performances.

“The concerns of my work as an artist have always centered on the relationship between the individual sculpture and the space in which it is sited.

A sculpture, indeed, is the realization of a space of its own within the greater space in which it lives and moves. When a work transforms the place in which it is located, it takes on the valence of a true and proper witness of the times that spawned it, and thus places a mark on its context, enriching it with additional layers of memory.

Today I think of my sculptures as crystals, or nuclei, or as eyes, or signal fires; and I see them as relating to borders and voyages, to the worlds of complexity and imagination.”

Arnaldo Pomodoro, 2008

Arnaldo Pomodoro.

(photo by Nicola Gnesi for Fondazione Henraux)

Novecento, 2000- 2002 bronze, 21 x ø 7 m

Rome, Piazzale Pier Luigi Nervi (Photo by Carlo Orsi)

His bronze sculpture Lance of Light (Lancia di luce) (*) has been recently installed in the cloisters of the Music Conservatory “G. Verdi” in Milan, where it will be on display for the next three years, together with the works of Alik Cavaliere, Pietro Coletta, Pietro Consagra, Giuseppe Maraniello, Eliseo Mattiacci, Gio’ Pomodoro and Giuseppe Spagnulo. This original initiative, entitled “Wood in the Cloister” -intending to establish an ideal dialogue between art and music- has been promoted by Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro in collaboration with the Conservatorio.

(*) I had the light and absolute idea of this monumental element, with a triangular cross-section, while working at the foundry. The theme of the work is industrial history, since from the milling of iron and its left-over waste materials, it passes on to steel and to procedures involving incandescence. It thereby, as well, addresses the whole of the history of human invention, and its symbols of research.

Arnaldo Pomodoro

Centenarium, 2002-2004 bronze, 585 x ø 250 cm Trento, Cantine Spumante Ferrari (Photo by Vaclav Sedy)

Lance of Light, II, 1985 bronze, 700 cm, sect. 120 x 120 x 120 cm Milan, cloister of the Music Conservatory “G. Verdi” (Photo by Vico Chamla)

In a recent conversation, Pomodoro expressed a belief that the future of sculpture is linked with that of architecture. From the very beginning, he has demonstrated his ability to interpret sculpture as a material in the process of being formed, that can be manipulated in a variety of ways. What is particularly interesting is how he started from a tiny scale working as a goldsmith and has now arrived not at the grand scale of sculpture, but at one that is literally gigantic: sculptural structures with the substance and imposing dimensions of architecture. As a result, Pomodoro’s most important works belong to a sector that is on the borderline between sculpture and architecture.

The Arrow, 1993-1995 bronze, 198 x 468 x 167 cm Paris. UNESCO (Photo by Marco Bonisoli)

Stele I, II, III, IV, 1997-2000 fiberglass with iron dust, 700 x 70 x 40 cm each

(Photo by Vaclav Sedy)

Earthly Solar Motion, 1989-1994 cement, h from 3 m to 9 m x 90 m Marsala, Simposio of Minoa (Photo by Ermanno Casasco)

Truncated Cone, 1972 bronze and steel, 620 x ø 360 cm (Photo by Carlo Orsi)

Arco-in-cielo, 1995

patinated terracotta, 5,50 x 12 x 0,70 m (Photo by Vaclav Sedy)

Solar form for Amaliehaven, 1982-83 bronze, 190 x 580 x 30 cm Copenhagen, The Amalie Garden (Photo by Gianfranco Gorgoni)

and

Tivoli, Piazza Garibaldi (Photo by Nino Lo Duca)

Wing Beat: Homage to Boccioni, 1981-1984

bronze, 380 x 400 x 550 cm

Los Angeles, CA, Department of Water and Power General Office Bldg.

(Photo by Carlo Orsi)

Column of Large Plates, 1972-1975 bronze and steel, 13 x 2,20 x 2,20 m

Segrate, Milan, Mondadori Publishing Headquarters (Photo by Gianfranco Gorgoni)

The Tivoli Arch, 2007 bronze

stainless steel, 7 x 14 x 2 m

In 1995 he founded Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro, with the aim to create a place of study and discussion around the important themes and great figures of the contemporary avant-garde as well as acting as a real cultural centre, holding exhibitions, meetings, conferences, book presentations and concerts.

Located near the Darsena (Milan’s inland dock), adjacent to the Foundation’s archives and the artist’s studio, the Foundation has a rich permanent collection consisting in more than 50 works realized by Arnaldo Pomodoro since 1955, among which sculptures, drawings and projects, further to about thirty works donated since the early years of the Foundation’s activity by artists who participated in the exhibitions and by friends as a concrete demonstration of their will to participate and share the programs and purposes of the Foundation.

