STILL NOW. The Dinner, Fferrone ultramarine banquet – All photo by ©Luca Rotondo.
Design – Felicia Ferrone, founder and creative director of American glassware brand Fferrone set an ultramarine banquet at Villa Mirabello, a 15th-century Milanese villa never before open during the design week. Titled STILL NOW – The Dinner, the installation merges past and present, taking inspiration from Renaissance banquets, still-life paintings of the 1600s, and contemporary art references.
- RELATED STORIES: Read more about Milan Design Week 2023 on Archipanic.
The table set is entirely tinged in a deep ultramarine hue. “The choice of color came from my childhood memories: a blue ring from my grandmother, a blue glass bowl she received as a wedding gift, now over 100 years old, and the blue lights on airport fields.” Felicia Ferrone told Archipanic. “I was always drawn to the color but couldn’t find a way to use it before now. There is nothing quite like the blu oltremare – it radiates energy from within.”
The monochromatic effect transcends time and distills each object down to the pure essence of its form. Such choice “invites us to look at objects differently, through a narrative of beauty and form.” Adds Felicia Ferrone.
Fferrone glassware emerges from the monochromatic landscape with its contemporary design nodding to both traditional and futuristic styles. “Each design seeks to challenge archetypes and subvert expectations of use.”
The Revolution collection seems to defy gravity, suggesting a new measure of use when turned upside down. The Boyd Collection is inspired by brutalist architecture, a common thread that runs throughout the complete repertoire of designs. “I seek to continually push the boundaries of innovative and artisanal techniques and wonder of form which transforms each piece into a work of art for everyday use.”
To compose the ultramarine banquet, Ferrone searched objects from the early part of the 20th century in flea markets and secondhand shops to capture what she calls Neo-Grannysm, “a term I coined, indicating an exploration of memory, form, and revalorization to emphasize how good design is a value that transcends obsolescence and our throwaway culture.”
“Neo-Grannysm has nothing to do with traditionalism or the preservation of bygones. Neo-Grannyism is the unequivocal beauty of good design, perfectly proportioned and unadorned, the essence of pure form that endures throughout time.”
All photos by ©Luca Rotondo, courtesy of Fferrone.
