This article is part of our Design special report previewing Milan Design Week.
At Alcova, an annual Milan Design Week exhibition that celebrates the unconventional, an aptly named San Francisco studio named Surfacedesign is showing tables and other furniture pieces made from boulders. There is no end to the movable feast of materials that can be turned into tables, just as there is no end to the things you can put on them. The seemingly infinite options are further amplified by an urge to give new life to old, overlooked or discarded stuff.
Bold Boulders to Elevate the Outdoors
Surfacedesign in San Francisco creates landscape architecture for homes, parks and wineries. According to Roderick Wyllie, a founding partner, the company is inspired by historic Italian gardens like the grotto-punctuated Villa Lante in central Italy and the Etruscan Pyramid of Bomarzo, an ancient rock altar in a forest.
This affinity is one reason Surfacedesign is introducing its new outdoor furniture at the Villa Bagatti Valsecchi, a glamorous residence in Varedo, north of Milan, that has taken many aesthetic turns since it emerged in the 17th century.
“The pieces nestle within the historic garden like follies to be discovered and enjoyed by people strolling through the grounds,” Mr. Wyllie said.
The collection, which incorporates rocks and is called New Geologies, is part of Alcova, an annual show that this year is held at not one but two time-machine properties. The 80 exhibitors will be distributed between Villa Bagatti Valescchi and the nearby Italian modernist Villa Borsani, which dates from the 1940s.