Large Disk, 1972 bronze, ø 450 cm

Milan, Piazza Meda (Photo by Giorgio Boschetti)

Two exhibitions have been organised by the Fondazione for 2015, relating to the initiatives linked to EXPO.

From 24 March to 17 July, the collective “Bread and Roses” curated by Marco Meneguzzo and from 22 September to 18 December, “Homage to Giovanni Carandente. Return to Spoleto 1962” curated by Luciano Caprile, in collaboration with Palazzo

Collicola Arti Visive Spoleto – Museo Carandente.

Papyrus for Darmstadt, 1990 bronze, cement and corten,

1st element 10 x 4 m

2nd element 4 x 4 m

3rd element 6 x 4 m Darmstadt, Posttechnisches Zentralamt (Photo

by Thomas Eicken)

Sphere within a sphere, 1991 bronze, ø 330 cm New York, United Nations Plaza

(Photo by Steve Williams)

The Pietrarubbia Group: The Foundation, The Use, The Relationship, 1975-1976 bronze, iron, fiberglass e marble, 280 x 530 x 360 cm

Mountainville, NY, Storm King Art Center (Photo by Jerry L. Thompson)

“I have always been fascinated by signs”, recounts the sculptor, “especially archaic ones. Writing also attracts me, from primitive signs in caves to the tablets of the Hittites and Sumerians. The marks that I carve, irregular or densely packed, into the artistic material — wedges, stabs, lines, rents — came to me initially from certain ancient civilizations. Very often it has been in fact a journey to a part of the planet where it is possible to see the vestiges of ancient civilizations or the symbols of a new grandeur—from the Yemen to Egypt, from Oman to Iran, that has served as a spur to his imagination: “In 1996, while visiting Yemen, I was stunned by the sight of the most elaborate columns anywhere in Arabia felix: the

columns of the Queen of Sheba. Truncated pilasters, not round, but rectangular. With graffiti eaten away by the light of the desert and the wind: arcane stories from forgotten history.”

A significant number of works are installed in public spaces and important museums in arabic countries. The sculpture Rotante primo sezionale n. 3 (19671975) has been recently unveiled, after its restoration, at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tehran.

Th Director said, “organization of such an event is a reflection of good relationships between Iranian and Italian artists, and we are honored that there is an artwork by Pomodoro at Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art.”

Large Sphere, 1966-1967 bronze, ø 350 cm Rome, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Piazzale della Farnesina

(Photo by Tommaso Lepera)

One of the most representative example of such integration is the cellar he created for the Lunelli Family at

the Castelbuono estate at Bevagna in Umbria, inaugurated in June 2013. The work, entitled Carapace due to the way it recalls the form of a turtle, has a strong symbolic meaning. Pomodoro has worked in cooperation

with Ermanno Casasco, (landscape designer) to create the harmonious relationship with the surrounding countryside (curated by Casasco).

Carapace won the Unesco prize “The Landscape Factory”.

Carapace, 2005-2012 dome in lamellar wood, wrapped in sheets copper, ø 30 mt and red fiberglass arrow, 18 mt Bevagna, The Tenuta Castelbuono Winery (Photo by Pietro Carrieri)

This is the Maestro Pomodoro thought about the Carapace: This project, represents a completely new experience for me: that of creating a work which is at the same time both architectural and sculptural. On the one hand the functional requirement of making and preserving wine and on the other, the urge of inventing a shape of high visual impact, to welcome people who go to visit the huge wine cellar and to taste the wine. I did not want my work to disrupt the gentle hilly landscape , where the vineyards reign supreme; on the contrary I wanted it to blend perfectly into the environment. I had the idea of a shape reminiscent of a tortoise, a symbol of stability and longevity which with its shell represents the union between land and sky. A sculptural element in the shape of a dart stuck in the ground highlights the work in the landscape.

It is an “arrow” fluttering and marking the horizon, not only to make sure the construction can be seen from afar but also to represent human activity and relationship of man to the earth.

Studio Arnaldo Pomodoro

Via Vigevano 5

20144 Milano

Tel: +39 02-58.10.41.31

Fax: +39 02-89.40.13.03

info@arnaldopomodoro.it

www.arnaldopomodoro.it

Carapace, Tenute Lunelli

Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro

Vicolo Lavandai, 2/a

20144 Milano

Tel: +39 02-890 753 94

Fax: +39-02 890 752 61

info@fondazionearnaldopomodoro.it www.fondazionearnaldopomodoro.it

Arnaldo Pomodoro and Giorgia Mauri

Claudia losi - artist

Lead, 2016

Thread, lead, pencil and watercolours; installation view, different size.

The skyline of some islands are covered by a net of lead drops: how do our eyes elaborate the vision, the perception of the observed landscape?

