Seeking series, 8 e Mezzo
Introducing our series Seeking, where we seek for beautiful bathroom design, from accessories to interiors. Bathrooms intended as ritual spaces, surrounded by meaningful artifacts.
Opens the series the amazing Made in Italy brand 8 e Mezzo. Born in Puglia, by the founder Antonella Azzollini, a creative and positive mind we had the chance to talk with.
Masters of marble who have handed down the know-how from generation to generation. In the family business, Marmi Azzollini, unique pieces are created from the finest stones in the world. They come to Trani from the quarries of Apulia, and from all over Italy. The Milestone of the family is Nicola Azzollini, Antonella's father and as she describes him - the one who sets the pace to the working day -. Another who grew up in the company is Gianfranco Azzollini, her brother, precious advisor and expert in crafting techniques.
Antonella returned from London in lockdown, where she worked as a business developer for architecture. This ultimate fuse led her to realize a desire that she had for a long time.
"I have always wondered, what relationship was there with marble - this very luxurious material - and sustainability?"
It's been a combination of family know-how, available raw materials and desire to not get paralyzed, even in a pandemic. 8 e Mezzo hence takes life, to recover salvaged materials. Semi-finished and abandoned pieces in disused quarries, unused, too small, or defective scraps become small objects "simple, but you know beauty lies in simplicity", she tells us.
The first protagonist of the brand collection is a cutlery tray, large enough, the minimum necessary to show "veins, shades, beautiful and unique colors" of stones and marbles. The result is a trapezoid, 8 and a half centimeters long, hence the name of the brand.
Over time the collection has expanded, enriched with coin trays, object holders, toothbrush holders, incense bases and other small recycled furnishings, such as leftover tiles transformed into tables. Behind the scenes, Antonella also shows us custom-made accessories in progress, unique pieces made on request, sculpting art as design.
The working environment is informal and peaceful, here expert marble workers cut and finish the small creations with technique. Antonella sometimes makes the finishing touches herself, she works the material by dusting her hands. A combination of pleasure of manual work with entrepreneurial one.
Antonella tells us all this with a big smile of fulfillment and contagious happiness. Our narration does not end here, there will be others about 8 e Mezzo and its founder. We wish her to continue making 8 e Mezzo grow and evolve more and more.
Images are courtesy of 8 e Mezzo. Photographer of Nicola Azzollini: Roberto Mazzarago. Seeking series, 8 e Mezzo, August 2022