The life of Venetian briccole is endless, from lush oaks to wooden poles - a key element of lagoon building and urban planning.
Briccole, this is the name of the wooden poles that sprout from the waters of the lagoon of Venice. Tied together, usually in groups of two or three, they are the true hallmark of the lagoon landscape, not only the foundation of the houses and every other building, they are also a mooring point, a line of demarcation of the canals, a tool for identifying the direction and intensity of the tidal flow, and a support of fishing gear and stilts.
For decades these natural poles are constantly subjected to sea currents, and affected by molluscs that live in brackish waters and that feed on wood, the so-called 'shipworms', they are the authors of the marks engraved in the briccole...
The rebirth of abandoned briccole .
The signs of time and sea confer an inestimable value
creating something unique and unrepeatable.
MFDesign recovers the century-old briccole used to moor in Venice.
The wood that for hundreds of years had lived with the sea, is transformed into a work of art beyond time.
Our commitment to the protection of the environment also takes place through the reuse of a material otherwise destined for disposal as waste.
The briccola layer once dried and calibrated, is glued on a fir bistrate, which gives the product a perfect balance, ensuring excellent stability.
Creating unique floors using precious woods obtained from ancient houses or from the briccole of Venice as raw materials is what distinguishes MFDesign internationally.
In Murano, a small island in the Venetian lagoon,
there is an ancient tavern called ‘Locanda Sottovento’,
entirely covered by the Briccole recovered by MFDesign.
The artisans of MFDesign have recovered the ancient briccole and cut them into slices on the side of the head, thus creating circles with a thickness of about 2 cm.
Each of them is different from the other, because the wooden poles chosen for the briccole did not have a regular profile. These circles were then laid on the ground by our artisans, next to each other and consolidated by a colored resin.
Once the installation is complete, the entire floor has been covered with a special oil.
What’s so special about this oil? It is taken only from natural products such as linen and hemp, particularly suitable for protecting outdoor floors. This oil was spread on the floors of the ‘Locanda Sottovento’ to protect them during immersion caused by high water. We are in Venice and the high water is a phenomenon which the Venetians often have to deal with.
The Esedra floor by MFDesign welcomes the customers of the 'Locanda Sottovento’ for 5 years now and the high water has not had any negative effect on its beauty and resistance.
We like to think that the visits that the water makes to the ‘Locanda’ are a tribute to the Briccole, a way that Venice has to remain anchored to its history and its ancient traditions.