The syntax of making

Fornasetti is taking part in Milan Design Week 2023 to present The syntax of making, three new collections of furniture and accessories for the home characterised by new shapes and three different decorations that express the Atelier's unique savoir-faire.

Furniture is complemented by furnishing accessories and porcelain, enabling just a few small elements to transform any corner of the home into a microcosm of personality and elegance.

The three collections correspond to three different decorations from the historic archive. Giro di conchiglie is distinguished by the three-dimensionality of the sea-themed images, arising from the play of light of silver, applied manually in leaves, which creates a striking trompe l'oeil effect. The blue-coloured background has a special water-streaking effect, hand-painted by the Atelier's painters. Giardino Settecentesco is characterised by fantastic landscapes and buildings in neoclassical style that coexist in a world where nature merges with architecture, and is available in three different colour variants, in shades of blue, green and yellow. Finally, the Musciarabia con rose decoration celebrates the meticulous geometry and black lines typical of Fornasetti, intersecting with the contours of the new creations. The pink of the flowers, painstakingly painted by hand, softens the contrasting interplay between black and white.

With The syntax of making, Fornasetti pays homage to its heritage and, through an installation created especially for the occasion in the Milan store, allows visitors to discover some of the principal techniques involved in the creation of the Atelier's objects. One room is filled with images from the historic archive, the source that sparks the entire creative process, and another with silk-screen printing frames evoking the special printing technique used to apply Fornasetti's black lines. Finally, a third room offers the singular chance to admire a live painting performance by the Atelier's painters, as they intently apply colours to some of the new creations, meticulously following models from the archive.

It is a unique opportunity to observe the beauty of high craftsmanship at close quarters, seeing the path that each object takes, involving expert hands and ideas born of imagination.

"The value of making things by hand has acquired a deep meaning for me over time. It goes beyond technique and the desire to preserve a firm and coherent identity. It is a choice and a way of being today, in our modern world, an ethical line that puts people and what they make at the centre of everything. Craftsmanship is a conscious way of working, fuelled by a dynamic creativity, which embodies the extraordinary capacity to continuously combine abstract knowledge and experience: what I like to call 'thinking with the hands'." Barnaba Fornasetti, Fornasetti Artistic Director.