Carwan Gallery is pleased to present a new collaboration with Italian designer Roberto Sironi, in the form of a collection of sculptural marble furniture created in dialogue with Italian marble editor Palmalisa Zantedeschi. Titled Aphanès, the collection marks a new direction in Sironi’s formal language, all the while expanding on topics that have been present throughout his previous work, such as the history of architecture, a research-based methodology, and a fascination with ancient and prehistoric material culture.

Drawing inspiration from Stone Age megalithic architecture, Aphanès deploys the simplicity of structural archetypes in order to expose the richness of the material, namely an extremely limited reserve of rare marble featuring exquisite patterns and colours. It is a novel body of work that continues the designer’s research-based approach, also evident in RUINS (the first Carwan commission by the designer, developed between 2018-2021), where he researched industrial and classical architectural remains from the Mediterranean to create assemblages of their fragments. In Aphanès, he goes further back in time, to the very beginnings of human aspirational building culture. The design objects that form the Aphanès collection are reminiscent of dolmen (prehistoric stone-table structures), evoking an aura of ritual and mystery, all the while sparking a visual short circuit, as their minimalist forms contrast the vibrant surface of the marble.