Presented during Fuorisalone 2025, Naturalia explores the encounter between Buccellati’s centuries-old silver craftsmanship and the language of immersive installation. A sensorial journey through sea, forest, and mountain, where ancient savoir-faire meets contemporary technology. We spoke with Claudio Sbragion, executive creative director of Balich Wonder Studio and Ruby Barber, founder of the Berlin-based floral studio Mary Lennox, the creative minds behind an experience that invites us to slow down and rediscover the power of wonder.

Ritamorena Zotti: What was the biggest challenge in translating Buccellati’s craftsmanship and savoir-faire into an immersive experience like Naturalia?

Claudio Sbragion: It’s not a challenge, but it’s a pleasure to work with something which is so traditional and presented with a very different kind of language. So with the language in some cases of the technology. But what we really would like to do is using the technology in a very hidden way, just to create the impression and the mood and the experience, but not to overwhelm the delicacy of this kind of products.

RZ: The installation combines physical and digital elements in a sort of contemporary wunderkammer. How did you work to create this balance between materiality and virtuality?

CS: Sometimes you must choose the right technology to do it. For example, here inside, we have used mainly video projections. There is a magic in the projection more than using other kinds of video surfaces. And there is also the possibility of using them to integrate the product itself, the creations itself in silver inside the video images. So you must choose very precisely what kind of technology you are using to balance it and not to be overwhelming on the project.

RZ: The concept is inspired by three natural realms – mountain, forest, sea. Was there a particular element of nature that surprised or inspired you in the creative process?

CS: The beginning was always related to the Furry Animals themselves. They were the source of inspiration. So we had that beautiful, incredible eagle and the right place to place this kind of animal was on the peak of the mountain and do the installation regarding it. Then we have a lot of creature from the forest, Buccellati has realised the creature from the forest. So it is a bigger space for that reason and to create this kind of immersive one. There is also the part of the sea, which is a different technique. It’s not related to the furry technique. But anyway, the silver animals are represented as real as the real ones. And it was very beautiful also to bring everyone under the sea in that environment.

RZ: In your work, technology is never the end goal but a medium. How did you balance innovation and poetry to preserve the emotional dimension of the installation?

CS: Well, we’re always responding to a space or an environment and figuring out how to bring nature into that space in a kind of organic way. And we always look to nature itself as an inspiration. And I think that really informs the way we’re going to incorporate nature into man-made spaces.

RZ: This installation is part of a broader journey of Balich Wonder Studio in the world of luxury and immersive storytelling. Do you see a future evolution of these experiences in the industry?

CS: We are working with several luxury brands in general to create this kind of immersive experience. I do believe that it’s the language that probably will be the most used. Because luxury is usually especially creating very exclusive and never-seen experiences. So using this kind of immersive experiences, you are doing exactly that. You create a special moment for them or for a special clientele. So I do really believe that it’s something that will take place more and more in the future.

RZ: We live in an era of speed and consumption anxiety, where wonder risks becoming ephemeral. Better Late Than Never: can Naturalia be interpreted as an invitation to slow down, to rediscover slowness as a value?

CS:It was exactly the concept of this kind of exhibition. We are in the rush of the design week and we wanted in this square to have a sort of pose, contemplate nature with, let’s say, a wonder inside it.

Ritamorena Zotti: The flower is a symbol of impermanence and eternal return. How does your art fit into the dialogue with a centuries-old savoir-faire like that of Buccellati?

Ruby Barber: I think the link between working with nature and the craftsmanship of Buccellati is this timeless beauty. It’s attention to detail and it’s paying respect to a beautiful muse in one way or another. It was a close work together to have the right balance between the two.

RZ: Your work translates nature into an aesthetic, almost metaphysical language. What inspirations or references guided this particular interpretation?

RB: What was nice about this project is the silverware takes so much inspiration from nature itself. So that was a really nice way to work with something man-made and something organic. And that’s also a little bit the concept of the name of this project. So there was a lot of inspiration to take with this duality there, actually.

RZ: In your creative process, the botanical becomes structure, architecture, a living form that turns into ornament. How important is intuition, and how much does design play a role?

RB: we’re always responding to a space or an environment and figuring out how to bring nature into that space in a kind of organic way. And we always look to nature itself as an inspiration. And I think that really informs the way we’re going to incorporate nature into man-made spaces.

RZ: The relationship between time and matter is central in both jewelry and botany. How do you experience this tension between the transient and the eternal in your practice? That is, between the organic and the inorganic?

RB: I mean, working with a natural product, you don’t have that much time. And I always appreciate the fact that there’s an end to every project in that way, kind of defined by something other than myself. But of course, in the design process, it’s always important to be slow and take time and to experiment. So it’s actually a little bit of a balance.

RZ: In your vision, is nature ornament, set design, or the protagonist? How does it redefine the space it occupies?

RB: In my own eyes, when I’m working, I’m obviously viewing nature as the main character, as the protagonist, because that’s my medium. But actually, it’s about nature supporting other design disciplines and other architecture. So I wouldn’t say it’s the protagonist in that way. But in my mind, I’m always thinking first about the nature.

RZ: Better Late Than Never: How important is slowness in your creative process? Is it possible for something to gain value precisely through waiting?

RB: Of course, in the design process, it’s always important to be slow and take time and to experiment. So it’s actually a little bit of a balance.