CNA Design Award

2017

INFINIT.OO is an art knife designed by Ate Rote for Forgiapizzi and winner of the first prize in the ‘Artigianato e Design’ competition, organised by CNA Bergamo in 2017 with Riccardo Blumer as chairman of the jury. The project emerged from a direct dialogue between contemporary design and the exceptional metallurgical expertise of master bladesmith Luca Pizzi.

The knife is conceived through the infinity symbol and the spatial principle of the Möbius strip. A controlled torsion transforms the object into a continuous ribbon-like surface, establishing an uninterrupted formal relationship between its different parts. This geometry provides a coherent path for the characteristic striations of Damascus steel, reinforcing the perception of a material pattern in continuous development. The design was realised in two progressively refined versions, distinguished by different details: the first is made entirely of steel, emphasising its monolithic continuity, while the second introduces a stabilised-wood handle that preserves the same geometric identity while optimising the knife’s overall weight.

Luca Pizzi is one of the very few bladesmiths in the world capable of producing stainless Damascus steel entirely by hand. For INFINIT.OO, more than four hundred superimposed layers of steel were progressively joined and compacted through an extensive process of heating and hammering. The resulting billet was subsequently twisted, sectioned and finally forged by hand, generating the dense and unrepeatable striations that define the surface of the knife.

The project therefore establishes a precise correspondence between concept, geometry and manufacturing process. The loop suggested by the infinity symbol is translated into the torsion of the object, while the continuity of its surfaces becomes the medium through which the internal structure of the steel is revealed. INFINIT.OO is both a functional knife and a unique collectible artefact in which design does not merely shape the material, but makes its formation and transformation visible.

CREDITS

Design: Roberto Rota — Ate Rote
Designed for: Forgiapizzi
Master Bladesmith and Manufacture: Luca Pizzi — Forgiapizzi
Material: Hand-forged, 400-layers stainless Damascus steel
Award: First Prize, Artigianato e Design, 2017
Competition Organisation: CNA Bergamo
Jury Chairman: Riccardo Blumer