SALONE DEL MOBILE 2023:
GRUPPO SAVIOLA, CRA-CARLO RATTI ASSOCIATI AND ITALO ROTA
PRESENT “WOOD YOU BELIEVE?”
DIGITAL PRINTING AND CIRCULAR ECONOMY FOR THE WORLD OF BESPOKE DESIGN
Wood You Believe? transforms four tons of post-consumer wooden objects into an experimental space to reach circularity goals. The pavilion also features an immersive room with ecological panels that leverage digital printing to advance the work of architects and interior designers.
April 6th, 2023
Coinciding with its 60th anniversary, Gruppo Saviola participates in the Salone del Mobile for the first time with an installation created in partnership with international design and innovation office CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati and architect Italo Rota. Titled Wood You Believe?, its facade is composed of four tons of discarded objects to showcase the full process of transformation of wood waste. The project also features an immersive room highlighting the potential of digital printing in realizing impactful and sustainable bespoke designs. The project will be exhibited at Fiera Milano (Pavilion 10, C04) between April 18 and 23, 2023.
Gruppo Saviola was ahead of its time when it started producing ecological panels from recycled wood in the 1990s. Its decades-long endeavor culminates in the installation at Salone del Mobile 2023 that imagines future scenarios in interior design.
Wood You Believe? is a cubical structure in which each façade features a set of modular claddings, above which scrapped wooden desks, chairs, pallets, fruit crates, and other wooden objects are stacked together. Recreating what one would see in a wood recycling facility, these three-dimensional collages serve as a reminder of the colossal amount of waste produced by the furniture industry. By reintegrating everyday objects into our living spaces, the design complies with the principles of the Circular Economy to stretch their longevity and functionality beyond their intended life cycles.
“Our industrial production line has become a benchmark for design through its advanced technology and quality. The ecological panels are highly versatile, encompassing 70,000 different patterns and textures,” Alessandro Saviola, President of Gruppo Saviola, said. “At the core of our products is a sense of commitment to sustainability. The use of post-consumer wood eliminates the need of cutting down trees – ten thousand of them have been saved every day thanks to that.”
“The use-and-dispose consumption pattern is one of the main underlying causes of the environmental problems we are facing now,” says Carlo Ratti, founding partner of CRA and director of MIT Senseable City Lab. “Wood You Believe? taps into an enormous pool of resources that has always been available to us. With the support of digital technologies, what was made redundant becomes something to treasure.”
The interior space of the pavilion accentuates Saviola’s use of advanced fabrication technologies in the production of customized panels. Passing through the portal, visitors are transported into an immersive space constructed out of more than one hundred panels from the brand’s trademarked “pannello ecologico” technology. Made of fully recycled wood, these panels are digitally treated to display a wide range of textured finishes that complement different design typologies. Using artificial intelligence tools, CRA and Rota generated an abstract landscape that highlights the product’s design potential.
“Our collaboration with Gruppo Saviola shows that design aspires to reduce waste and is simultaneously inspired by it,” says Rota. “The catalyst behind the monumental pavilion facade is a desire to salvage nature through the use of advanced artificial devices.”
SALÓN DEL MÓVIL 2023:
GRUPPO SAVIOLA, CRA-CARLO RATTI ASSOCIATI E ITALO ROTA
PRESENTE “¿MADERA QUE CREES?”
IMPRESIÓN DIGITAL Y ECONOMÍA CIRCULAR PARA EL MUNDO DEL DISEÑO A MEDIDA
Madera que crees? transforma cuatro toneladas de objetos de madera post-consumo en un espacio experimental para alcanzar objetivos de circularidad. El pabellón también cuenta con una sala inmersiva con paneles ecológicos que aprovechan la impresión digital para avanzar en el trabajo de arquitectos y diseñadores de interiores.
6 de abril de 2023
Coincidiendo con su 60 aniversario, el Gruppo Saviola participa por primera vez en el Salone del Mobile con una instalación creada en colaboración con la oficina internacional de diseño e innovación CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati y el arquitecto Italo Rota. Titulada Wood You Believe?, su fachada está compuesta por cuatro toneladas de objetos desechados para mostrar todo el proceso de transformación de los residuos de madera. El proyecto también cuenta con una sala inmersiva que destaca el potencial de la impresión digital para realizar diseños a medida impactantes y sostenibles. El proyecto se exhibirá en Fiera Milano (Pabellón 10, C04) entre el 18 y el 23 de abril de 2023.
Gruppo Saviola se adelantó a su tiempo cuando comenzó a producir paneles ecológicos a partir de madera reciclada en la década de 1990. Su esfuerzo de décadas culmina con la instalación en Salone del Mobile 2023 que imagina escenarios futuros en diseño de interiores.
Madera que crees? es una estructura cúbica en la que cada fachada presenta un conjunto de revestimientos modulares, sobre los cuales se apilan escritorios, sillas, paletas, cajas de frutas y otros objetos de madera desechados. Recreando lo que uno vería en una instalación de reciclaje de madera, estos collages tridimensionales sirven como un recordatorio de la colosal cantidad de desechos producidos por la industria del mueble. Al reintegrar objetos cotidianos en nuestros espacios vitales, el diseño cumple con los principios de la economía circular para extender su longevidad y funcionalidad más allá de sus ciclos de vida previstos.
