TeLe Project

The voyage of Contrada started from the unexpected phone call of a friend and entrepreneur who was seeking to give away simple chairs shells, which led to the creation of stunning one of a kind pieces displayed and sold at auction.

TeLe Project

The project’s aim was to reclaim materials destined to waste and hand down the inheritance of traditional crafts, in order to help young people who are facing difficulties in entering the job market.

A group of 16 to 20 years old students received a hundred chair shells from a friend and entrepreneur, and under the guidance of senior interior professionals turned them into stunning unique artworks.

Each chair shell, though damaged and destined to waste, was restored, polished, decorated, upholstered with fine wallpaper and textiles.

The chairs thus become an intriguing collection of styles crossing different moments and eras of the design history, from deco and rococo, minimal and afro, to rationalism and surrealism.

In 2009, a selection of 43 chairs was displayed in the Nobilis boutique shop in central Paris, France, and was then sold at auction during an event entitled “Oeuvres Vivantes”.

Contrada comes from a history of relationships, events and hopes: those chairs are the evidence of the know-how of a group of young students who found in the artisanal work a new world and way to realize themselves in their professional lives.

Contrada degli Artigiani was born to secure two of those students with a long-term employment.