Designer Cristina Celestino is leading the revival of terracotta at Fornace Brioni
The appointment of Cristina Celestino at Fornace Brioni has created an exciting chapter in its century-old terracotta history
Those 1970s favourites, such as cork and rattan have, as with fashion accessories, been creeping back into our homes in recent years. Terracotta, too, is experiencing a renaissance and at the forefront, driving the resurrection, is the 100-year-old Italian brand Fornace Brioni. It recently joined forces with leading designer Cristina Celestino in its quest to revitalise this durable ancient material of baked clay and water. The Friuli-born architect and designer founded her studio Attico Design in 2010, and since ‘The Happy Room’ collaboration with Fendi at Design Miami in 2016, she’s become the go-to creative tsar for many Italian brands, including Rubelli and Besana Carpet Lab.
Like many artisanal Italian companies, Fornace Brioni is family run, with fourth generation master craftsmen, brothers Alessio and Alberto Brioni, at the helm. As well as wanting to uphold family traditions and maintain their strong links with the past – Fornace Brioni is a leader in the renovation of historic flooring – the entrepreneurial duo were also determined to innovate and explore new terrains. In 2016, Alberto, who manages the company’s production, spied Celestino’s work for ceramic specialists Botteganove, particularly her feather-inspired ‘Plumage’ wall tiles that scooped the Salone del Mobile’s prestigious Special Jury Prize. He believed her optimistic and decorative signature style could unlock terracotta’s potential, which, combined with the manufacturing capability of the family company, would open new doors for the brand.
‘When the brothers asked me to collaborate, I had experience working with ceramics but not with terracotta,’ recalls Celestino. ‘My immediate goal was to elevate its strongest feature: a rustic and handcrafted
finish, while still pushing the material beyond its normal context. I felt that bringing a contemporary design language could revitalise terracotta. The artisanal realm allowed me to experiment more freely.’ The Brioni brothers soon entrusted Celestino with the role of creative director at the famed Italian forge, a position that encompasses not just product design but the entire brand identity.
Guided by Celestino and driven by the desire to wade into uncharted waters, the Brioni brothers relaunched their signature terracotta during 2017’s Salone del Mobile, presenting Celestino’s debut ‘Giardino all’Italiana’ flooring and tiles collection, which referenced the geometry and graphics of Renaissance gardens. The collaboration showcased Celestino’s visionary designs and the Brioni brothers’ extraordinary craftsmanship, and sparked two more collections over the following two years – which won the admiration of industry experts and the press alike.
‘Giardino delle Delizie’, launched in 2018, elaborated on the study of decorative garden elements, looking to fountains and caves for inspiration in outlining the forms of ‘Rocaille’, an award-winning mosaic composed of tightly knit seashells available in three different sizes. The following year, the design partnership picked up momentum, with the next collection exploring Italian Baroque references in ‘Scenografica’.
Placing the product within a narrative seems to be integral to the creative language of Celestino, who invited us to visit the historic headquarters of the Fornace where, under her creative direction, a 20th-century building was renovated to include both the company’s offices and an expansive
Clockwise from left Cristina Celestino at work; designs include the natural ‘Acanti’ (middle right) and pill-shaped ‘Delizie’ (bottom right); examples in the showroom; wooden kiln moulds; and traditional square glazed tiles Opposite Fornace Brioni’s designs are also available in a more muted palette
showroom. It’s here, with her impeccable style, that the Friulian creative crafts one-of-a-kind flooring – the decorative heart and soul of her collaboration with Brioni – in an environment that highlights their beauty and the contemporary ways they can be used. Playing with a palette of dusty colours across walls and custom furnishings, Celestino employs cooler tones at the entrance, where floors in grey terracotta slats run towards baby-blue walls, linking through to the warmer shades that dominate throughout three exhibition halls. Among the rich hues of dove-grey, ochre, earth and aubergine, are a succession of ‘Tivoli’, ‘Bibiena’ and ‘Capriccio’ floor tiles designed by Celestino, their sinuous forms and hypnotic geometries alternating between the warm colours of traditional Lombard terracotta – multicolored, pink, mocha, and white – for a surprisingly scenographic effect.
‘I established a close bond with the Brioni brothers and we can talk about anything,’ she says. ‘They trusted me early on and followed all my recommendations, even if my approach was entirely new in respect to their standard modus operandi.’ It’s this intimate relationship between designer and maker that demonstrates the potential for success of Italian craftsmanship, where decisions are made and production chains are managed directly by the designer alongside the craftsmen. Long may it thrive. fornacebrioni.it