With a rich history spiralling back centuries, the Italian cultural landscape is littered with classics but one of its most striking offerings only made its debut in the design arena 13 years ago.

From humble beginnings in 2007 with a mere two designers and a single craftsman, Henge has grown into a furniture and lighting force, now available in New Zealand at ECC, helping to define a contemporary approach to Italian design while respecting long-held traditions.

“At Henge the production line is formed by a network of artists, each of them a master of their profession, all linked to the company and trained in that type of production,” says Massimo Castagna, architect and artistic director of Henge.

“Overall, this is what represents the real Made In Italy, a unique production approach, adopted by the company but handed down through many generations.”

Respect for the past can be seen in the name, a gentle riff on the enduring monument Stonehenge, but it’s the cool lines of the award-winning Be Mine coffee table in brass or the attention-grabbing construction of the Starlight pendant light with LED technology, that has pushed Henge to the forefront of design.  Henge picked up The Architects Newspaper Award for their Mushroom Table, while the Be Mine scooped the ‘Best Earth Tones’ category at the Wallpaper* Design Awards last year.

It’s Castagna’s passion for creating enduring pieces under the Henge brand that infuses the creativity of each piece.

“We choose materials individually: each piece of stone, each trunk is valued and treated with care, using an innovative approach that takes advantage of their flaws and imperfections,” he says. “We choose to be unique.” That’s uniquely Italian.