“Nuestra línea de producción industrial se ha convertido en un referente de diseño por su avanzada tecnología y calidad. Los paneles ecológicos son muy versátiles y abarcan 70.000 patrones y texturas diferentes”, dijo Alessandro Saviola, presidente de Gruppo Saviola. “En el centro de nuestros productos hay un sentido de compromiso con la sustentabilidad. El uso de madera post-consumo elimina la necesidad de talar árboles; diez mil de ellos se han salvado todos los días gracias a eso”.
“El patrón de consumo de usar y desechar es una de las principales causas subyacentes de los problemas ambientales que enfrentamos ahora”, dice Carlo Ratti, socio fundador de CRA y director de MIT Senseable City Lab. “¿Madera crees? aprovecha una enorme reserva de recursos que siempre ha estado disponible para nosotros. Con el apoyo de las tecnologías digitales, lo que se hizo redundante se convierte en algo para atesorar”.
El espacio interior del pabellón acentúa el uso de Saviola de tecnologías de fabricación avanzadas en la producción de paneles personalizados. Al pasar por el portal, los visitantes son transportados a un espacio inmersivo construido con más de cien paneles de la tecnología "pannello ecologico" de marca registrada de la marca. Hechos de madera totalmente reciclada, estos paneles se tratan digitalmente para mostrar una amplia gama de acabados texturizados que complementan diferentes tipologías de diseño. Utilizando herramientas de inteligencia artificial, CRA y Rota generaron un paisaje abstracto que destaca el potencial de diseño del producto.
“Nuestra colaboración con Gruppo Saviola demuestra que el diseño aspira a reducir los residuos y al mismo tiempo se inspira en ellos”, dice Rota. “El catalizador detrás de la fachada del pabellón monumental es el deseo de salvar la naturaleza mediante el uso de dispositivos artificiales avanzados”.
Press contacts
GRUPPO SAVIOLA
Valentina Bolis – Head of Communication
valentina.bolis@saviolaholding.com
+39 0375 787264 / +39 335 1949523
CRA-CARLO RATTI ASSOCIATI
Daniele Belleri and Vincent Leung - International Press Office
pr@carloratti.com
+39 011 19694270
Notes to Editors
Wood You Believe? is built by CRA Make, the design and construction unit of CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati. The studio has contributed to various projects centered on the reduction and recycling of waste materials. These include Feel the Peel, developed for energy company Eni in 2019, which made 3D-printed compostable cups out of orange peel. For the Italian Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, co-designed by CRA and Italo Rota with Matteo Gatto and F&M Ingegneria, the team created a façade of ropes made out of two million recycled plastic bottles. In addition, CRA is also building the Mutti Canteen for the eponymous tomato brand, composed in part of damaged tomatoes discarded in the canning process.
CREDITS
Wood You Believe?
A project by CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati and Italo Rota for Gruppo Saviola
CRA team: Carlo Ratti, Jelena Krco, Gary di Silvio, Pasquale Milieri, Gianluca Zimbardi
CRA Make team: Mykola Murashko (CTO), Sara Zampieron, Marco Guarany, Mohamed Yasser Hariss
Graphic design: Studio FM Milano
Location: C04, Pavilion 10, Salone del Mobile, Fiera Milano
Date: 18-23 April 2023
ABOUT GRUPPO SAVIOLA
Gruppo Saviola is the Eco-Ethical Company, founded by Mauro Saviola in 1963, with headquarters in Viadana (Mantua), Italy. It was the first company in the world to design and manufacture the 100% recycled-wood ecological panel, a panel created only with waste wood (post-consumer), recovered from collection centers and landfill. The Group is composed by four Business Units: Saviola, Sadepan, Composad and Saviolife. The first Business Unit is Saviola that includes both the aspects related to the collection of post-consumer wood (Ecolegno network), and the production of ecological panel 100% recycled wood. The ecological panel represents an excellence on the market: it serves the supply chain of wood furniture and can meet objectives of sustainability, Italian style, design thanks to product research. Gruppo Saviola has 2000 employees, 15 plants in Italy and abroad and a collection network of post-consumer wood in Europe of 26 Ecolegno centres.
ABOUT CRA-CARLO RATTI ASSOCIATI
CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati is an international design and innovation practice based in Turin, Italy, and New York City. Drawing on Carlo Ratti’s research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the office is currently involved in many projects across the globe, embracing every scale of intervention – from furniture to urban planning. Among recent projects are the Italian Pavilion at Expo Dubai 2020, biophilic skyscraper CapitaSpring in Singapore, the urban curatorship of Manifesta 14 Prishtina biennial, the redesign of the Agnelli Foundation HQ in Turin, and the master plan for Milan Innovation District (MIND). CRA is the only design firm whose works have been featured three times in TIME Magazine’s “Best Inventions of the Year” list – respectively with the Digital Water Pavilion, the Copenhagen Wheel, and Scribit. In the last years, the office has been involved in the launch of Makr Shakr, a startup producing the world’s first robotic bar system, and Scribit, the write&erase robot.
ABOUT ITALO ROTA BUILDING OFFICE
Italo Rota Building Office is an international architectural office founded by Italo Rota and based in Milano, Italy. With over thirty years of constant and advanced multidisciplinary research, IRBO develops innovative projects where humanistic beauty and sustainability are integrated in fields that extend to contemporary art and robotics. Aiming at the priority of achieving new living systems for the city of the “extreme present”, IRBO applies the most advanced technologies collaborating with labs, design firms and international universities. The office counts on the balance between art and science in its design research, creating a poetic manifestation that sustains the creation of projects with a new notion of beauty, a notion that according to Gardner “is the capacity of generating interest by a memorable form and an attitude of evoking further explorations.”