Caesarstone presented Islands, designed by Raw Edges, with an interactive installation focusing on food and dining within the domestic environment at the 18th century Palazzo Clerici, in Milan’s Brera District.

Caesarstone, teamed up with London-based design studio Raw Edges Design Studio – helmed by Yael Mer and Shay Alkalay – to create a collection of seven living islands that offer both a new take on the materials and an innovative interpretation of the domestic space.

The islands included functional home environments such as a kitchen, a bathtub and a vanity top, with more whimsical pieces such as a fish tank, a wooden blocks counter and a ping-pong table.

‘We looked at different functions in our everyday common interiors,’ explain the designers. ‘We see the whole experience, and we wanted to create balance between the islands that have clearer functions and others islands that are maybe more poetic.’

Islands seeks to reshape the typical interior arrangement by positioning the surface as the binding element of its design.

Cabinetry and appliances are slotted into purpose-built voids within the Caesarstone surface itself instead of being placed atop or around it, thus highlighting the monolith’s value and functionality within the interior environment.

Mer and Alkalay’s main focus is on the kitchen, the pivotal point of the collection and the most ingenious in terms of the use of space.

Offering a new take on a variety of domestic spaces, Islands focuses primarily on the kitchen concept and the significance of the preparation and enjoyment of food.

Inspired by creating a whole new outlook on interior design, specifically for the kitchen, saw the creative duo designing cabinets and storage units housed in organically shaped Caesartsone bench tops and surfaces, challenging our ideas of spatial planning for the heart of the home.

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Raw-Edges founders Yael Mer and Shay Alkalay …….”For the Milan presentation we want to further-explore the concept of the sliding of objects into Caesarstone Islands; the focus will be on the kitchen, which will be set as a working station – a stage for performing cooking. Thanks to a rare creative freedom afforded to us by Caesarstone, we have carefully developed a conceptual interior that we hope will influence the mainstream.”

The most striking examples included a kitchen island with slots for appliances and cabinetry, plus a mature lemon tree with branches reaching up towards the magnificent 18th-century ceiling fresco by Giambattista Tiepolo depicting the god Hermes leading the chariot of the sun across the heavens.

The cooking island challenges a traditional household layout with a combination of appliances and modular storage units cleverly combined into the space, imagined as a stage for entertaining.

Further elements are inserted through slots cut into the stone to become an integral part of the islands.

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The creation of ‘islands’ that serve to enhance the pleasure of wining and dining within the home have definitely sparked out imagination and will have us all rethinking how we use our kitchens and other traditionally functional spaces.

Islands marks a playful shift in Caesarstone’s focus, as it looks to re-imagine its surfaces for more unconventional uses.

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Here, materials take centre stage in the collection with a simple and intuitive design; a sheet of stone arranged into table-like structures serve as a base for each of Raw-Edges’ explorations.

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raw edges bath model

The collection employs seven different colours from Caesarstone ‘Classico’ series, with natural finishes in different shades ranging from pearlescent greys to darker browns and charcoal.

The quartz surface is combined with reclaimed wood, ceramics, terracotta, glass and brightly coloured additions, which bring the stone to life and enhance its striking grains and veined details