Selected by: Martino di Napoli Rampolla
Creative director and designer Martino di Napoli Rampolla of Numeroventi has selected his favorite FRAMA pieces, and curated them at his palazzo in Florence, Italy.
How did your fascination with design begin?
The first time I realized I should be working with visual arts was around my late teen years. I was very bored, but when I started to read magazines about interior and historic houses, it felt relevant and inspiring.
How did the Art Residency and Palazzo Project begin?
A friend of mine referred to the term “artist residence”, which made me very curious. I found a Japanese book that was exploring the concept, and there was a sentence saying “how space can influence the artists, and how the artist can influence the space”. I wanted to see how the spaces at Numeroventi could affect people and artists, and vice versa, so I started to experiment with the empty rooms. This has gone on for three years, still experimenting and finding out how the spaces makes one feel and act.
FRAMA was one of the first brands to be welcomed into your space, how come?
My friend Andrew Trotter from Openhouse Magazine in Barcelona introduced me to FRAMA a couple of years ago. I looked through the collection and immediately discovered the Cone Shade, as I thought it was interesting that someone in Denmark was doing a new take on the very classic Tuscan shade in copper, with a clean transparent bulb. It was so simple and minimal. Having that as the first main lighting at Numeroventi was very refreshing. It taught us all the value of contrasts in life and in design, considering that our space in a very renaissance city.
What did you have in mind when curating the selection?
When making the selection, I thought of a little family of objects, perfectly merging with the artworks that I have already collected for Numeroventi. I also imagined how a FRAMA piece could feel like a piece of art while being functional. Then I picked my new favorite ‘family members’.
Explain your favorite FRAMA piece
I like the new T-Table. It feels like it was very natural for FRAMA to create that piece, and that’s something I really appreciate when it comes to design. When things are meant to be, they feel easy even if you have to work hard to bring them to life.
