Logbook, April, Laura here.
Where we were.
Spring has arrived in Filanda. There is a new air in this magnificent space that hosts us and we try to enjoy every moment of it.
Filanda Motta has become our place, a bit of a laboratory, a bit of a refuge. Its spaces today are also a place of inspiration, gathering and refreshment.
Looking for our place
Let's go back, it seems like a lifetime ago.
We started our journey at the kitchen table, then we expanded and took over an entire room, until we moved to our own space within a coworking space. Today, here in Filanda, we have a real laboratory.
Filanda Motta has all the appearance of a place that lives outside the world, but in reality it is located between Treviso and Venice. Nature and architecture coexist in perfect harmony in what is the result of an archaeological-industrial recovery that has been able to enhance every corner. Today it is a lively place, which hosts artistic workshops and creative studios like ours.
The first day
I remember our first day of work here very well, it was a Thursday two years ago.
Paolo and I had just moved to Treviso from Milan, we had made an indefinite number of car trips loaded with all kinds of objects, for which we had had to find space in the house and in the laboratory, obviously without ever stopping with work.
The air smelled of flowers, the temperature was warm, while sunlight entered everywhere from the numerous windows. There was a sweetness and a feeling of peace that I will never forget. Thinking about it today, it was certainly the great difference with the Milanese environment, to which I had now become accustomed, that made all these sensations more vivid, but certainly the context of the Filanda is particularly welcoming.
Not being able to prepare a lunch box, I remember that on that first day we found ourselves having lunch at the Osteria bar "da Silvano" in Sanbughé, a little family place not far away that offers the most comfortable Venetian cuisine. They are memories that we hold close.
Immersed in the Venetian countryside
The spinning mill is surrounded by cultivated fields and a handful of houses. The noises we hear are no longer those of traffic and circular saws (in the Milanese coworking our carpenter neighbors used this tool a lot), but we hear the sounds of nature, including animated conversations of birds. The voices of children playing on the nearby football pitch also arrive, while the sound of the bells marks the passage of time and becomes particularly intense when it is time for lunch or time to go home in the evening.
Furthermore, several animals that are not often seen in the city are at home here: squirrels, a hare that this season we find in the garden in front of our laboratory, and even a fox spotted one summer evening, as well as certain insects we have never seen before. Since we have been here I have been more aware of the passing of the seasons, the changing colors and the rhythm of nature.
It was Filanda that chose us
The space is divided into two areas by a small plasterboard wall: on one side the workstations with the desks, on the other the larger space dedicated to the operational part, with a large work table that was given to us by the coworking in Milan, the sewing machines, a small stock of fabrics and the stands with the sample items. This area is large enough to also allow us to install the photographic set on shooting days. This is exactly what we were looking for to optimize space and costs.
In fact, it was precisely the need to find a bigger place that brought us here, because in the barely 25 m2 we were in before we felt like we were exploding and even the ideas seemed more tangled. Now, looking back, it seems impossible to have worked for so long in such a small space. And going even further back in time, well we were in a room at home, so I'd say there was a nice evolution!
With us today there is also Giulia Criveller, a visual designer specialized in illustration and calligraphy who creates branding projects for artisans and brands. For us it is Juls, a friend and colleague, with whom we now collaborate on a regular basis.
A place where the spirit walks and finds inspiration
At the beginning we had also looked for spaces in Milan, to open ourselves up to all the possibilities, but the truth is that it was Filanda Motta who made us decide to return to Veneto. When we found it we immediately understood that it was the right place for us, here we can not only be closer to our families, but also indulge in a "slower" lifestyle.
We soon discovered how much space also makes a difference on the quality of work. The mind is more concentrated and, even in the most stressful moments, it is enough to go out for a moment to get some fresh air and take a walk in the garden. During lunch breaks we like to place a cushion on the step of the French window and eat outside. With Giulia we often go for a walk after lunch to reach the town bar and drink a coffee.
The Filanda Motta it was built in the mid-19th century, if we had peeked out of its large windows a few decades ago we would certainly have seen a succession of dozens of spinners, who obtained precious silk material from the cocoons.
Today the architectural complex not only hosts professionals and creatives who have found their space here like us, but becomes the theater of social, institutional, fashion and cultural events. It is a place to discover, which tells of the historical beauty of the Venetian countryside.
Filanda is a place of the heart and we like to remember it once a month, strictly on Thursday. We also did it in April: we went "to Silvano", like that first day.
Laura
Tales from the spinning mill it is our logbook, a column that keeps you updated on the latest from the atelier, allowing you to get to know us a little more closely, from month to month.
