Fabrica: One and Only

One and Only is a new collection designed by Fabrica’s team for the online platform L’ArcoBaleno: nine collectable pieces standing as a free expression of each Fabrica designer.

A mirror with an optical illusion, a tridimensional Natura morta, a bread-made wall applique inspired to the traditions of Sardinia, these are only a few of the nine objects – all unique pieces – of One and Only, a new collection designed by Fabrica’s internationally selected young designers for L’ArcoBaleno.

Entirely Made in Europe by skilled artisans, the collection challenges traditional online design retail by proposing collectable pieces standing as a free expression of each Fabrica designer who conveys his own style, vision and personality through the object.

When talking about objects, the online experience is closely related to images presenting the item’s characteristics on our digital devices. That’s why each piece comes with the print of the artistic interpretation of the designer’s drawing. The customer not only gets a product, but also the idea at the foundation of it, thus creating a dialogue between 2D and 3D realities.

One and Only — Giorgia Zanellato, Natura Morta with Parrot

Mirrors can serve a greater purpose than to see your reflection; they can reveal your idea of yourself. Narcissus is a mirror with an optical illusion hand-painted by Tomomi Maezawa. The pattern is a reference to the lines of the facial muscles. The illusion distorts your reflection, warping your vision of the uniqueness of your face.

Ombre is a minimal side table made of burnt wood. Through research and experimentation, Ferréol Babin developed his own unique approach to the traditional Japanese finishing technique. The natural finishing process of burning enhances the uniqueness and the richness of the wood itself, revealing its veins and its structure.

Designed by Catarina Carreiras, Maybe is a sculpture embedded with positive beliefs. Inspired by su coccoi, typical bread sculptures made by hand in Sardegna, Italy, each element of the sculpture references different aspects of life, like birds for peace, flowers for growth, and roses for love. Maybe is a fusion of the optimism of the U.S.A. combined with the artisanal traditions of Italy. Like in Sardegna, where sculptures like these are given as gifts to wish good fortune, Maybe is a wall appliqué that will welcome good luck into your home.

Under the Carpet is a hand-woven piece that simultaneously references and challenges arraiolos, a Portuguese carpet weaving technique. With Under the Carpet Mariana Fernandes re-imagines the traditionally large carpet as a smaller wall hanging. The graphic pattern denies the expected flat surface of a rug, exploring the material of wool and revealing the process of carpet weaving.

Attaches Moi, by Sam Baron, is an object existing somewhere between functional, daily action and decorative French ornament. In the material of wrought iron, raw meets elegance.

Centrum fugere, designed by Fdederico Floriani, is a mysterious magic box. It doesn’t look like a container, but it is one. The seam is hidden from the ignorant eye, camouflaged by the natural pattern of the Guatemalan green marble. The key to unlock the box is revealed only to the owner who can simultaneously display and hide secrets in plain sight.

Designed by Pascal Hien, Division is a polished marble cylinder made to be broken, a collision of control and chaos. Striking the middle with a steel chisel breaks the cylinder into two pieces, forming two vases. The act of destruction reveals the dual qualities of marble, to be both sharp and smooth.

Natura morta, Italian for still life, was the first way painters represented objects. In Natura Morta with Parrot, Giorgia Zanellato reverses the tradition by translating a still life painting back into an object. The levels of the ceramic composition symbolize the transitions of life, from the depth of the sea, where a crab makes his home, to the height of the sky, dominated by a parrot in flight. Fruits fill the space between, representing the terrain of the earth.

The distinctiveness of Makeshift Tray, designed by Dean Brown, is the bringing together of the artisanal and the industrial, juxtaposing metal folded sheet and hand carved wood. Its use-fullness is somewhere between a tray and a box for holding most things and to be comfortably held.