Patricia Urquiola crafts ‘garden on the table’ porcelain collection for EDIT Napoli

Acclaimed Spanish architect and designer Patricia Urquiola has collaborated with Caselli Institute in Italy and Royal Factory of Capodimonte for the third edition of EDIT Napoli, set to be hosted between October 29-31, 2021.

Scheduled to be unveiled on the opening day of the fair, the collection titled 'garden on the table' has been developed around the theme of large centrepieces referencing 18th-century floral aesthetics and natural elements.

The three-day design fair at the monumental complex of San Domenico Maggiore in Naples revolves around the unique demographic of self-sufficient designer-maker-professionals and studios whose practices are rooted in both design and production. Alongside, EDIT Napoli also aims to act as a venue for discussions on matters of territory, traditions, institutions, and contemporary design.

Launched in 2020, the joint venture between Urquiola and her collaborators is grounded in the revitalisation of ancient porcelain traditions, alongside one of Naple's premier purveyors of porcelain craftsmanship in the Royal Factory of Capodimonte. "I have visited the Capodimonte complex on several occasions, but for this project we have entered its imaginary undergrowth", says Urquiola in a press announcement.

The project is associated with MADE IN EDIT - a dedicated collection linked to the fair’s residency program, conceived by Emilia Petruccelli, director of EDIT Napoli, and its curator Domitilla Dardi. Additionally, the collaboration also involves the Caselli Institute, established back in the 1960s, which is now among the most prominent institutions in Naples, and by extension, Italy, dealing with the conservation of ceramic-related artisanal traditions. Located within the Real Bosco di Capodimonte nature preserve and park, the Caselli Institute is currently also driving innovation in the porcelain sector through experiments with unprecedented new techniques and forms.

The theme for Urquiola’s collection is heavily influenced by a host of plants and flowers in the cultural campus of the Real Bosco di Capodimonte that have enduringly sparked minds of students engaged in the study of porcelain artistry. Recounting the story that shaped the project, Urquiola says, "While visiting the school of the Royal Factory, we passed through a courtyard that was rather abandoned and dreaming of a real green intervention. This need has permeated our project.” In her view, this encounter infused itself into every facet of the collection.

She continues, “The installation freezes, as it was, a moment of the dream. A table-setting where the flowerbeds of the patio experience a mutation between forms and hybrid matters of plants, animals, minerals, and humans, in a happy but eclectic chain of metamorphosis… The project ends with a meeting around this different contemporary 'chemin de table', in which we participate in a lunch, a pure act of metamorphosis.”

In forging connections between the master craftsmen at the Royal Factory of Capodimonte, its students, and the myriad designers attending this iteration of EDIT Napoli, the collection attempts to heighten the already grandiose standards of Capodimonte's porcelain workmanship through the exchange of ideas and knowledge between different peer groups. The fair will also conduct an auction whose proceeds will aid in restoring the school's internal garden, with the prototypes from the joint enterprise between Urquiola, Capodimonte, and the students of the Caselli Institute.

Besides dedicated enterprises to promote research and culture, EDIT Cult, a new initiative that creates a dialogue between the city of Naples and EDIT Napoli, will also be announced in July. The program, set to be held at some of the most vital sites of Neapolitan culture, will enliven the historic city centre in October, with exhibitions by stellar names including Martino Gamper, Andrea Anastasio, and Jaime Hayon.