Matteo Leorato Re-Imagines Marble

Timeless marble, molded into contemporary and fresh designs.

Born in Verona, Italy, designer Matteo Leorato has refined an innate regard for design through extensive traveling that has taken him from the US to China, Australia, and Spain. Both the designer’s international vision and hands-on experience influence his work. Creative and bold as well as fresh, Matteo Leorato’s product designs blend into modern interiors with ease. At the same time, they enhance living spaces with their imaginative appearance. Using marble throughout his work, the designer highlights the material’s purity of form, features, and character. The distinctive nature of marble, which demands superior skill and doesn’t allow room for error, allowed the designer to perfect his knowledge of the material.

As art director at Mondo Marmo Design, Matteo Leorato explores the potential of the material further through innovative products. Placing marble in a new light, the designer creates contemporary lighting, furniture, and surfaces from this inherently classic material. Clean and balanced, the products offer a new take on traditional concepts while including a human element. “I usually find myself far from the concept of a statue-like kind of object, but I love those products which are animated through the gestural expressiveness of the people who bring them to life: the wind-up watch is undoubtedly the object which best reflects this philosophy,” says Matteo Leorato.

The designer’s work often tells a story. For example, the Block Round marble lamp reminds of a primitive cylinder shape. Paired with fluorescent lighting, it creates a tongue-in-cheek concept. The Portego Loggia coffee table line goes beyond clean aesthetics with forms that reference Venetian architecture. Working with Progetto Rialto, the designer has also created a contemporary take on a classic flooring material: terrazzo. These new patterns re-imagine the familiar design, blending eye-catching marble inlays with elegant colors. Marble, redefined for the 21st century. Photographs© Matteo Leorato.