Photo: Andrea Rossetti

Courtesy: the artist and Monica De Cardenas Gallery, Milano_Zuoz_Lugano

Claudia Losi

by Giorgia Mauri

Claudia Losi (Italy, 1971)

After my degree in painting at the Academy of Fine Arts, Bologna, and in French Literature at the University of Foreign Languages and Literature, Bologna, she started taking part in exhibitions in Italy and abroad. She spent some years living abroad. In 1998 I had my diploma atin Visual Arts at Fondazione Ratti, Comi, with Hamish Fulton.

Artist in residence at Studio Orta-Les Moulins, Paris, France, at JCVA, Israel and at Art Omi International, New York, US.

Recent exhibitions include: Asking Shelter, Monica De Cardenas Gallery, Milan; (2017) How do I Imagine Being There?, Collezione Maramotti, Reggio Emilia; About Proximity, performance, in the occasionWeaving & We, Second Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art, Hangzhou, China; What My Shape Says, performance, commisioned by Marina Rinaldi,Teatro Arsenale, Milan; (2016).

Concha de Amor, performance, in occasion of Livorno in Contemporanea, Livorno; I can reach you (from one to many): Bianco Valente, Claudia Losi e Valerio Rocco Orlando, at Associazione Culturale dello Scompiglio, Lucca; Fashion as social Energy, at Palazzo Morando, Milan; (2015).

Menagerie, or Artwork Not About Love, Elaine L. Jacob Gallery, at Wayne State University, Detroit, USA; The Milky Way, for Pianoterra onlus, Galleria Lia Rumma, Naples; èdra, Connecting Landscapes, Reale Istituto Neerlandese, Rome; (2014).

Women for Life, together with Regina José Galindo, at La Maréchalérie, centre d’art contemporain-ENSA-V, Versailles; Autoritratti.

Iscrizioni del femminile nell’arte italiana contemporanea, MAMbo, Bologna; Biology of Proximity, Galleria Monica de Cardenas Gallery, Zuoz, Swiss; (2013).

The special project Altro da cose, Musei Civici, Modena; Corps Exquis, Claudia Losi _Antonio Marras, Palazzo Nicolosio Lomellino, Genova; (2012).

Claudia Losi

Les Funérailles de la Baleine, video show, Cinema Massimo, Turin; Les Funérailles de la Baleine, performance with Vinicio Capossela and installation, Via Farini-DOCVA, Milan; (2011).

Solo show at Monica De Cardenas, Milan; Les Funérailles de la Baleine, performance, Biella; Aware: Art Fashion Identity, Gsk Contemporary 2010, Royal Accademy of Arts, London; SI Sindrome Italiana, MAGASIN, Grenoble; (2010).

Qui e non altrove. Qui. a local communities project, ArtePOLLINO, Basilicata; (2009).

Solo shows at the Marino Marini Museum in Florence, Stenersen Museum of Oslo and Ikon Gallery in Birmingham; Group show at MAMBo Museum in

Bologna, at MAXXI in Rome (some of her works are in its permanent collection). In 2008, together with Hamish Fulton, she showed work at La Marrana Arte Ambientale in Monte Marcello-La Spezia; Transatlantic Flowerbed, project for the program of art for public spaces Nuovi Committenti, promoted by Fondation de France and Urban2, Mirafiori Nord, Turin; (2008).

STILL LIFE, Art, Ecology & the Politics of Change, Sharjah Biennial 8, United Arab Emirates; (2007).

www.claudialosi.com

losiclaudia@gmail.com

mobile:+393201545135

Untilted_animals, 2017 Satin silk fabric, digital printing, natural dyes. 135x250/400/650 cm (red), 135x300x450x600 cm (green) Installation view

The fabrics are printed with drawings of animals (from old printings) juxtaposed by resemblance, recalling the caves where thousands of years ago our ancestors drew their own cosmologies, populating the spaces with beings who shared their habitat.

Photo: Andrea Rossetti

Courtesy: the artist and Monica De Cardenas Gallery, Milano_Zuoz_Lugano

Asking Shelter II, 2016 bronze, silver 57 x 44 cm ø

A series of sculptures that represent archaic, essential huts constructed with rose branches cast in bronze, that have shapes of shelters existing since thousands of years in different areas of the planet - highly symbolic and narrative forms. They offer shelter and safety, but also oblige us to stay alert, they might also harbor danger.

My artistic quest is dedicated to the relationship between the human being and the nature and travelling and exploration as knowledge experiences.

Walking and experiencing an in-depth knowledge of sites are focal aspects of my research.

My interests encompass different disciplines, from natural science, such as ethnology, geology, to geography cartography literature, poetry.

