There’s No Need for Tablecloths or Backsplashes With Zdora

Designer and art director Serena Confalonieri is known for her identifying aesthetic which is all together graphic, colorful, and emotional. In one of her latest projects, she brings her design sense to Zdora, a project and installation created in collaboration with Very Simple Kitchen and La Pietra Compattata. Zdora, the dialectal word for “sfogline” in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy where Very Simple Kitchen and La Pietra Compattata are based, refers to the Italian women who prepare the dough by hand to make fresh pasta for Sunday lunch, typically enjoyed on a traditional checkered tablecloth. That textile has now been translated to the kitchen walls, table, and seating tops.

The surfaces by La Pietra Compattata are made of exclusively natural raw materials, including porphyry, quartz, and granite, that have been recovered from processed stones, ground into a mixture, and compacted into a hard material by pressing. Confalonieri curated perfect color palettes for the project, ones that match the color variations proposed by Very Simple Kitchen.

On the tables, the pattern imitates the look of the inspirational tablecloth by falling over the edges on the short sides. The chairs simply showcase the pattern on its surface tops. For the kitchen, the pattern continues upwards to create a humble backsplash or a full wall mural. The resulting effect of all three elements in the same vignette is a modern interpretation of the colorful, Italian-inspired kitchen.

Photos by Serena Eller Vainicher.

The Volée Installation Reminds Us That Nature Predates Man

Among Woodland, the art and design exhibition at Teatro dei Ragazzi in Turin, was Serena Confalonieri’s site-specific installation, Volée. The project, which was on display during the Nitto ATP Finals tennis tournament, was created for LEA (Lead Exclusive Area), an a space for welcoming international guests at the event. The concept – that nature pre-exists the work of man on Earth – was simple enough, but the execution appears to be anything but. The ultimate goal of the project was to offer visitors the chance to experience a return to nature. A place where humans are free from the effects of civilization and can live a life guided by instincts.

Volée brought this concept to life in LEA’s foyer space. The floral composition, created using both man-made and natural materials, is an explosion of color and texture. Confalonieri used polyurethane panels for the reception, benches, and tables, all milled with a vertical motif reminiscent of classic columns. Meanwhile, dried plants and flowers sprout from these elements in shades of lilac, purple, orange, yellow, and white. This vegetation takes over the polyurethane-built architecture of the installation, creating a sense of being somewhere between fiction and reality.

In its final form, Confalonieri’s Volée was full of lightness and grace. its soft, curved shapes alive and harmonious – just like the movements of the tennis players on the court.

To learn more visit serenaconfalonieri.com.

Photography by Serene Eller.