Nature, beauty and respect: exploring the world of Mardegan Legno
As a postgraduate School aiming to rethink and redesign the education methods by bringing, within an intense full-time program, theory and practice together, SOS School of Sustainability always strives to establish enriching partnerships with companies that share our same values and that can challenge and motivate our students.
In line with this approach, on Friday November 25th, SOS master’s students and staff visited Mardegan Legno headquarters in Fanzolo di Vedelago (TV), the hometown of the visionary entrepreneur and company founder Giuseppe Mardegan.Mardegan Legno is a wood flooring manufacturing company founded in Hungary, in the heart of the European forest, in direct contact with the Slavonian oak, the raw material behind their production.
During the visit, SOS students took a tour of the commercial site and Gianmarco Cassino, Chief Commercial Officer at Mardegan Legno, Andrea Pozzobon - Marketing Manager - and Ilenia Parolin - Export Area Manager -, spoke to us about the company’s vision and values as well as the production processes, from the varnishing of surfaces with up to 144 different colors, to the responsible management of the forest in the heart of Europe.
SOS students were then called upon to conceive and design an innovative capsule collection playing with geometric patterns, different materials and exclusive color varieties, from the stylistic research phase to the study of finishes and design for prototyping, with a focus on the sustainability of the production processes and the reduction of waste material.
The partnership between SOS School of Sustainability and Mardegan Legno, seeks to enhance the company’s sustainability, to further reduce its environmental impact, giving students the opportunity to imagine and create by stepping into the dynamics of handcrafted production.
As part of the 2022-23 academic year SOS has offered a module centered on materials with a focus on wood and our students, under the guide of SOS faculty member Maria Anishchenko will create geometric design proposals for wooden flooring following in the Mardegan approach. These designs will all be submitted as part of a contest and the winning desing will go into production and become the SOS - Mardegan capsule collection, to be presented in April during the 2023 Design Week.This experience will serve students as a springboard for the second phase of the master's program – The Project Tracks - in which they will engage in developing sustainable projects from company briefs on topics related to urban regeneration, human-centered public lighting and sound architecture.
We look forward to seeing the results of #SOS9 students’ research and creativity!
