Inside Etereo

We sat down with Stefania Digregorio and Mirko Sala Tenna, the design duo behind the award-winning studio Etereo based between Milan and Dubai, for a quick-fire round of questions to learn more about their plans for this edition of Dubai Design Week, the creative process behind their masterful projects, and their very particular view of luxury rooted in time, authenticity, and intention.

The Amphora Guide: What is your favourite design era and why?

Etereo: Without hesitation, the 1930s, a decade of bold transition when the spirit of Modernism met Art Deco. We are inspired by this idea of a discreet luxury, where technical progress and timeless grace coexist, a dialogue we constantly seek to recreate in our projects so they feel contemporary yet enduring.

TAG: Describe your process in three words.

E: Research, Curate, Refine.

We begin with deep research, exploring the cultural context, the architecture and the story behind each place. We then curate every element building a coherent narrative. Finally, we strip away what’s unnecessary and polish each detail until the concept feels essential and inevitable.

TAG: What is your personal definition of luxury in design?

E: For us, true luxury is time, authenticity and intention: it’s the care for hidden details, the ones you might not notice at first but that quietly shape the atmosphere.

Never about square meters or price.

TAG: What’s your go-to rule when you feel stuck on a project?

E: Whenever we hit a creative block, we return to the core narrative, the emotion or message the space is meant to convey. Simplifying always helps us find the next step: if the idea works in its purest form, the rest will naturally follow.

TAG: What is the easiest thing about being a design duo and the most difficult?

E: The easiest part is the constant exchange of ideas: two perspectives keep the work dynamic and push us beyond our own limits. The hardest is when both of us are equally passionate about different directions. Yet that very tension drives us to reach a stronger and more meaningful result.

TAG: What is one thing that you both agree to disagree on?

E: The exact balance between minimalism and decorative detail. At the end, it keeps our projects alive and nuanced.

TAG: You have a deep love for using natural materials

in your projects. What are your top favourites?

E: We have an enduring love for marble and wood, it is all about the way each material tells stories and brings a sensorial richness to a project: Marble carries a unique geological memory of time with its veins, and wood adds warmth and a tactile quality that deepens as time goes by.

TAG: What traditional craft from the region that you would love to incorporate into the design of a collectible?

E: We’re captivated by the traditional Middle Eastern art of metal inlay, the way delicate threads of brass or bronze are set into wood or stone. It’s a craft that speaks of patience and precision, and we’d love to reinterpret it in a contemporary collectible piece.

TAG: What is the most controversial design opinion you hold?

E: We believe that not every space should be “Instagrammable.” We value the kind of design that reveals itself slowly rather than focusing on immediate visual impact: a detail you only notice after months, a light that changes through the day.

TAG: Tell us about an impossible dream project?

E: Right now, we don’t see anything as truly impossible. If we could dream freely, we would design our own retreat hidden in nature, a place where architecture and landscape melt into one another and where the rhythm of light, air and seasons becomes part of the design itself.

TAG: You are showcasing two collaborative installations at Downtown Design: 1930 for Cosentino and Natuzzi’s space. If you were to encapsulate these projects as scents, what would they be?

E: When it comes to the “1930” concept for Cosentino, it would bring out the smoky notes of sandalwood and aged leather: elegant, timeless and slightly rebellious. For our project with Natuzzi, we see it as a celebration of Italian warmth with a similar scent of a Mediterranean breeze: olive wood and citrus.