Filotto Billiard by Calma e Gesso : Clarity on cue

Everything that goes into that moment of calm before we have to make an important decision is part of what has helped Calma e Gesso, the new luxury design brand by Gregg Brodarick and Adriano Design, to create its exclusive billiard Filotto.

Calma e Gesso’s philosophy

The brand’s philosophy is embodied in its name – Calma e Gesso – the Italian expression that, having originated in the world of billiards, has become a part of everyday language. It encapsulates that moment of reflection – ‘calma’ – that the player takes before a difficult shot, carefully considering his next move while rotating chalk – ‘gesso’ – on the tip of his cue stick.

“There are too many times in life that we are put in front of a difficult choice to make often because of various reasons we are rushed to make the wrong decisions,” says Gregg Brodarick, director of B<D> Collection. “Calma e Gesso for me is more than just a brand that represents game tables, it is a philosophy of life that I try to follow. It can help you through trying moments and assist in making the best decisions. Stay calm, reflect, and then move on in the right direction.”

Calma e Gesso is established at the intersection between artisan production and modern style, with a focus on authentic italian quality. Whether it be in the product’s form, the materials supplied, or the manufacturing process, Calma e Gesso draws upon the highest quality italian traditions and innovations to bring a collection of original ‘Made in Italy’ products that transcend that of merely design to become works of art for the luxury milieu.

Collaborating with passionate and skilful artisans across Italy to give birth to innovative new technological solutions and sophisticated production techniques is the basis of the brand’s design philosophy and can be seen in the way they overturn the archetype of a product to create, what seems to be, a distinctly new object.

The Adriano brothers go on to stress how “the design, construction and workmanship of this work of genius are all Italian and are the highest expression of the technological sophistication of the craftsman that have always distinguished this country from the rest of the world.”

Filotto: rewriting the rules

Launching the brand is the classic game of billiards, an emblem of leisure originating from the palaces of the bourgeois which has since become a popular sport across the generations. The first challenge of Calma e Gesso has been in recreating a product with such a long history but so little evolution. The billiards, or pool, table has alway been a work of artisan carpentry, even up until the present day, but it is a design ‘frozen in time’.

Taking the strongest traditional elements from the table designs of established artisans and re-interpreting them into a new product, Adriano Design has succeeded in re-creating the familiar green wool suspended in an ethereal crystal structure called Filotto.

Calma e Gesso reinvents the billiards table with a series of innovative, patented solutions that have produced a seemingly transparent crystal ‘jewel’. With this sophisticated design, the Adriano brothers have removed the material ‘heaviness’ that has always characterized the classic pool table, as well as the colossal inventions of the past – and have given it a new lease of life for its modern setting : Filotto is already installed in the Ralph Lauren headquarters, New York.

Filotto magic lies in having realized a thin, steel frame, which is both adjustable, divisible, and supports the solid slate game surface, as well as the crystal structure that characterizes this new design. The unique feeling of seeing a 750kg billiard table ‘float’ on four legs is second only to the pleasure of playing on this italian masterpiece.

Innovative technological solutions and sophisticated production techniques are the basis of the Adriano Design philosophy and can be seen in the way they approach design, breaking and re-inventing the rules, in order to re-create products that are unique and desirable. The importance of their italian heritage, and its contribution to its technological sophistication, is clear in the design, construction and workmanship of their work.

The design of Filotto embodies this never-ending endeavour to search for new masterpieces of italian style and perfectionism.

For more information, please visit Calma e Gesso’s website.