Dream landscapes do not have to be necessarily…big. The same could be said about the doses of inspiration that somebody may need in his everyday life in order to make it less boring. De Castelli proves with its imaginative iron, Cor-Ten and stainless steel creations that a green microcosm has a dose of healing effects: it breaks the every day routine, it questions the established limits, it reminds us of our endless possibilities. De Castelli was founded in 2003 and its trademark is the mix of the sophisticated crafting skills inherited from a centuries-old crafting tradition with the innovation made possible by today’s most cutting-edge technology. 

There is always a precious and meticulous handcrafting process that characterizes production details and the overall quality of the De Castelli creations, making them a mix of design, art and craftsmanship. Vases and sculptures whose design is reminiscent of everyday objects (bottles, flower pots, kitchen cabinets), familiar forms that change scale and rely on unusual materials to acquire a new aesthetic meaning, generating an unexpected visual and emotional impact, becoming a significant material presence within the space where they are located. It comes of no surprise then that its owner, Albino Celato is the heir to a family that has worked with iron for over three generations.

“I have always been attracted to Nature that manifests its force in unexpected contexts”
(Aldo Cibic)

De Castelli, amongst many other top brands, displays its creations during the Milan design-in-the-city event that Yatzer made a full review recently. For this occasion, De Castelli presents one of its latest projects called Riviera, designed by Aldo Cibic with Cristiano Urban. The idea behind it, as Aldo Cibic explains, was to represent the idea on nature in unexpected ways and contexts. In this way the designers continue the experimentation regarding miniature landscape aesthetics, working on a poetic that takes concrete form in structures/containers/objects, all realized in iron by De Castelli, to contain small gardens, some designed for indoor settings and others for outdoor locations.

The Riviera series is the perfect follow up to Aldo Cibic’s Pocket Landscapes exhibition that was originally presented during the Fuori Salone of this year (April 22-27) at the Antonia Jannone Gallery in Milan. The tree, the flower and the garden, presented through five installations and twenty drawings, were the efforts to regain the original nature. And in a magical way, mission was accomplished! De Castelli has proved once more that it’s up to us to create our own version of reality, and Yatzer couldn’t agree more.