I tends to engage in high-importance (effort) projects, evoking dilated rhythms of nature and short rhythms of human existence: from educational process to cognitive processes, to the transformations of lichen, glaciers, geologic maps, the micro and the macro, both based, after all, on the very same structure.

Untitled (roses), 2017 bronze, silver 112 x 26 cm

Photo: Andrea Rossetti

Courtesy: the artist and Monica De Cardenas Gallery, Milano_Zuoz_Lugano

My recurrent use of sewing has to be regarded as an attempt to transpose the slow times of nature and of relational processes, and as metaphors for the tangle of relationships, stories and different cultural sensibility and specificity. Hence my work blends, softly, ecological concerns and social considerations and the nature, source and food for thoughts, becomes a boost to start an awareness process with respect to our relationship with natural and social environment and with the rules underlying the same.

Since 1998 I have taken on a number of projects based on participation and relationship: projects that have turned into collective operations centred around objects acting as catalysts of energies, experiences, memories.

Untitled (roses and arm), 2017 bronze, silver 77 x 20 cm

Photo: Andrea Rossetti

Courtesy: the artist and Monica De Cardenas Gallery, Milano_Zuoz_Lugano

What my shape says, 2016

Performance

Starting from a question/invitation spread via webWhat story, sentence or word represents the idea that I have of my shape? - we actively involved hundreds of women in the creation of an artwork/story which took shape through a performance.

The answers received (1.230 answers from all over the world) were transcribed one by one in their original languages onto cotton strips, especially dyed in the colours of thirteen different skin tones, chosen from among all the possible shades. Four women tied the strips to a circular iron structure: hanging from the ceiling five metres up, revolving mechanically, maintaining the ribbons in constant ‘movement’.

Invited and supported by MARINA RINALDI, Milan Fashion Week 2016, Friday 26th February Milan, Teatro dell’Arsenale

Photos by Daniele signaroldi

Dialogo tondo, 2010

Eight chairs, sandblasted wood, cm 110 ø

Photo: Bianca Salvo

Courtesy: the artist and Monica De Cardenas Gallery, Milano_Zuoz_Lugano

Poli Arctici Constitutio, 2015

Silk, wool, embroidery 250 cm ø

The North Pole from Athanasius Kircher: Athanasii Kircheri E Soc. Jesu Mundus Subterraneus Amstelodami 1678; Amsterdam, ex officina Janssonio-Waesbergiana, 1678

Courtesy of the Maramotti Collection and the artist

Photo: Andrea Rossetti

of influence, 2017

Hahnemuhle

Do not Look_1, 2014 old printed book’s page, pencil, watercolor, cottonthread cm 21,2x29,3

Terre Non Emerse_Not Emerged Lands, 2001 Ball of yarn embroidered with silk thread 16 cm ø

Globe of the Earth on which the profiles of the continents border seas and oceans of silk thread. The stitches reproduce the direction of the marine currents.

Sphere

printing on

Photo, cotton threda, glass-balls 105 x 105 x 5,5 cm

Photo: Andrea Rossetti

Courtesy: the artist and Monica De Cardenas Gallery, Milano_Zuoz_Lugano

Photo: Andrea Rossetti Private Collection

Photo: Paolo Bellardo Private Collection

Thresholds, 2017

Carrara marble, laser and manual engraving, 83h x 2 x 40/16/11,5 cm and detail

BalenaProject 2004-2015

Les Funérailles de la baleine

Wool fabric, padding fiber, inflatable air chamber; 240 x 400 cm appx

It has been a long term project consisting in the creation of a lifesize fabric rorqual. The wool fabric is simply sewn, in the most faithful reproduction possible of the anatomical characteristics of this cetacean, the largest and the fastest in the Mediterranean Sea. As soon as it was completed the whale began a journey, a long itinerary through different places and situations. It has come to life in performances.

It has traveled around Italy and other countries that have hosted it (South America, UK, Norway). The conclusion of the project has materially transform this “woolen whale” object into many other objects… (see Les Funérailles de la Baleinehttps://vimeo.com/36434235) it is not a death but a transformation into other smaller stories that will go on to nourish still others

(Letter Jackets-2011/2015)

Moths etched on marble slabs, as fossils. The slab were the old thresholds of my house, left years ago.

Photo: Andrea Rossetti

Courtesy: the artist and Monica De Cardenas Gallery, Milano_Zuoz_Lugano

Photo: Dario Lasagni

Cose che sono cose, 2015

Aluminium, stone basin corroded by water, papier-maché, aniline; details Partially crushed and misshapen everyday objects, taken over by plant forms – recalling domestic life, of which however they have lost all memory – seem to gaze at the fossil findings

Dove il passo, 2015

Cotton ribbons, ink; different sizes

Where the step encompasses in a work in progress the manifold associations experienced in the course of a journey on foot, from Piacenza to Lucca. Walking is here interpreted as a cognitive act where landmarks are tracked down, assumed as such for their physical peculiarities or for the events, even remote, their bear trace of: spots of geographic-emotional density marked by perceptive experiences (color, time, distance, weariness) and by narrations from one’s own story or other voices gathered on the road.

