At this year's 3daysofdesign festival in Copenhagen, Nerosicilia and internationally architecture firm BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group unveiled 1669, a striking new collection of lava stone furniture that reimagines one of nature's rawest materials with radical purity.
© Nerosicilia
The collaboration marks a meeting of avant-garde design and deep-rooted craftsmanship. BIG, known for its boundary-pushing vision, brought a conceptual approach 'free from conventions and capable of uncovering unexplored forms and possibilities within materials.' Meanwhile, Nerosicilia contributed its decades of expertise in transforming lava stone — a craft shaped by the company's intimate relationship with Sicily's Etna Volcano.
The result is 1669, a collection of dining and coffee tables that honours the eruption of 1669, the historic event that produced the stone used in these designs. Created without glues, metals or binders, the collection demonstrates how matter itself, when exposed to intense heat, can transcend traditional forms.
'During the experimentation phase, a fascinating phenomenon emerged: when exposed to extreme temperatures, lava stone tends to revert to lava, losing its geometry to take on new, fluid, and unpredictable forms,' the designers explain. 'This reaction inspired the design of 1669, a circular top fused directly onto a hollow cylinder that serves as a pedestal.'
The result is both poetic and primitive: sculptural pieces that appear almost geologically formed, yet reflect a contemporary and experimental design ethos. The fusion of BIG's conceptual creativity with Nerosicilia's material mastery repositions lava stone from architectural finish to expressive design statement.
The collection debuted at 3daysofdesign 2025, a key platform for global design innovation, and reflects a growing interest in materials that are not only sustainable but also emotionally and historically resonant.
1669 stands as a tribute to nature's untamed power and a testament to what can emerge when material is allowed to shape design, rather than the other way around.
More information:
Nerosicilia
www.nerosicilia.com
