New York architect and designer Martina Guandalini grew up in Carpi, northern Italy, where a recent visit to the town’s main church introduced her to the scagliola technique: plaster that’s treated to look like marble. Guandalini decided to create her first collectible design series, Soulmate, using the centuries-old handicraft technique, which actually first originated in Carpi. To make the tables and vases, she paired scagliola bases, which are much lighter than real marble, with tops made of cast resin in an attempt to create a poetic union of old and new — a “yin and yang,” as she puts it.

martinaguandalini.com / @martinaguandalinidesign
Photos by Tamara Baum