The Riva family was green before green was hip. Long known for their quality, solid woodwork, the Rivas realized that their final product was only as good as their materials. Their material needed to be protected as a resource. All of their wood has been approved by the Forest Stewardship Council, an internationally recognized non-governmental organization dedicated to the control of woodland products. The certification of the council guarantees that the material is from a well-managed forest.
In honor of their 90th Anniversary, Riva 1920 invited designers to work with ‘Le Briccole di Venezia.’ The briccole of Venice are the wooden oak poles sunk into the seabed to provide navigation information to boats along the lagoon. These posts last an average of 5-10 years, after which they are replaced. During that time the posts are exposed to microorganisms, the sea, and marine flora and fauna. Riva 1920 has obtained these briccole and is re-claiming them, producing a series of sculptures, bookcases, tables, stools, and art. The finished pieces place emphasis on the history of change of the material: wear and tear, wood worms, all are still visible in the transformative nature of the designs. The wood is unsealed- it will continue to change, stain and patina as it used and ages in its new environment.
Slice of Briccole _Slice of Venezia _ by Starck
RIVA 1920 in collaboration with the creator PHILIPPE STARCK wishes to do something practical for the City of Venice.
RIVA 1920 and Philippe Starck are supporting the Fondazione MaterDomini
(MaterDomini Foundation) Centro Tutela del Bambino Onlus
(Centre for the Protection of Children).
For the entire duration of the exhibition “TRA LE BRICCOLE DI VENEZIA”, 26 August to 26 September, all funds from the sale of the set of table mats designed by Philippe Starck and produced by RIVA 1920 will support the Fondazione MaterDomini – Centro Tutela del Bambino.
The price of each 6-piece set of table mats is 60,00 euros (including V.A.T.)
Fondazione Materdomini – its aims and its actions:
Since 1993 the Fondazione MaterDomini has been organising not-for-profit activities in support of disadvantaged children and families, concentrating particularly on cases of mistreatment and sexual abuse against minors.
The Foundation seeks to help families in situations of great difficulty and distress, and sometimes involves taking victims of mistreatment, abuse or serious neglect into care. We are convinced that it is poverty and marginalisation that prevent these families from bringing up their children as they have a right to.
The Foundation’s operations are organised in three interconnected specialist sections: Educational Communities for under-16s, of which there are two; the Clinical Section and the Centre for Research and Training. The Communities take on the role of “Temporary Home”, offering the child a welcoming and caring environment where confidence and trust in adults can be rebuilt.
This work benefits from the psychotherapeutic support of the Clinical Section and the residual resources of the families themselves. The Sunflower Community (“I Girasoli”) is home to 6 adolescent girls, while the Daisy Community ( “Le Margherite”) is home to 8 children under the age of 12. These children are taken into the Foundation’s homes having first been separated from their families by Court Order arising from neglect, mistreatment or sexual abuse. Finally, it is the aim of the Centre for Research and Training to promote a culture of child protection and strengthening of the family.
An exhibition showing the work of 29 important figures in the world of design, of art and of fashion, animated by ecological concerns connected with the re-use of an object that is an iconic part of the Venetian scene: the Briccole, the oak mooring posts that rise out of the lagoon. Eroded by the tides, the posts are given new life in the projects of these designers and transformed into objects of art by Riva 1920.
The Exhibition
Design, art, handwork, ecology, re-use of wood: these are the elements Riva 1920 would like to show through the display “Tra le Briccole di Venezia” (“Among the posts in Venice”) at the Arsenale North in Venice, held during “Passion 4 Clean Ideas” exhibition, in occasion of the 90th anniversary of Company RIVA 1920.
Following the experience, belonging to the designing culture of the company, with the Kauri wood, come to light after more than 30.000 years, research keeps on with the project “Briccole Venezia”: designing new shapes and functions, without undermining natural balances.
Contemporary architecture and design therefore support sustainability. The challenge of Riva 1920 is to combine the yearly trend to use natural and ecologic elements with modernity and research for beauty at the highest level.
The so called “briccole”, the posts in chestnut oak on which Venice is built, are used for docking gondolas and as beacons. They are at least ten meters (32.8 feet) high and once driven into the lagoon, they have an average life not longer than 5-10 years. Their section affected by tide rise and fall becomes the natural home for microorganisms as well as sea flora and fauna, but once corroded, they are completely replaced.
The idea is simple: to reuse these posts once their “life” in the lagoon is over.
This is where this initiative originates from. On one side to recover these “briccole”, the high chestnut oak dolphins, you can still clearly see along the lagoon rivers; on the other side the work of those designers invited to reinterpret this extraordinary material, full of history, that water has turned into real “natural sculptures” during the years.
The 29 big names that “sign” the items of the display “Tra le briccole di Venezia” are a real pride as well as a further confirmation of the unique character of this project:
Antonio Citterio (booth), Terry Dwan (console), Michele De Lucchi (bookshelf), Mario Botta (small table), Matteo Thun (table), Pininfarina (model of Cisitalia 2020, antique car), Luca Scacchetti (table), Helidon Xhixha (table), Aldo Cibic (table), Enzo Mari (sculpture), Erasmo Figini (lamp), Paola Navone (installation), Karim Rashid (small sofa), David Chipperfield (bookshelf), Pierluigi Cerri (table), Marc Sadler (totem), Franco and Matteo Origoni (stool), Riccardo Arbizzoni (bank), Elio Fiorucci (painting on wood with female legs), Luisa Castiglioni (shelf), Angela Missoni (hammock), Claudio Bellini (console), Thomas Herzog (small-tables), Philippe Starck (wooden plates), Aldo Spinelli (table), Pinuccio Sciola (totem), Davide e Maurizio Riva (stool).
Venice, the dolphins, their life into water: a way to mark the passing of time, the memory, but mainly the future. To go over and beyond contemporary trends, looking for brand new shapes in a sort of conscious ready-made, taking design to slow down and finally consider environmental issues, linked to the reuse of natural materials. Wood is alive and its life is renewed thanks to designers and their ideas.
Exhibition at Selfridges
London09 Sep - 09 Oct
Originally launched at the Milan art fair, designers involved in Briccole di Venezia include David Chippenfield and Paolo Pininfarina whose pieces will be exhibited at Selfridges London over the coming month.
Briccole are the posts made out of chestnut oak that arise from out of the Venetian lagoon, used traditionally for docking gondolas.
Affected by tide rise and fall, Briccole become the natural home for microorganisms as well as sea flora and fauna and once corroded are completely replaced. The idea behind the exhibition is to reuse these posts once their life in the lagoon is over and transform them into pieces of furniture.
Visit Selfridges London, Fourth Floor, between 9 September and 9 October to view Briccole di Venezia.
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