From Achille Castiglioni to 3D printing: a Bolognese design workshop that designs with curiosity and care

By Editorial Staff - 30 June 2025

They became friends during high school years at Malpighi in Bologna and went on to found a design and innovation company — a contemporary workshop combining technology and craftsmanship. Now, after already winning several national and international awards, they have been named one of the winners of the America Innovation Award 2025. This is just the latest major milestone for Egoundesign, the studio founded in 2020 by Tiffany Melchioni, Federico Redaelli, Edoardo Melchioni, and Luca Marcadent. Their work blends design, self-production, and experimental manufacturing, treating each project as a narrative gesture — the result of interaction between material, technique, vision, and imagination.

It all began in 2020, when the under-35 team brought to life a project by the visionary architect Achille Castiglioni, which had only existed as a sketch and a few non-functional wooden prototypes. Specifically, they revived a set of pens from Castiglioni’s final project, created in 2001 with his friend and architect Gianfranco Cavaglià as a grip study. This set had remained in the Castiglioni archive for two decades until it was rediscovered and realized through collaboration between Castiglioni’s children and the Egoundesign team. Using 3D printing, the Cento3 series was born — recognizable for its tri-lobed shape and made up of three parts: a pocket fountain pen, a mechanical pencil for technical drawing, and a multifunctional jumbo pencil that can be used as a regular pencil, highlighter, crayon, or watercolor brush. © Egoundesign

That same tri-lobed design reappears in Sibi, a multifunctional seat-table-container with lighting, presented at SaloneSatellite 2023, and in TRILObyME, a pencil case, creative kit, and everyday portable studio. The latter carries on Cento3’s legacy. In 2024, they also released Zefiro, a vase made with biobased PLA using 3D printing, featuring a thin yet statuesque paper sail that wraps around it. This distinctive element closes with a loop at the top, securing the sheet and enhancing the composition’s lift — a gesture that transforms formal purity into dynamism. The same applies to the Billa portable light: magnets embedded in the ends allow the lamp to be attached to metal surfaces without additional supports, offering great freedom of use. Plus, the resin-coated body conceals a convenient compartment — perfect for storing small everyday items. © Egoundesign

Also launched in 2024 is a series of cups — or small containers — made using the first 3D brass printer in collaboration with a specialist company in Sasso Marconi. The collection is called Voronoi, "inspired by a trip to Asia," explained Marcadent. "In those places, it’s common to see children, adults, and the elderly building stone towers balanced one on top of the other — a true art form whose stylistic elements we wanted to revive." The project won third prize at the SaloneSatellite Award 2024.

Finally, at Euroluce 2025, Egoundesign unveiled Isole, a new lighting series introducing a more contemporary and design-oriented language. The collection merges aesthetic quality, production simplicity, and functional versatility. The result is a modular system that, alongside visual lightness and configurability, introduces an interactive dimension with the user — a hallmark of the studio’s approach.