Surfacedesign, Inc.：美国景观建筑设计公司 Surfacedesign 将在米兰设计周 Alcova Milano 期间首次推出其首个户外家具系列，该设计周是米兰年度家具和设计展示活动的一部分。该家具系列名为“新地质学”（New Geologies），包括七个艺术作品，全部由石头和铝制成。石材取自意大利阿尔卑斯山当地，经过最小程度的改动，反映出该系列与作为米兰背景的雄伟景观之间的深刻联系。该系列包括花园长凳、花盆和桌子，将摆放在巴加蒂-瓦尔塞基别墅（Villa Bagatti Valsecchi）外，成为别墅历史建筑的现代陪衬。

Surfacedesign, Inc.:  San Francisco-based landscape architecture firm Surfacedesign will debut its first collection of outdoor furnishings during Alcova Milano as part of Milan Design Week, Milan’s annual showcase of furniture and design. Titled “New Geologies,” the collection comprises a series of seven pieces, all made of stone and aluminum. The stone, sourced locally from the Italian Alps, is minimally altered, reflecting the collection’s deep connection with the majestic landscape that serves as a backdrop to Milan. The collection—including garden benches, planters, and tables—will be arranged outside Villa Bagatti Valsecchi, a contemporary foil to the villa’s historic architecture.

Surfacedesign 合伙人 Roderick Wyllie 表示：“我们的工作始于地面，即一个地方的地质情况。这些石头是由首席设计师 Damaso Mayer 从意大利阿尔卑斯山脚下的一个小山谷中手工挑选出来的，该山谷位于巴加蒂-瓦尔塞基别墅以北约 100 公里处。​该系列使用的天然巨石都是从田野或河床中发现和收集的，而不是从采石场开采的。这些石块通常被当地业内人士称为“trovanti”，可以是变质岩、花岗岩和沉积岩的混合体。虽然“trovanti”出现在同一地区，但它们的起源和成分可能是独一无二的，彼此间存在很大差异。

The collection emerges from Surfacedesign’s fundamental approach: “Our work begins with the ground, the geology of a place,” says Surfacedesign partner Roderick Wyllie. The stones were hand-selected by lead designer Damaso Mayer from a small valley at the foot of the Italian Alps about 100 km North of Villa Bagatti Valsecchi. The collection uses natural boulders that are found and collected from fields or riverbeds rather than extracted from a quarry. These pieces, often referred to as ‘trovanti’ by locals in the industry, can be a mix of metamorphic rock, granite, and sedimentary rock. Although ‘trovanti’ are found in the same region, their origin and composition can be unique and significantly different from each other.

与经过数千年形成的天然石材合作，使设计过程成为一次适应性练习。梅尔解释说：“我们没有按照预先确定的设计手工雕刻石头，而是选择特定的巨石并确定切割位置，由此形成的精确平面与石块底部原始的地质表现形成鲜明对比。​”

Working with the natural stones that have been shaped over thousands of years made the design process an exercise in adaptation. “Instead of hand-carving the stone to match a predefined design, we selected specific boulders and determined where to cut precise planes that contrast with the raw geologic expression on the underside,” explains Mayer.

在此过程中，Surfacedesign 景观团队与 Chiavenna 附近的当地制造商萨科天然石材公司（Sacco Natural Stone）进行了合作。为了突出石材的原始纹理 ，设计师将其与高度工程化的铝材搭配使用。Mayer 表示：“通过将古老的现成材料与高度工业化的材料并置，我们创造出的物品既不是对手工艺的忧郁颂歌，也不是反叛的当代宣言。这些材料通过它们的成分和质地体现了历史和地点，在本作品中则表达了当地地质和当代材料技术。”

Surfacedesign worked with Sacco Natural Stone, a local fabricator near Chiavenna, during this process. To highlight the raw, textured stone, the designers pair it with a highly engineered one, aluminum. Mayer says, “By juxtaposing an ancient material in its found form with a highly engineered one, we create an object that is neither a melancholic ode to craft nor a rebellious contemporary statement. The materials speak to history and place through their composition and textures, in this case to local geology and contemporary material technology.”

设计师们的灵感来自意大利花园设计中叙事元素的悠久传统——从博马尔佐的花园到兰特别墅的花园。Wyllie 指出：“我们被这些花园中富有表现力的石头褶皱和特征所吸引，并希望探索漫步花园如何通过发现意想不到的形式、形象、纹理和令人惊讶的相邻关系来发掘情感体验。”

The designers were inspired by the long tradition of narrative elements in Italian garden design—from the gardens of Bomarzo to those of Villa Lante. “We were drawn to the expressive stone follies and features in these gardens, and wanted to explore how walking through a garden can unearth emotional experiences through the discovery of unexpected forms, figures, textures, and surprising adjacencies,” notes Wyllie.

秉承 Surfacedesign 的设计理念，设计师们的工作重点是找到一种方法，将这些体验植根于对原材料最基本形式的赞美之中。在“新地质学”系列中，石头被切割成一个拉丝铝底座，既轻盈又坚固。​利用缺口和重力，创造出似乎漂浮在地面上的巨石作品，让人不禁思考什么是轻、什么是重，什么是脚踏实地的。

Wyllie 表示：“我们的实践始终以测试和挑战自我为基础，为场地和花园的意义等基本问题寻找新的解决方案。” Surfacedesign 负责人 Michal Kapitulnik 补充道：“这个项目让我们有时间集中精力，在场地陈设的尺度上融入一些基本的体验。通过近乎朴素的处理方式，我们正在探索场地与物体、材料与景观之间的新对话。”

True to Surfacedesign’s practice, the designers’ focus was on finding a way to root these experiences in a celebration of the raw material in its most elemental form. In the New Geologies collection, the stones are notched into a brushed aluminum base that is both diaphanous and substantial. The structural capabilities of notching and gravity are harnessed to create monolithic pieces that appear to float above the ground, making one question what is light, what is heavy, and what is grounded.

“Our practice is always informed by testing and challenging ourselves to find new solutions to the essential questions of site and the meaning of a garden,” says Wyllie. Surfacedesign principal Michal Kapitulnik adds, “This project has allowed us time to concentrate on some of the fundamental experiences we design at the scale of site furnishings. Through an almost austere treatment, we are exploring new dialogues between site and object, material and landscape.”

“新地质学”将在巴加蒂-瓦尔塞基别墅的主花园展出，游客可以在参观展览、欣赏别墅与远处的群山时在此探索和逗留。

“New Geologies” will be located in the main garden at Villa Bagatti Valsecchi. Visitors will explore and linger as they take in the exhibition, the villa, and the mountains beyond.

项目名称：New Geologies​

项目地点：意大利 米兰

设计公司：Surfacedesign, Inc.​

​展出时间：2024年4月15-21日

Project Name: New Geology

Project location: Milan, Italy

Design Company: Surfacedesign, Inc

Exhibition time: April 15-21, 2024

“ 设计通过近乎朴素的处理方式，探索场地与物体、材料与景观之间的新对话。”