ANCHOR Stool

alcarol’s craft begins with sectioning — cutting through matter, time, and memory to reveal what lies beneath the surface.
The very foundations of Venice rest upon thousands of oak poles, driven deep into the lagoon’s caranto layer, a compact bed of clay and sand. Immersed for decades, these timbers are slowly sculpted by Teredo Navalis, tiny marine organisms that trace delicate constellations of holes across the surface. Their patient work consumes the outer layers yet leaves the core untouched, creating a dialogue between erosion and endurance, fragility and strength.
When replaced, these poles — vessels of salt, life, and history — are recovered and entrusted to alcarol. For the making of Anchor, the studio immersed itself in the waters of Venice, studying the silent world where these timbers were formed.
The project captures the idea of a submerged cross-section — a fragment of the lagoon brought to light, preserving the quiet life beneath the surface. Through an intricate process, alcarol fills only the voids within the wood with transparency, trapping the breath of water and restoring the timber to its original vitality.
Each section reveals the poetry of contrasts: air and depth, decay and resilience, motion and stillness. Through touch and sight, Anchor invites us to transcend the ordinary perception of place — to see Venice not as it appears above water, but as it endures below.