Imperfection is beautiful: Raw finish
03.2022
Raw is a revolutionary finish that aims at a stone cut that is not smooth, but rough. Let's explore the birth of raw finish and its unique features
Raw finish: the imperfection of high-end design
When we talk about ruggedness we tend not to think about something that conveys beauty, but rather a harsh aesthetic quality. Indeed, the mind envisions something undefined, coarse, unpleasant to the touch and sight. In our endless pursuit of thinking outside the box, together with Piero Lissoni, we wondered how we could subvert this cliché and create a design aesthetic that was beautiful, precisely because of its ruggedness.
What started out as a curiosity, soon after became a reality: we created a finish that we called Raw. Let’s explore the origin of its history, and some projects in which this revolutionary finish was used.
Raw, a rough cut against the impossible
We know that perfection does not interest us. Our aim for perfection is about the final result, the indefinable ambition to always obtain the best in everything we do, however, in the material world, we are not interested in perfection: too smooth, too clean, too distant, too impervious to complexities and challenges. On the contrary, we are drawn to things that can tell us a compelling story, evoke feelings, share their identity, all elements made up of unique and distinctive traits.
The birth of Raw stems from one of our many intuitions rooted in our philosophical approach: we tend to think of worked stone as a product that comes after a specific, and often massive, polishing process and that in essence, must be smooth. With Piero Lissoni we instead thought, “what if we try to proceed with a treatment as if we were working with wood? What if we tried, in essence, to enhance the rough cut of the stone, obtaining a “carved” effect similar to that obtained with wood?” The result surprised us beyond all expectations: the stone responded with a visual characteristic never seen before that creating a nuanced play of light and shadow.
Raw: technical characteristics and main projects
Imperfect yet intensly rich. Like all our finishes, Raw also boasts technical characteristics that allow it to be flexible and ready to adapt to almost any need. Raw is available in four options, namely Bianco Carrara, Crema d’Orcia Select, Pietra d’Avola and Silk Georgette®. Raw is also perfectly functional in practically every environment, both external and internal, and suitable enough for damp areas. Available both in mixed lengths and in fixed sizes, Raw works exceptionally well with light. In order to give full force to the aesthetic strength of the texture, it is highly recommended to flood its surface with a light that follows the vertical and horizontal direction of the lines that characterize the finish.
Such a unique masterpiece could not fail to find illustrious spaces. For example, when Fantini wanted to inaugurate its showroom in the Brera design district in Milan, the combination with our stones and the Raw finish was a natural step, so much so that together we also shared a space in Zurich and collaborated in numerous projects: stone and water have always been in symbiosis.
On the global stage, the beauty of Raw has not gone unnoticed. In fact, this wonderful texture enriches each of the apartments that make up the 130 William skyscraper, the new star of the Manhattan skyline.
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