Pretziada unveils Mimo Studio’s furniture that emulates the Sardinian countryside

Pretziada, a creative practice that is based on the island of Sardinia, in Italy, aims to retain and promote the local heritage using literature, documentation and design. Apart from conserving the traditions from the yesteryear, the studio also tries to keep discussions about the island relevant for contemporary times, using words, photography, and design objects inspired by relics from the region and crafted by local artisans. Pretziada is founded by California-born Kyre Chenven and Milan-born Ivano Atzori. While Chenven is a former set designer, Atzori previously explored the landscapes of graffiti and contemporary art. Ushering their learnings from previous experiences, Chenven and Atzori, under the helm of Pretziada, work as cultural translators in the region. While they work as writers, photographers and designers of their own accord, the two creatives also collaborate with various international artists and designers to welcome a multidisciplinary and collaborative approach to their work.

In an attempt to welcome new design identities, in tandem with the craft and inspiration of Sardinia, Pretziada invited Mimo Studio to the island for a residency. When asked about the residency, Chenven shares, “Pretziada is a collaborative project, with a very egalitarian approach. We host the designers in residency and take them throughout the island (archaeological sites, sheepfolds, museums, and places in nature) so that they can first absorb the culture and heritage. They must interact in every way possible with the island and its inhabitants. After this period, we ask them to come up with a concept of something that struck them while here - and that object is not just a product of their ingenuity but is also a sort of homage to the island, its people and its history. That is why we also put the names of the artisans on every piece - because it is a true collaboration between the designers and the person who will then produce the object.”

The selection process for Pretziada’s residencies is simple. The two creatives invite designers whose work they respect and who exude a certain confidence and self-awareness for a versatile opportunity. On other occasions, Pretziada has been approached by particular designers for collaborations and possible residencies. In the case of Mimo Studio, however, the residency came after a long drawn period during which one of the founders of the studio, Margaux Padrutt, had, for years, kept correspondence and expressed an interest in pursuing an internship under Pretziada. This opportunity came to fruition, instead, as a three-month residency, after Padrutt came together with Raphaëlle Lhuillier to start Mimo Studio, an architecture and design practice.

“We were immediately struck by their sensibility and how quickly they were able to immerse themselves in the Sardinian landscape. We worked side by side with them for many months (they ended up staying for a year!) on many different projects, including renovating a rural property we bought a few years ago. Eventually, we challenged them to create a collection for us - and Fùrca was born,” shares Chenven. For the collection, Padrutt and Lhuillier worked with the artisan Pierpaolo Mandis, who built each piece and moderated the properties of the finish. Speaking about the residency in Sardinia, Mimo Studio shares, “This territory directly had an influence on our work, and the rhythm of the village began to take a place in our creative process: walking through the land, learning the history, making agricultural activities.”

The Fùrca collection, comprising three pieces, emulates the designers’ lived experience on the island. Its design is inspired by the natural extrusions of the stone monoliths that dot the forested area in Sardinia, as well as the geometric forms found in historic agricultural tools, hence serving as a meld of the archaic and the new, the raw and the refined. Fùrca, a Sardinian term, translates to wooden tools used in the countryside. These tools also make a presence in the design of each piece, wherein the leg of each piece of furniture bears a comb-like detail. Since Sardinia is a heavily agricultural place, assigning it the moniker and symbolism of an agricultural tool was only appropriate. The forms of the three pieces also reference unique vernacular objects and architecture in the area.

“To start creating and designing a collection with Pretziada, it was necessary for us to understand this territory. Maybe that was our first challenge. With a complex structure, it seemed difficult, -almost- impossible to read this place through a single medium. So, for several weeks we approached it with cartography, photography, video, walking, drawing, observation and of course encounters. These different approaches allowed us to navigate through the landscape and to constitute an iconography,” Lhuillier and Padrutt of Mimo Studio share. This process allowed the two creatives to define their subject and design the forms of their collection. Lhuillier and Padrutt chose to focus on the pitchfork—an agricultural tool with a long handle, composed of thin and parallel teeth used to move hay—as a symbolic reference in their design.

The three pieces that make up the Fùrca collection include a coffee table, a console and a bookshelf. The coffee table, although chiselled in a common form, bears several small details that reference the multifarious traditions of Sardinia. For instance, much like various Sardinian furniture pieces that bear zoomorphic details (which serve the purpose of a talisman, for protection), the coffee table, too, bears a shape that is evocative of the human face and body, when viewed from above. The leg of the coffee table, on the other hand, bears a small carved cavity that mimics the indentations found along the paths to sacred spaces on the island—places to leave offerings of water or food or precious gifts.

The console, sleeker and taller, follows the design language established by the Fùrca coffee table. Its form is inspired by the large boulders found around the rural countryside of Sardinia. “These rocky spaces often contain hidden traces of the prehistoric Nuragic peoples, whose interventions in transforming natural landscapes into places of devotion are not always immediately apparent,” Mimo Studio shares. The verticality of the Fùrca console, along with its subtle trough, references these living sculptures that often hide ancient relics in between them.

Lastly, the Fùrca bookshelf, designed to be fixed onto the wall, evokes the heavy stones that make up prehistoric sculptures and the native agricultural tools from which this collection takes its name. The hanging configuration of the bookshelf is inspired by su piccastrexu, which are hanging shelves used in rural kitchens for storing plates and other utensils.

All three pieces are made using French or Italian chestnut wood. The different appendages of the furniture pieces were machine-cut and then hand-finished and sculpted. Drawing attention to the artisans who worked to build the pieces, Chenven shares, “The Mandis workshop consists of Pierpaolo and his brother-in-law Carlo, who also work under the guidance of Carlino, Pierpaolo's 79-year-old father who lives next door. They are very masterful, and use traditional tools (no CNC, for example).” Since each piece is crafted using natural materials and with great care, they can last multiple lifetimes.

Sharing the essence of the Fùrca collection, Chenven shares, “What we love about Fùrca is that it is really representative of our vision of contemporary ruralism. Like the best pieces of our collection, it is very linked to Sardinian iconography, while also expressing the taste and creativity of its designers. In the end, our collection is made to be used and loved, not only appreciated as an art piece, but part of an active and engaged home.”

This experience in Sardinia helped Mimo Studio experience the rurality of the region, and grasp its complexity and diversity. Lhuillier and Padrutt’s Fùrca collection, hence, serves as the representation of imparting care and preservation to vernacular symbols, albeit originally and contemporaneously.