From destruction to creation: the ancient lava of Mount Etna breathes through Nerosicilia’s works
1669 is the new brand’s collection created in collaboration with BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group: a series of sculptural furniture pieces crafted from volcanic lava that erupted over 300 years ago.

Founded by Biagio Amarù, Nerosicilia is a brand specialized in the extraction and transformation of lava stone from Mount Etna, crafting it into flooring and wall cladding for both indoor and outdoor spaces. Majestic, stately and solitary: the Etna stands as a keeper of 500,000 years of Sicily’s geological story. Rising to 3,403 meters above sea level, Etna is one of the tallest active volcanoes in the world — a living giant that continues to grow and evolve with each eruption. Every outburst, in fact, adds a new layer of history, a fresh detail to the face of this extraordinary UNESCO World Heritage site.
Each lava flow is an act of destruction, but not only that. From a phenomenon both spectacular and terrifying, the seed of unexpected creation is born. As it cools and solidifies, the lava becomes a resilient stone slab. Thanks to its remarkable thermal, mechanical, and compressive strength, this stone becomes ideal for a wide range of applications: from architectural slabs and claddings to interior furnishings and elements of urban design.

Nerosicilia’s work is deeply rooted in Sicily — in the beauty of its landscapes, the richness of its land, and its strong cultural identity. This bond with the island inspires a profound respect for nature, shaping an approach that is not only deeply poetic but also genuinely sustainable.
The lava stone is processed without the use of any chemical substances — no glazes, metals, adhesives, or synthetic binders – and transformed into products that reveal the beauty and strength of the natural phenomenon from which they originate. Each Nerosicilia surface reveals a unique character, expressed through the variations in time and temperature applied during the treatment of the slabs.
Different colors and patterns are also given by the integrations of recycled glass. Sourced from discarded TV and computer monitors, the glass is crushed and ground to obtain the raw material used to decorate the surfaces.
On the occasion of 3daysofdesign – now considered as one of the most influential international design festivals – Nerosicilia presented 1669, an exclusive new collection of dining and coffee tables in lava stone, developed in collaboration with BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group.

BIG is an international architecture firm based in Copenhagen, known for iconic projects such as the Norwegian Twist bridge, the Danish Maritime Museum built below ground level, and The Wave – Milan’s horizontal skyscraper. The studio operates across a wide range of disciplines, from architecture and urban planning to interior and product design, as well as engineering and strategic planning.
A shared vision and research platform united two seemingly distant practices. Both studios, in fact, are driven by the interest in the unpredictable expressive potential of natural materials when approached with innovative and contemporary meanings. Free experimentation and rigorous technical precision becomes the meeting point between these two realities.
BIG’s unconventional design vision, combined with Nerosicilia’s expertise, led to the creation of a project “born from fire, shaped over time, and presented as a living memory of the Earth.” The 1669 collection – named after the year of the eruption that formed the lava stone used – celebrates this material in its most authentic and radical form: the poetry of matter translated into design pieces.

“With BIG, we share a vision: letting the material guide the project. That’s how 1669 was born from lava stone and the desire to rediscover its truest essence, not by forcing it, but by accompanying it through its natural transformation,” says Biagio Amarù, founder of Nerosicilia.
The final pieces are the result of a phenomenon that emerged during the experimentation phase: when exposed to extreme temperatures, lava stone tends to return to a fluid state, losing its geometry to take on unpredictable forms. This discovery inspired a collection born from a creative process in which the lava stone is transformed solely through the power of heat acting on the material’s intrinsic physical properties.

The round tops of these sculptural furniture pieces are joined directly to a hollow cylinder that acts as a base. The cylinder is hollowed out inside, and the removed material is used to support the top. When heated, the top softens and takes the shape of the base, creating a natural, organic surface that appears as if it has just emerged from a majestic active volcano.