Italian designer uses remnants of engineered stone to produce table tops e.g. in simple clear lines
When engineered stone flooded the market, everyone thought that the new material with its seemingly endless color palate would change the landscape of built-in kitchens. But by now it has become clear that customers seek moderate colors or natural stone emulation in engineered stone.
Franco Eccel takes on the fight with strong colors. He designs household items made entirely of Hi-Macs or Corian in which engineered stone plays a major role.
Eccel’s collection of side tables by the name of „Tzero“ is conceived to reclaim building off-all. Eccel first drafts a design or pattern which he then composes using the available colors. He uses an adhesive which leaves joints clearly visible and which makes up part of the overall picture.
The pieces are hand-crafted and produced in limited editions. The table-legs are made of wood and steel or painted black. Various sizes are available. Hi-Macs Engineered Stone by LG Hausys Company is the material of choice. The tables weigh 6.2 and 7 kg, respectively.
Made of Hi-Macs and Corian are the rings of the collection „A/zero“ also hand-made by Franco Eccel. Striking are the bright colors made possible by these engineered stones. The weight is 2-3 g.
Corian is the material of choice for the „Inspilla“ collection of jewelry.
The leather bags dubbed „B/zerobag“ have clips made of corian. The bags themselves are hand made in Italy and weigh 170 g including the engineered stone clip.
Franco Eccel first worked as an interior decorator in the natural-stone capital Verona and moved to Milan with his studio in 2002, where he specialized in the fashion industry-target-group and designed showrooms, offices and stores for famous brand names in Italy and the Far East. The distinguishing factor of his design is clarity of lines keeping in mind the importance of sustainability.
His works were exhibited in the Fuorisalmone (!) in the Ventura Design District during the Milan Design Week.
Renderings/Fotos: Franco Eccel Lab
(21.06.2017, USA: 06.21.2017)
