BRICCOLE
THE THIRD LIFE OF WOOD

Riva 1920’s intuition of giving a new life to these oak posts was born from the great attention towards the environment and the ecology. The Briccole are the unquestioned main characters of Venice, which lead the boats and mark the Lagoon low tide and are periodically replaced due to wear. Made unique pieces by the industriousness of shipworms, small molluscs, Briccole are transformed into exclusive pieces of furniture able to convey a special emotion.

03 MACRO

THE ORIGIN

On average the posts in the lagoon last for 10 to 20 years, then corroded by the tides, worn and damaged, they have to be replaced. A main feature of the posts, which also serve as a natural habitat for the sea’s fauna and flora, consists in the traces left by shipworms. These are oblong shaped molluscs which burrow through the wood, leaving perfectly round holes and create peculiar patterns that are very suggestive.

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BRICCOLE

Unique and suggestive woods. The beauty of imperfection. The third life of wood.

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A TRIBUTE TO VENICE

Protagonists of the Venice lagoon, the Briccole, oak poles immersed in the sea, are used as a reference for boats and to signal the tides. The lower part of these poles appears embellished by the industriousness of the marine teredini, molluscs that leave the sign of their passage by sculpting the wood with perfect round holes and creating suggestive designs and shapes. After 10 years, during which these poles are corroded by water, their replacement is necessary: this is the beginning of their third life.

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EXTRACTION

Extraction of the Briccole posts sees the use of special machinery to secure them and pull them out of the sea bottom. It is a delicate process that requires grate attention in order to extract the complete post. Each post has a medium height of approximately 10 meters, of which one third submerged in the sand, one third in the water and the rest emerging from the sea surface.

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STORAGE

At first the wood is stocked outside, where it is in contact with air and atmospheric agents, and then it undergoes several of controlles drying processes, necessary due to the long stay in water.

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PROCESSING

The posts and theplanks are individually treated through an artisan processing, which ensures that the grooves carved by the shipworms are carefully cleaned, in order to preserve the natural imperfections on the surface. Technology and our carpenters’ craftsmanship are able to transform the raw posts, marked by the weather and worn out during time, into unique and inimitable products.

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FINISHING

Briccola wood is treated with natural wax of vegetable origin in order to obtain a neutral effect thus ensuring a correct protection of the surface.

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BRICCOLE COLLECTION

Submerged in water and tempered by salt, exposed to the weather and sculpted by shipworms, this high quality oak becomes in the course of time a wood absolutely unique, precious, romantic and noble, thanks to its historical value and intrinsic characteristics. Riva 1920 has decided to grant this wood a third life by launching a collection of furniture made of Briccole without impacting the environment, for it should not be forgotten that wood is a precious but not infinite resource. Once more nature is the absolute protagonist, arousing fascinating and unique emotions.

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COLLEZIONI BRICCOLE