Durat installation celebrates the combination of circular economy, creativity and beauty. Installation rises between the columns of the North Gate of Milan's Lazzaretto, dating back to the 15th century and relocated in the late 1800s to the exterior of Villa Bagatti Valsecchi. The installation was built as a free-standing work inside an old portico. It had a striking dialogue with the historic architecture.

The installation highlights Durat's multiplicity of colours and patterns and the adaptability of the material. The aim of my design work was to showcase the wide range of uses for Durat and to break away from conventional material compositions. The unprejudiced combinations of colours and textures are intended to free designers to see the material's potential for a wide range of uses and to find their own way of using Durat.

In line with Durat's principles, it was important to ensure that all parts of the installation could be reused, either as they are or adapted for new uses. Durat has been more than 30 years developing and producing a unique, sustainable solid surface material and furniture which contains recycled postindustrial plastic and are 100% recyclable.

Prominent within the installation is a large monochrome table made of Durat Plus, marking a major new milestone for the company's research. Durat Plus is the world’s first commercially available solid surface material combining recycled PET resin and recycled solid surface. The result is a distinctive appearance solid surface containing up to 80% recycled materials.

For personal and historical reasons, it seems meaningful to set up Durat's installation in this location. Like the Durat material based on recycled plastic, the Lazzaretto’s Porta Nord as a building is upcycled.

The work draws its inspiration from an old column. The abundance of materials has strong roots in Italian classical stone architecture, where dozens of different types and textures of stone may have been used in the same space. Modernists such as Gio Ponti continued the tradition, using even brighter grades of stone. For example, they designed stone staircases with each step in a different colour. Among the postmodernists, the Memphis Group and Ettore Sottsass took their thinking to synthetic materials, wildly combining different shapes and colours. These models have had a great influence on my own work.

My work is a manifesto installation of Durat's vision. A pioneer in circular economy, the company has always worked to free the world from waste and plastic and transform it into pure beauty through creations that are a source of continuous inspiration for architects and designers who share the principles of ethical and responsible design.