Collaboration with Marsotto Lab 2019

In partnership with the Italian marble manufacturer Marsotto LAB, ECAL Master of Advanced Studies in Design for Luxury & Craftsmanship students present a series of home accessories devised during a workshop with French designer Pierre Charpin.
The Italian marble manufacturer that entrusted the project development to ECAL Master of Advanced Studies in Design for Luxury and Craftsmanship with a clock collection for last year’s Milan Design Week, chose to repeat the collaboration to create home accessories for this year’s edition.

Collaboration (2019) by Nathan Gramage, Charalampos Potzidis, Beatrice Barbieri, Lorenzo Giovannoni, Nabhadr Apiwanopas, An Taniguchi, Bhimanshu Pandel, Somchai Thumthatanukul

Marsotto LAB, the new laboratory of the family business founded in 2018 for which the students had worked before, gives talented young aspiring designers an opportunity to present simple yet functional objects while learning about the specific properties of marble, namely its weight, hardness and aesthetics.

A tour of the factory in the outskirts of Verona provided the students with a unique opportunity to discover the Marsotto manufacturing plant as well as the leading-edge machines that enable them to optimise production while maintaining the level of handcrafted quality to which the Marsotto brand has been equating for six generations now.

After their trip, the students were able to develop their ideas alongside Pierre Charpin, the French designer who shared with them his enthusiasm for perfect and well-balanced shapes.

The result is an original and surprising collection of kitchenware (a champagne bucket, containers, trays and other accessories) vases and incense burners, all these objects form a fresh yet useful range that aims to complement the marble furniture collections created by renowned designers for Marsotto edizioni, a brand that has been internationally successful for a number of years.

Somchai Thumtthatanakul Image: ECAL/Younès Klouche

Nathan Gramage Image: ECAL/Younès Klouche

Nathan Gramage Image: ECAL/Younès Klouche

Beatrice Barbieri Image: ECAL/Younès Klouche

1/4

Nabhar Apiwanopas Image: ECAL/Younès Klouche

An Taniguchi Image: ECAL/Younès Klouche

Lorenzo Giovannoni Image: ECAL/Younès Klouche

1/3

Charalampos Potzidis Image: ECAL/Younès Klouche

Charalampos Potzidis Image: ECAL/Younès Klouche

Bhimanshu Pandel Image: ECAL/Younès Klouche

1/3

Image: ECAL/Younès Klouche

Image: ECAL/Younès Klouche

1/2

Projets similaires

See more projects

Watches and Wonders Geneva 2025 ECAL x Ceramaret

MAS DESIGN FOR LUXURY & CRAFTSMANSHIP

Watches and Wonders Geneva 2025 ECAL x Ceramaret

At the invitation of Watches and Wonders Geneva, ECAL will present a brand-new project in partnership with Ceramaret, a leading Swiss company in the manufacture and high-precision machining of technical ceramics. To mark the occasion, a selection of five jewellery and bracelet designs will be on display at the LAB, a venue dedicated to innovation and design. Thanks to this first collaboration with the Neuchâtel-based manufacturer, students in MAS Design for Luxury and Craftsmanship got to discover a state-of-the-art machine park. Renowned for developing and producing components for the luxury watchmaking industry, Ceramaret’s teams contributed their expertise to this ambitious research. Combining innovation with creativity, the project brings together the know-how of specialised engineers in materials science and the boundless inventiveness of an up-and-coming generation of designers. Following the presentation of the students’ 15 concepts, five designs were selected and prototyped in technical ceramics, using additive technologies – a 3D printing process that provides the possibility to create intricate, previously unimaginable shapes. This collection, including bracelets inspired by fine watchmaking and innovative jewellery designs, draws its inspiration as much from the beauty of organic forms as from the complexity of systems derived from engineering.

Esther Alcade – Arrel

MAS DESIGN FOR LUXURY & CRAFTSMANSHIP

Esther Alcade – Arrel

by Esther Alcade

Every year, 300 million shoes are discarded, with manufacturing producing 313 million tons of CO2 due to petroleum-derived materials. The Arrel project aims to extend the life of sports shoes by repurposing soles after 1000 km of use. Based in Mallorca, known for its basket weaving and shoemaking traditions, Arrel preserves artisanal knowledge and uses natural materials like palm fibers and esparto grass, also Arrel's new soles use biomaterials to reduce environmental impact. The project preserves Mallorca's cultural heritage by creating more durable shoes and reducing the ecological footprint.

Min Jun Choi – Inlight

MAS DESIGN FOR LUXURY & CRAFTSMANSHIP

Min Jun Choi – Inlight

by Min Jun Choi

Often seen as waste, intestines are an underseen material that holds the potential of a delicate light diffuser. Pig intestines are initially gelatinous and flexible but once layered and dried, they achieve a leather-like hardness and texture. The material can be freely shaped depending on where it's dried. Utilizing these properties, I wrapped pig intestines around a structure and let them dry. After removing the mold, I connected the hardened pig intestines to create modular lighting designs. This modular design offers the advantage of extending in length by increasing the number of modules, adapting to the size of the space in which it is used.

Helena Choi – Flat to surface

MAS DESIGN FOR LUXURY & CRAFTSMANSHIP

Helena Choi – Flat to surface

by Helena Choi

The Flat to Surface collection features a lamp, stool, and tray crafted from a single pattern using origami techniques. These items are designed to form their own structures through folding, requiring only simple stitches or knots to maintain their shapes. Depending on the product, various types of leather are used, chosen for their transparency and flexibility.

Sacha Dufour – Conversation artificielle

MAS DESIGN FOR LUXURY & CRAFTSMANSHIP

Sacha Dufour – Conversation artificielle

by Sacha Dufour

Artificial Conversation is a fluid language - an exploration of liquid forms as they interact with the body. This work merges human and technology to propose a new process for creating jewelry. Using photography combined with artificial intelligence, I compose images destined to become jewelry. Experimenting with different techniques, crossing, and superimposing them until an idea is reached. I search for the form that embodies the liquid, sculpting artificial images in the same way I compose photographs. It's a game between a body, a liquid and an intelligence that needs to be guided.

Related courses

See all courses

MAS DESIGN FOR LUXURY & CRAFTSMANSHIP