A timeless fusion: wood surfaces that unite history, modernity, color and form

Listone Giordano, the renowned brand specializing in luxury wood flooring, has introduced Trafic, a vibrant new parquet collection designed by the visionary French designer Marc Sadler. This innovative collection reimagines the 19th-century end-grain wood paving (pavés de bois) that once graced the streets of London, Paris, and New York, blending tradition with a modern aesthetic.

Building on the success of the Fabrique collection, Marc Sadler and Listone Giordano reunite to create Trafic, a tribute to a past marked by transformation, innovation, and shifting lifestyles. This collection sparks a dialogue with history, inviting us to reflect on the present, the accelerating pace of change, and the importance of reconnecting with our roots.

“End-grain wood,” explains Andrea Margaritelli, Brand Manager at Listone Giordano, “is incredibly fascinating and evokes an era driven by technological innovation and vibrant cities—St. Petersburg, London, Paris, New York—where modernity was being shaped. Marc Sadler’s interpretation gives this surface a distinctly contemporary spirit, delivering a message for the future: technology and environmental respect must coexist and progress together—on the same roads.”

The origins of wooden end-grain block paving (Pavage en bois) are believed to trace back to 14th-century Russia. However, its documented use emerged in 19th-century St. Petersburg. Similar wooden street coverings have also been recorded in other Nordic countries, including Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Iceland (see attachment for further details).

“Thanks to a specialized process developed by Margaritelli to ensure stability, the typical challenges of end-grain flooring—such as hygrometric elasticity due to the expansion and contraction of the blocks in this orientation—have been effectively overcome. As a result, Trafic offers exceptional resistance to wear from foot traffic.” says Marc Sadler.

“Beyond its technical advantages, however, it is the aesthetic qualities that make Trafic a truly unique flooring solution. The various surface patterns of the blocks—planar, horizontally milled, vertically milled, or cross-milled—allow for countless custom design combinations that each architect can tailor to their vision. Adding to this is the color palette, with eight variations, which serves as the cherry on top of a new design language limited only by the creative imagination of the architect exploring this highly expressive design tool.” the designer adds.

Listone Giordano has a history of pioneering innovations, such as the Circular project we explored a while back, where the company demonstrated the transformative potential of applying circular economy principles to wood.