Provasi at Fuorisalone: ancient skills build contemporary design

Since the 1970s, your brand has been acclaimed as an emblem of Italian style and the elegance and exclusivity of your products has been internationally recognised. What aspects of your corporate identity did you highlight during this edition of Fuorisalone 2023?

The “exclusivity” we stand for can be found in the combinations of various fine materials we employed. We spent almost a year studying, researching and combining various materials, from the woods to the textiles, all of which are designed and produced for us. Above all, what distinguishes us our choice of finishing: for this too we took a year to go and research and try out new finishes, and then apply them to our products.

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Your products stand out for their classic design but also for your ability to go beyond conventional design schemes, playing with innovative shapes and materials. In fact, the very title of your exhibition focuses the concept of playing. What do you mean by that and how can attendees expect to “play” with your products?

This year we wanted to center our exhibition around the idea of playing and of games. You can see this in the design of our Pantheon table, which features a chessboard with hand-finished chess pieces, that are there for attendees to play with.

The idea of chess is a constant we kept through the whole store set-up: it is echoed in the modular columns, that can be adapted to any type of space and surface, or in the “Akiba” totems, which feature modular elements that can be bought separately and assembled creatively. You can turn them, overlap them, play with their volume.
As far as the textiles are concerned – such as the ones used for the headboard of the bed behind us – we chose once again to combine various elements and materials, playing both with geometric shapes and with wavy forms.

In addition to this, we have also collaborated with Dos on augmented reality, so that attebdees can use a QR code to view the object directly in a space of their choice: at home, in Piazza Duomo or wherever they want. For this we have also launched a contest for the most beautiful and refined image.

Your work focuses on the production of unique, handcrafted pieces. Is it hard to find and select young people to be master craftsmen?

Unfortunately, yes. Alas, nowadays young people are struggling and they are rarely drawn to the craftsmanship of years or centuries past. All in all, we succeed and have succeeded over the years in guaranteeing a generational change, but we are actually finding it increasingly hard to find young workers for some specific jobs, such as cutting inlays or gilding.
Unfortunately machines are replacing people, but the difference between the end result of a machine-produced piece and one that has been crafted by a human is quite stark. In fact, the public recognises us for our craftsmanship and the uniqueness of each piece produced, because no two pieces are ever the same.

What motivated your choice of venue? Was it the location at the heart of Milan’s “quadrilatero” or the proximity of elegant historic buildings?

Last year we chose in Via Palermo, where we opted for a more urban set-up in a more urban space, it was a loft that had been refitted. But this year I wanted to come back to the city centre and to the fashion district, where the best examples of Milan’s luxury and elegance are to be found. I believe this to be the most suitable place for us.

Was this your first time working with our agency and specifically with our event & pop-up manager Stefania? How would you rate our services?

Very well, she helped and supported us throughout the event. Before deciding on this venue we visited several others: she offered us a variety of options. In the end, my decision was driven by the need to return to the heart of the fashion district, which meant this was the only possible venue for us.
We will definitely be working with you in the future!

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