Photo: Guido Mencari

Photo: Andrea Rossetti

Courtesy: the artist and Monica De Cardenas Gallery, Milano_Zuoz_ Lugano

Stefano Boccalini

“Words”

by Giorgia Mauri

STUDIO DABBENI

Corso Pestalozzi 1 6900 Lugano

Svizzera

Tel +41 91 923 29 80 info@studiodabbeni.ch www.studiodabbeni.ch www.stefanoboccalini.com

In Milan I met Stefano Boccalini, artist and professor, known in Italy and abroad for his body of work which is strongly characterised by a relation with word language and the social and anthropological implications it acquires in different contexts.

Giorgia Mauri - Where does your practice originate and how did it develop starting from the end of the 1980s, when your artistic career began and your relation to space was fundamental in the construction of your work, until nowadays with your last projects where you place word/verbal language and its meaning at the centre of your practice?

Stefano Boccalini - I started working closely to somebody I consider to be an essential figure within the artistic context of post-war Italy; since then, a design practice emerged that has taken me to where I am now. Gianni Colombo has been, besides a friend, a point of reference in the construction of my artistic path. “Space” as a set for experience was one of the central concerns in Colombo’s oeuvre, as it was in my early works too.

If at first my relation with space was a physical one, which developed through the confrontation with architecture and landscape, I later

“Europe 2014”, lithographic stones, lithographic ink, photo P. Di Bello, courtesy Studio Dabbeni, Lugano (CH), 2014

Stefano Boccalini

started to consider space through a more complex combination of factors, both social and anthropological. Space has become, for me, a place where one can activate processes of knowledge and exchange built on sharing, a place where to construct “belonging” starting from a “common” desire.

Today, with the transition from the Fordist factory to the linguistic factory, word language has transformed into an actual production tool.

To say means to create and through new technologies, which follow predominantly a linguistic model, words circulate and become value-capturing devices.

Words have thus become protagonists in my work, through the physicality with which I place them in a space they appear as proper communication devices, in a continuous dialogue with the environments that host them. These are moments of reflection on subjects

“DebtCredit” Opera winner of the Rotary Club Milano Brera award for sculpture at Miart, presented at the stand of Studio Dabbeni Lugano, Milan (IT) in 2013, two steel molds for bread cm 9x27x3 and 9x19x3 cm, photos P Di Bello, Rotary Club Milano Brera collection

“SchuldKredit”, two steel molds for bread, 9x27x3 cm each, courtesy Studio Dabbeni Lugano (CH), 2014

“Spread the Word”, pre-spaced letters in pvc, environmental measures, photos A. Maniscalco, courtesy Wurmkos Pharmacy, 2015

“PubblicaPrivata”, permanent work created for aperto_ art on the border in 2015, steel and iron, 670x100x20 cm, photo S.Serretta, courtesy Cultural District of Valle Camonica, Temù (IT) 2015

that concern everyone, starting from what we consider “common goods”.

I see word language as a visual moment too, through its physicality I attempt to attribute it a new meaning within a precise context, the economic one, which is changing according to rules that have nothing to do with a quest for people’s wellbeing, as it should be, but instead it aims towards the research of a profit that leads in the direction of progressively more evident inequalities. I believe it is important to move in a direction that will bring to the production of a symbolic (structure) suitable to face the challenge we are presented with.

The linguistic turn in economics and the social impact that derives from it thus became the “set” of my research in these past years.

G.M - The discussion you put forward on language is very interesting; if we focus on single works, could you tell us about the ones featured here?

S.B. – PubblicaPrivata is born out of a careful observation of the region of Val Camonica, its mountains and the river Oglio that crosses it from Ponte di Legno to Lake Iseo, with its hydroelectric plants and dams. But it also originates in listening to its inhabitants, those that wish to safeguard a good that should be public: water.

I built two large words: Pubblica and Privata, and inserted them in the riverbed. The materials I used to make the two needed to be the closest in resemblance but hold different characteristics. The choice fell on iron and steel, materials that when just polished appear similar, but which in contact with water react in different ways: iron tends to rust and wears out with the passing of time, steel does not get corroded by water and thus retains its original brilliance.

I chose steel to build the word “public” and iron for the word “private”, clearly a reference to water. Over time the work will transform and highlight, in an increasingly precise way, a crucial concept: water as a public good.

