Roman games
The character of cold beauty lends marble the aura of authority and inflexibility, drawn from its sturdy quality and textured polish. A sense of elegance and sophistication wraps around its aesthetic, a wonder of Earth that has graced institutions, homes, and spaces throughout history. From such a concept, designer Alessandro Zambelli has repurposed the essence of marble by transforming the white blocks into a kettlebell, disk, and dumbbell, the new marble fitness collection he worked on with the brand Seletti.
Titled ‘Lvdis’, the series looks back to the gladiatorial games of Ancient Rome called ‘ludi’, a festival that honors the god Jupiter. The Roman numbering, indicating the weight on the tools, is engraved like the historical inscriptions on the surface of the marble collection. The reference to the Doric column groove through the octagonal geometry of the handlebars nods well to the Hellenic era’s aesthetic.
images by Seletti
Mantua as a source of inspiration
Alessandro Zambelli graduated from the Cova School of Design in Milan with a degree in industrial design and materials engineering. He chose the Mantua countryside as a place to live and work after several years of staying and working in Milan. He considers Mantua as a territory rich in history, allusions, and atmosphere, a constant source of inspiration for his work.
His approach is defined by his excitement for new technologies and materials, as well as his continual investigation into the connection between human beings, objects, and the environment. He has experimented with a variety of design sectors over the years, including industrial inventions, manual experiments, installations, product design, industrial design, and creative directions.
alessandro zambelli and seletti unveil fitness equipment made entirely of marble
Art and everyday iconography
Seletti commits itself to focusing on design projects and the creative characteristic of Italian fineness. The brand’s collections, which combine art and everyday iconography, offer a message of shape and function to clients, expressing a vision for a unique, personal, and enjoyable lifestyle. Seletti’s current focus is on new productions, as part of an ongoing exploration of the concept of beauty.
the collection is made entirely of marble
the inscriptions indicate the weight
Lvdis dumbbell
the collection’s overview
alessandro zambelli and seletti unveil fitness equipment made entirely of marble
project info:
name: Lvdvis
designer: Alessandro Zambelli
brand: Seletti
matthew burgos | designboom
may 16, 2022