Mani Studio

Terre e Trame is a project that explores the material tension between the solidity of ceramics and the flexibility of knitwear, redefining the boundary between craftsmanship and contemporary design. In this unprecedented encounter, traditional ceramics are reimagined through color, glazes, and manual manipulation, while knitwear transforms into a sculptural and architectural structure, expanding its expressive potential.

Radical Ceramics

Reinterpreting conventional ceramics is the starting point. Each piece is entirely handcrafted, elevating the material through unique textures, deconstructed classical forms, and surfaces that challenge traditional perceptions of ceramics. The use of experimental glazes and unconventional firing cycles creates a new visual and tactile language, where clay is not merely a material but a constantly evolving expressive medium, infusing greater soul into functional objects.

Radical Knitwear

Knitwear breaks away from its conventional softness to become a structural element, capable of creating unexpected volumes, tensions, and surfaces. This is achieved through a balance of handcrafting and technological innovation: artisanal techniques are combined with the Mandarin 1.5 Knitwear machine, a textile-industrial technology originally developed for carpets. Co-owned by Mani Lab and Radical Knitwear Milano, this machine enables a bold, highly textured effect. The result is a three-dimensional, layered, and sculptural fabric, engaging in an ongoing dialogue with ceramics through contrast and interplay.

Surfaces in Tension

In Terre e Trame, the two materials meet and overlap without losing their distinct identities. Vases, lamps, rugs, and tapestries become elements suspended between rigidity and flexibility, between the porosity of clay and the softness of fiber. Each piece is tailor-made for contemporary interiors, striking a balance between form and function that thrives on experimentation.

Terre e Trame is not just a design project—it is a reflection on the intrinsic value of materials, on the artisan’s gesture, and on the possibility of rewriting the language of ceramics and knitwear, transforming them into tools for radical and visionary expression.

Terre e Trame Collective – Design Week 2025

Alfredo Giardina

Alice Sofia Navarin

Daria Dazzan

Giulia Bortoli

Laura Tocchet

Martina Colli

Matteo Cibic

Nicola Ghezzi