“Words, Normality”, aluminum wheels, earth, edible flowers, 45x215x20 cm, courtesy Lombardini22, Milan (IT), 2015

“Economics, Christian Marazzi” fusion 18K gold, 1x6,5x0,3 cm, photo P. Di Bello, Rolla collection, (CH), 2014

“A word about Latronico”, permanent work, composed of eight iron words, made for the city of Latronico, (IT) 2011, courtesy Association Vincenzo De Luca

Parole is a mobile installation made of four large words, built in aluminium and mounted on wheels, they turn into a form of “container” within which I have placed some soil. This element becomes a device waiting to be used (sowed): soil as a potential/possible moment of “creation” to which everyone can participate.

The words I have chosen are Normalità (normality), Accoglienza (hospitality), Dono (gift) and Entusiasmo (enthusiasm), simple words that are commonly used but too often emptied of their meaning.

With this installation I hoped to place the words at the centre (of the focus), “resignifying” and turning them into elements capable of creating connections.

DebtCredit In his essay “The Making of the Indebted Man” the sociologist and philosopher Maurizio Lazzarato demonstrates how the debtor-creditor relation is the fundamental social relationship at the base of contemporary society. Through the visualisation of Debt and Credit, which take up a typographic form, the two words, made of bread to be eaten, are put into production ready to be consumed.

To produce debt and credit in the form of bread and then to eat it can become a moment of reflection, since the debt-credit relation affects economy and all that derives from it: last but not least people’s purchasing power.

Una Parola Su Latronico I asked the inhabitants of Latronico to choose a word that could somehow represent the bond that exists between them and their village, words linked to their personal history and that of their families and the events that have contributed to building the history of this ancient hamlet. The intermediary between myself and the inhabitants was a panoramic/landscape postcard of Latronico which I had delivered to all in the village asking them to return it with the chosen word. Amongst all the words I received I chose eight, which were moulded in iron and have since become integral part of the ancient village’s landscape. Through “word” I have wished to bring the village’s identity to surface, constructing a lexicon that highlights the condition of a place and those inhabiting it.

“Europe 2014, Marque à pain”, 10 peces of cherrywood and 10 pieces in bread dough, various measures, photos MuCEM / Yves Inchierman, collection Museum MuCEM Marseille (FR), 2014

Affetti was born from a close friendship with Christian Marazzi, economist and writer, attentive observer of both the strategies put in place by financial capitalism through economic language as well as the social impact deriving from them.

I asked Christian to offer me a word that is important when he thinks of his work. Affects was his answer. I found this reference to a human dimension of economic theory so meaningful/powerful that I decided to make a gold cast and present it like it was a jewel. I wanted the viewer to find himself in front of something very precious and be aware of it.

Europa 2014 consists of a series of lithographic stones with words inked on them, written backwards and ready to be printed and multiplied on paper as they did in the old days. The work emerged from my desire to reverse words that in these past years of crisis have carried along with them a strong negative value/ significance, to a positive connotation: on the stone, speculation becomes generosity, precariousness becomes stability, recession growth, and the word crisis itself becomes enthusiasm, etc…

Europa 2014, Marque à Pain I have brought together

elements drawn from religious rituals of the past with words that the language of economics has launched in these years of crisis. I have tried to highlight how in contemporary financial strategies there exists a clear intention to be present as reference doctrine within society, with its rules and brutal punishments, in this case not dictated by an aspiration towards transcendence, but by a profit-driven will, which tends to exercise social control. And, like in religion, such control is expressed through dogmas.

Parole here the attention focuses on the reclamation of words that I consider fundamental for the rethinking of possible forms of cohabitation and development in a society where profit increasingly regulates social relations, and where what we consider to be “common goods” are progressively more targeted by those wishing to take advantage, starting from life itself.

Spread the Word originates in a series of workshops held for people with different levels of mental disabilities on the role of word language within economic language. Participants to the workshops were asked to associate a thought to words such as debt, credit, austerity, speculation, rigour, etc…

“Europe 2014, Marque à pain”, detail, of cherrywood, photos P. Di Bello, Museum collection MuCEM Marseille (FR), 2014

Taylor made

MADE IN ITALY

by Giorgia Mauri

We met Devis Palazzi and his wife Manuela Monti and discovered that they have a passion in common with us: the one for beauty and perfection. At Tutto Arabi, this passion is expressed in the love for Arabian horses. Devis Palazzi and his wife, on the other hand, translate this passion into the creation of unique jewellery, which stems from Palazzi’s goldsmith mastery and the unconditional love he shares with his wife for the perfection of nature. It was easy with this in mind to converse with them about aesthetics and introduce them to the world of the Arabian horse and its magnificence. They were immediately enraptured by the story of the ‘son of the wind’, the distinctive aesthetic traits of the Arabian horse and its ability to set the soul aflame with its own precious beauty, as much as the uniqueness and rarity of a masterfully crafted gemstone set in a unique piece of jewellery.

