PIETRO FRANCESCHINI, Stack, 2025 / 2026
Edition of 20 + 1 AP
Numbered
Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity
Hand knotted rug
Linen, Merino, Mercerized Cotton & Silk 
High / Low Cut

Developed for Atelier Bowy C.D., part of Henzel Studio, Stack by Pietro Franceschini forms part of The Atelier Editions program, a series of limited textile works created in collaboration with artists, architects and designers. The work is introduced in the context of Milan Design Week at Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci, within the historic spaces of Le Cavallerizze.

Franceschini’s practice often unfolds in the space between the digital and the physical. Working within what he describes as “Virtual Surrealism,” his designs frequently originate in speculative digital environments before confronting the material constraints of fabrication. The tension between these two conditions forms the conceptual foundation of the work.

In Stack, this approach translates into a composition built from overlapping geometric volumes. Semi-transparent rectangular forms appear layered across the surface, creating the impression of stacked planes suspended within space. The composition suggests depth and movement, as if digital layers were momentarily frozen within a physical material.

Rather than functioning as a fixed pattern, the rug operates as a visual field where transparency, overlap and alignment produce shifting spatial relationships. Subtle tonal variations allow the forms to intersect and dissolve into one another, recalling the logic of digital rendering where surfaces coexist without fully resolving into solid mass.

Through variations in pile height and material density, these layered geometries are translated into textile relief. Areas of compression and elevation create a quiet sense of depth, allowing the surface to shift depending on light and perspective.

Born in Florence and based in Milan, Franceschini approaches design through the lens of architecture while maintaining a strong dialogue with contemporary visual culture. After studying architecture at the Università degli Studi di Firenze and the Pratt Institute, he collaborated with international studios including Leeser Architecture in Brooklyn, Claudio Nardi in Florence, Laisné Roussel in Paris and Carlo Ratti Associati in New York before founding PF|Studio in 2020.

For this collaboration with Atelier Bowy C.D. and Henzel Studio, Franceschini’s interest in the friction between digital imagination and physical material is distilled into textile form. The rug becomes a surface where virtual space and woven structure intersect.

Presented within the historic spaces of Le Cavallerizze during Milan Design Week, the work introduces a layered digital logic into the exhibition space, where stacked planes and translucent forms are translated into hand-knotted textile relief.