Ginostra, a small hamlet on the island of Stromboli that can only be reached by sea, was the subject of a year-long design process between product design and visual communication, under the supervision of the tutors of our Academy and the studio 2050+. At the centre, the reactivation of Puntazzo, a historic restaurant that is now disused, the spaces of which are about to be redeveloped.
Spontaneous Project
Design 1 Studio with Giuseppe Arezzi, teaching assistant Andrea Castiglia
The workshop focused on a specific goal: creating simple, robust and easily replicable elements capable of supporting the transformation of the structure into a space shared by the community. Male and female students designed and self-built a family of wooden furniture designed to allow the reconfiguration of the interior and exterior of Puntazzo, adapting to different needs and future activities.
The creative process was guided by a design and construction constraint: all the furnishings had to be made exclusively from square-section wood battens measuring 2×2 cm and 4×4 cm, using a limited number of tools and implements (manual handsaw, hammer and nails, tensioned rope as a structural element and connector). A constraint that led to reflection on the relationship between structure, material and craft production, favouring essentiality, precision of detail and collaboration during the self-construction phase.
The final result consists of a series of minimalist seats (stools), a mobile table on castors, and shelving systems with storage and display functions.
«Working with few materials and few tools means focusing on the essence of the project. Constraint does not limit creativity, but guides it, turning every construction choice into a conscious design decision. In Ginostra, design becomes a concrete gesture in the service of a place and its community.»
– Giuseppe Arezzi
Tableware
Design Studio 2 with Diego Emanuele and Erika Pino
In this laboratory, the field of investigation has shifted on the dining table and the ritual of sharing food, through an approach capable of combining continuity, adaptability and local roots.
The manufactured items developed are plates, trays and liquid containers with an essential design which, while meeting the functional needs of dining, encourage new methods of shared use and meal consumption, activating relationships between people, space and matter.
Lighting systems
Design 3 Course with Diego Emanuele and Erika Pino
Here, male and female students engaged with the relationship between form, material and context, and the The borgo acted not only as a geographical reference point but as a genuine design condition, guiding every prototype.
The approach was based on the observation of the landscape and the translation of its qualities into discrete solutions, often linked to low-intensity lighting, in which the artisanal scale it has sealed a profound dialogue with the island of Stromboli and its material culture, also thanks to the involvement of local craftspeople who have contributed to the transmission of knowledge, giving the act of construction a value that is as practical as it is narrative.
From this journey have emerged essential lighting objects that recall the characteristic elements of the village of Ginostra, such as water, greenery and tactility: a series of lamps and luminous elements made with natural materials (ceramics using lava aggregates, mortars composed of locally sourced raw materials) and a string curtain which reimagines traditional fly screens in a contemporary style. Prototypes conceived as an act of mediation, consistent with the fragile and stratified identity of the place.
«The workshop did not produce standalone or iconic objects, but rather devices for engaging with the place and with living practices, consolidating a design stance based on the responsibility of intervening in the existing landscape with the minimum possible impact.»
– Diego Emanuele
km0 Ginostra
Pattern Making Course with Makoto Fukuda
In the modelling workshop, the participants were asked to experiment with raw materials available locally, such as local stone, volcanic ash, driftwood or deadwood, to create models, display stands or representations of the island's topography and landscape.
Starting from the natural objects collected in Ginostra (stones, roots) and local symbolisms and iconographies (geographical maps, architectural elements), models were created using polystyrene, paper, clay, thread and wire. Through the creation of these models, it was possible to re-examine forms, textures and relationships between objects, spaces and landscapes, sometimes engaging with the creative reuse of unusual materials.
Visual Identity
Communication Design course with Francesco Cusumano
Also the bachelor's degree in Graphic Design and Digital Media he was called upon to measure himself against Ginostra, to return an additional level of interpretation through the development of the visual identity of Puntazzo. The submitted projects explored different directions, though united by the same objective: starting from the local area to convey its essence through signs and colours.
Some concepts have looked at the restaurant as a sensory laboratory, a place of union between human activity and wild nature, drawing inspiration from the tales of female fisherfolk and the daily gesture of those who choose to live alongside the power of the volcano; other projects instead started from the chromatic and material contrast that defines Ginostra: the absolute black of the volcanic earth against the vivid blue of the sea, the whitewashed lime architectures standing out as pure volumes within a barren and uncontaminated nature.
From this, a range of diverse yet coherent visual identities has emerged, united by the same ability to listen to the local area, ranging from those who have chosen an aesthetic of subtraction, translated into essential visual systems, to those who have drawn inspiration from the island's layers and patterns.
The Ginostra experience represented an opportunity to design in a real-world context, made of limited resources, local materials and an ancient, fragile and stratified identity, to be reinterpreted in a contemporary way while respecting its past and tradition.
Sponsored by
Abadir Academy of Design and Visual Communication
With the support of
2050+ (Sara Barbini, Francesca Lantieri, Ippolito Pestellini)
Teachers
Giuseppe Arezzi, Francesco Cusumano, Makoto Fukuda, Diego Emanuele, Erika Pino
Design Studio 1
Cristiano Di Mauro, Sofia Palmieri, Alice Gaetana Rapisarda, Giorgia Rita Sicali, Concetto Vecchio, Thomas Weller, Zora Zammataro
Design Studio 2
Diego Conti, Alice Incognito, Roberta Magrì, Alice Pellegrino, Pietro Paolo Privitera, Salvatore Emmanuele Sicali, Samanta Zingariello
Design Studio 3
Roberta Di Mauro, Dixie Espulgar, Lorenza Iozzia, Viviana Agata Livera, Aurora Milazzo, Lidia Persico, Maria Luisa Trovia, Rosa Brotzge
Modelling Laboratory
Cristiano Di Mauro, Sofia Palmieri, Alice Gaetana Rapisarda, Giorgia Rita Sicali, Concetto Vecchio, Thomas Weller, Zora Zammataro, Antonino Di Nicolò, Giulia Giaquinta, Chiara Mangiarratti, Alessandro Piccione, Simone Proietto, Gianmarco Reitano
Communication Design Studio
Antonino Di Nicolò, Giulia Giaquinta, Chiara Mangiarratti, Alessandro Piccione, Simone Proietto, Gianmarco Reitano
Academic Year
2025–2026
Showcase photo at Abadir
Domenico Lanaia