“A unique piece of jewellery is born from an intuition that becomes a work of art,” Devis Palazzi told us. “Those I create are unique and unrepeatable pieces, made to capture and guard secret emotions. They are all born from the search for beauty that gives rise to the design of a piece of jewellery and characterises its every nuance, from the first pencil stroke on the sheet to the final result. The colours and shapes of precious stones, corals and pearls play with the imagination with ever new combinations and volumes. The line represents the highest expression of artistic talent that does not allow replicas to give the jewel, once worn, the opportunity to express its intent: to give back to the eyes what I caught in that moment of wonder and amazement. Wearing a unique piece of jewellery means understanding its emotional value and internalising it to give art a dynamic in space and time, the ability to walk through the world. To make a piece of jewellery I look for its most precious detail that makes it unique, that small imperfection that holds all the value and emotion of its elements.”

There are basically three jewellery lines offered in the atelier today:

Unique, unrepeatable and extraordinary jewellery, like the ideas that inspire him and the stones he uses. Unique, personalised pieces, the result of research and love for colours, design, volumes, art, music and life. These jewellery pieces are born from a unique process. Because unique are the stones that are used and unique is the work of Devis Palazzi.

Always new inspirations, a combination of colours that are different every time, plays of volumes, spaces and shapes.

No jewel is identical to another because no idea is identical to another.

To look alike is a way of feeling close while remaining different. Homologation is the enemy of art. Imagining, designing and realising a different detail each time, even a hidden one, gives soul and personality to the jewel and allows the artist to respect the precious materials and his work.

Every piece of jewellery in the collections of the (im) Perfect line maintains small details that make it unique: subtle differences inspired by nature and necessary to give value to each individual element and, above all, to the uniqueness of the wearer. Researching a detail is a way to test our curiosity, our desire to discover the truth of everything and to be admired in the observation of what it is... not what it appears. With this vision, we better understand the threads and key concepts of the (im)Perfect collections.

A piece of jewellery to tell a story, preserve it and pass it on. Desires, passions and goals can become wearable art. Behind a Maecenas there is always the exceptionality of a synergy between the Master Goldsmith and the customer who together create the jewel. Shapes, plays of light and colours may arise from a family jewel, or from a new project that gives voice to something absolutely unique. It is this work of complicity with the artist that writes the story of our jewellery, draws its contours and makes it a unique experience. A pure expression of the inner world designed by four hands, the work that leads to the creation of a unique Maecenas jewel is dedicated to those who want more than a piece of jewellery, to those who recognise in stones, pearls and corals the representation of the best part of themselves.

“Just thinking about Maecenas jewellery,” Palazzi continues,“the idea of a unique piece of jewellery linked to the Arabian horse is developing, also following the conversation with Tutto Arabi and the excitement experienced in the Arabian horse events we have participated in so far, such as the 2022 Italian Championship of which we were also sponsors. The beauty of the horses I was able to admire so struck and captivated me that I could do nothing but let myself be carried away by all this beauty and begin to reflect on the possibility of bringing it into the jewellery I use to create, the stones and metals I use in my work. It would certainly be an enthralling adventure to design a piece of jewellery dedicated to the Arabian thoroughbred horse, one that could encapsulate all its morphological characteristics and its power, a piece of jewellery that would immediately evoke a burning passion, a sensation of strength, freedom, magnificence, that one could feel on the skin at first glance and that would immediately become desirable. Just as happens when you have the good fortune to observe a champion Arabian thoroughbred from close up, breathing in its essence, made of grace and power. I have already worked with projects made to order by customers who wanted a piece of jewellery depicting

an animal, either a favourite animal or an animal of their own. I fully understand the feeling of a client who wishes to wear a precious object such as a piece of jewellery that is able to immediately convey to him the bond with his animal, the love he feels, and that provokes in him that primordial emotion of human-animal bond, intense and at the same time elusive. To take on a subject like the Arabian horse would be an exciting challenge full of possibilities. My work is not just material, it is not just craftsmanship, although craftsmanship is a fundamental aspect of the service we offer because it determines the aesthetic traits and refinement of the jewellery we make. A fundamental part of my job, however, is to get in deep contact with the customer who asks me to give shape to an emotion. My job is to capture that emotion, that particular light in the eyes during a storytelling, and turn it into an object, a precious piece of jewellery, that evokes it every time, at every glance. Love, passion, bonds, memories, desires, fulfilments.”

