MANOTECA

«Sono attratta dagli oggetti vecchi, un po’ malconci ma che racchiudono bellezza. È una bellezza nascosta sotto la polvere. Mi piacciono le stesse caratteristiche anche negli gli esseri umani. In fondo abbiamo la libertà di scegliere a cosa dare valore. Possiamo decidere dove e cosa osservare. A cosa dedicare tempo. Per me quei vecchi oggetti rappresentano il tempo di qualcuno, l’attenzione di qualcuno e ne sono la fotografia».

"Un atelier che sembra uscito dalla penna di Roald Dahl"

Such a fairytale installation!

"A few years ago, I saw a picture of a desk that captured my eye"

I can't remember exactly where I saw it. I just remember not being able to stop thinking about it.

"Designs like Box sir are simultaneously playful, useful, and stunning works of art"

Recently, the fantastic design team at Manoteca launched Box sir, their latest collection of beautifully restored wooden designs. In addition to being stunning pieces of furniture, they are cool to boot!

“It represent a bright star in the Italian design”

Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m glad to present you an awesome, original, astonishing piece of design and, trust me,  I’m extremely proud to say it’s absolutely one hundred percent hand made in Italy. It represent a bright star in the Italian design. It’s all made from recycled objects and treated with natural paint, and if you are the lucky possessor of this table, it means you are the only one in the whole world who has this beauty. Because of its originality, every object carved, soldered or painted in the little stones house of Manoteca (Bologna, Italy) is a unique piece.

 

"The charm of abandonment"

33.500 like for Indoor table

9200 like for Olmo

“all have a magical quirkiness that sets them apart from other things I have seen, making them effectively a functional piece of art”

Elisa has made tables, chairs, mirrors and light stands which all have a magical quirkiness that sets them apart from other things I have seen, making them effectively a functional piece of art.

“Every object has a story to tell and part of that story always involves someone”

Every object has a story to tell and part of that story always involves someone. This 'story telling' is the foundation for the collection of objects from Manoteca. Capturing old, discarded objects and turning them into something new to be appreciated, Manoteca hopes that the object’s new owner will think about the life the object once lived and the stories it invariably told. Often paired with recycled materials, the designers reinvent old objects into one-off designs that are completely handmade and only painted when necessary.  Hailing from Bologna, Italy, Manoteca re-creates objects in a little house located in a park.  The end result provides a consistent theme that emulates the age when the objects’ story began

“Once again in Italians we trust”

Once again in Italians we trust. For their unique inspiration, design and their powerful aesthetics that translate into objects that captures the eye of the collector.

 

“manoteca’s stunning tables are functional works of art”

Manoteca’s stunning tables are functional works of art, constructed entirely from abandoned wood doors. Each aged and worn door is reinvented and assembled along with other recycled objects and materials to create beautiful and original pieces. The Italy-based design company uses only natural paints, and the door’s former parts are re-integrated in different sections to create additions that open outwards to reveal storage pockets and more.

“Die italienischen Möbeldesigner haben sich zur Aufgabe gestellt gebrauchte”

Eine alte Haustüre und vier Stahlbeine – fertig ist der multifunktionale Tisch aus dem Haus Manoteca. Die italienischen Möbeldesigner haben sich zur Aufgabe gestellt gebrauchte, antike Dinge neu zu interpretieren. Mit Hilfe von recycelten Materialien bekommen diese dann eine neue Bestimmung. Die ehemalige Eingangstüre ist heute gleichzeitig Ess- oder Schreibtisch. Wer eher letzteres bevorzugt wird sich darüber freuen, dass auf der Innentürseite unbehandelte Ledertaschen zum Vorschein kommen in denen sich allerhand verstauen lässt.
 

“c'est un geste d'amour sentimental et esthétique envers les objets”

Une simple porte, sciée en deux, devenue bureau pliant, assortie de poches de rangement, d'une lampe: est-ce encore une porte, qui ouvre sur quelque chose, ou déjà - et seulement - un meuble de bureau intelligent? Évidemment, on penche du côté métaphorique de la porte, tellement plus poétique! Les objets, tous uniques, tous sauvés d'un destin d'oubli, des charpentiers poètes de Manoteca, un atelier de Bologne, Italie, cherchent à dépasser leur seule utilité. Ce bureau ingénieux qui pourrait être celui du baron perché d'Italo Svevo n'est pas seulement une idée brillante à répéter : c'est un geste d'amour sentimental et esthétique envers les objets.

“The dual functionality of this product is just genius”

How brilliant is this vintage door transformed into a table or work station? The dual functionality of this product is just genius. Manoteca mounted this door on a steel frame and hinged one side of it and added raw hide pockets to store tools when open.

“is devastatingly beautiful”

Having the words Italian, one-off and handmade in the same sentence are never usually synonymous with affordability, and to be honest, we don't really have any idea the MSRP of the following items, and because we could not find any pricing info on them we'll have to assume they are expensive. However, that does not mean you can't appreciate and desire them, after all, everybody loves a Ferrari despite few ever getting the opportunity to own one.

"both artful and sturdy-looking"

Manoteca is a line of one-off furniture from a Bologna, Italy-based designer known only as Elisa. Her collection of repurposed found objects, left in their original conditions as closely as possible, is both artful and sturdy-looking.