A jewel can tell all this, it can become the silent narration of what cannot be expressed in words. In the skilful hands of master goldsmith Devis Palazzi gold and precious stones can take shape and life and can become messengers of what only an emotion can convey.

The passion for art and the quest for beauty inspire every work by Palazzi. The Master Goldsmith’s work is the expression that finds shape through his long experience made of study and great creative sensitivity. Nature is always the protagonist in every nuance: unrepeatable materials, colours and sounds become part of every project where the precious element is a tribute to what is pure and intangible. Devis Palazzi’s artistic vision is to immortalise the imperfect wonder of emotions and translate them into jewellery. As in a dance, the sketches come alive, are coloured and become computerised representations, then sculpted resins and finally, like the natural motion of the waves of the sea at Portoverde, the place where the Devis Palazzi Atelier is located, marvellous jewellery ready to be worn.

Devis Palazzi Atelier

Portoverde di Misano Adriatico (Rimini) - Italy

Via Lungo Darsena 22

WhatsApp: +39 339 1303622

info@devispalazzi.it

Phone: +39 0541 640571

www.devispalazzi.it

Devis Palazzi

“Unique, customized pieces that are the result of research and love of color, design, shape, art, music and life.”

luxury leisure liFesTyle

Flairs For everyday luxury.

sartoria lazzarin, detail - Photo by emiliano di Mauro

Sartoria Lazzarin

“How we turn your dreams into tailormade suit.”

by Giorgia Mauri, photos by emiliano di Mauro

aldo lazzarin, the founder, after he graduated at garment making school accademia snob in rovigo, moved, at the beginning of fifties, to Milan and there began to work for sartoria Comini.

in 1954 he opened his own firm and started his own history. We met his son, Ermanno Lazzarin, today’s owner of the tailor’s shop, sartoria lazzarin, and of eral55 shop, both in Corso Como’s area, in Milan.

“attending my father’s tailor’s shop and observing my father at work, i got my passion for style and textile, above all for the unique pieces, thought and taylormade following the client’s desire.

The sartorial evolution and the opening of eral55 shop in Corso Como, Milan, which i did in 1976, have been attained with a lot of time and experience which let us become the unique and recognaizable benchmark for trendmakers all over.r.

in the tailor’s shop, deep passion and curiosity drove us to finalize some treatments on tissues or suits and jackets. directly on tailored suits, washing and dyeing are made with a fine method: many proofs and a deep knowledge let us have a stable size and help us to prevent any damages like tissue shrinking or seams breaking.

only the deep experience makes this goal possible: realizing unique taylormade suits in an excellent way.

The achievement of these garments, suits and man-jackets, is entirely handmade. We have the chance to use stuff from our quality stock which are lost by now or that come from last century’s ancient looms. Today’s high-tech looms cut time in the productive process, taking from the charm of the slow-productions.

ermanno lazzarin - owner

“One in a million decorations on tissues inside our jackets: our clients love this type of bespoke artworks to wear.”

realizing a tailor-made suit requires about 30 hours, keeping out dyeing and finissage steps. Customising the inside liner is also possible, with embroideries or paintings made by artists. during our longlasting story, we have worked stimulating relationships up with many creative artists, who can decorate our tissues inspired by the client’s suggestion.

one in a million decorations on tissues inside our jackets: our clients love this type of bespoke artworks to wear. our clients put themselves into our hands and let us drive them through our “tissues menus”, choosing solutions close to their feeling; they do this because we can turn their dreams into garments that talk about them, and this is why our clothes are unique sometimes we realize also tissues on the client’s request. Colour combinations are often the result of different inspiration or are the outcome of a restyle of mixture from the past or from elsewhere.

Painting on jacket made by artists

stuff from ancient looms

We have restyled some old polo players’ jackets (jackets worn during the early years of the twentieth century) using new colours, drawing on their original sport spirit and turning it into today’s creative power. For years we are working also with a market far away from our home, in geographical and cultural terms, in Tokyo, Japan. We periodically invite our customers at private shows of our last creations. That’s perfect to raise orders from clients who ask about bespoke made in italy, enriched with brand new details. With this market, which has distintictive features, we have made a creative relationship that inspires us continuosly.

everything we do in the tailor’s shop really means “luxury”: creations made by artists who are completely at the client’s disposal to propose them exclusive and personal garments.

We have been working for years about the concept of luxury, as outcome of long-time knowledge, handcrafted high quality and inspiration from the street as an ideas’ lab.”

sartoria lazzarin

Sartoria Lazzarin via Milazzo. 6

Milano italy

eralcinquantacinque@yahoo.it www.eral55.com

so far, which is in your opinion the most important feature that next generations must have?

“Passion, that turns our job into a hobby, in the next future will be always more valued. I’m sure I’ll win the bet.”