Thanks to IDM Südtirol, which promotes the region and its excellence, we had the pleasure of meeting Luca Da Ros, founder of Dolomitisch, and discovering up close the project that transforms mountains into carved wooden furnishing surfaces, blending technology, craftsmanship, and landscape.
Hermann Buhl used to say that “… the mountain is not just a place, it’s a state of the soul”, something one always carries within, even after descending. And it is precisely there, where the light of dawn sculpts every ridge and the wood still smells of forest, that an idea was born, an idea capable of turning a landscape into a piece of furniture.
Dolomitisch was born in the heart of the Dolomites from a gesture as simple and ancient as observing a mountain and trying to bring it with you, but it does so by merging technology, craftsmanship, and art, transforming the lines of the Alpine peaks into surfaces that live inside our homes, entering our lives as faithful travel companions.
Thus wood becomes storytelling, becomes a starting point, and each table becomes a tale: born from a log (selected through a short, certified supply chain), shaped with digital techniques and then hand-finished by artisans, turning the essence of the “most breathtaking” panoramas (forgive the sportier rather than technical expression!) of Alpine peaks – and beyond – into art.
These pieces are crafted, studied, sanded; on their surfaces you can recognize valleys and ridges, shadows and slopes, as though nature itself had chosen to engrave its own profile.
After all, when nature meets art, this is what happens: an essential form that preserves a place, an object that invites touch and sight as during a hike, a balance between sustainability and beauty that turns furniture into experience, merging memory with tactile perception.
And this is Dolomitisch’s goal: making three-dimensional what usually remains distant. We had the pleasure of meeting Luca Da Ros, founder of the South Tyrol–based company, who shared this adventure with us during a press trip organized by IDM Südtirol, the institution promoting the region and the economy of Alto Adige.
“The startup was founded in the summer of 2022 with the idea of transforming any mountain on the planet into a piece of furniture using real topographic models. The approach comes from the world of forest research, not design, and this led us to experiment with satellite data to obtain ultra-high-resolution reliefs carved in solid wood. Oak is one of the most commonly used materials, and the working tools allow such precision that creativity becomes the only true limit. Each piece can be customized, and clients may choose the mountain to reproduce, while the catalogue includes benches, tables, and wall artworks,” explains Luca Da Ros. “In 2023 we had our first exhibition in Courmayeur, now permanently displayed at the Skyway Monte Bianco on Punta Helbronner. In Milan, our works are showcased at Rossana Orlandi’s gallery, a reference point for collectible design, and other galleries host them in the United States, in Colorado and New Mexico. Our journey has been recognized with two awards: America Innovazione, assigned at the Chamber of Deputies by the Italy, United States Foundation, and the award from Il Sole 24 Ore, which named the startup the best Italian luxury company in the aesthetics category.
For us, working with skilled partners is fundamental. Having a reliable network is essential to maintaining the quality required by our work, both technologically and artisanally.”
Luca Da Ros and Riccardo Vendramin.
How did the idea of creating a bench with carved mountains come about?
“When I moved to Bolzano,” Da Ros tells us. “I’m originally from Vittorio Veneto – in the province of Treviso, at the foot of the Prealps – I was doing my PhD and living in a practically empty house. I had a sofa, a coffee table made from a pallet, and in front of me a mountain map, a passion I’ve had since childhood, because I’ve always cycled, hiked, spent time outdoors.
I was very familiar with satellite data and topography, and in my family I had always been around CNC machinery because my father used them for years in his company. At a certain point, I thought about bringing these elements together. I found a supplier and had the first pieces created, initially only for my home. The idea was to have a table showing the mountains at one meter high, so from the sofa we could look at them and decide our weekend outings.”
How is a Dolomitisch piece created?
“Everything starts with observation. Our designer, Riccardo Vendramin, defines the aesthetic footprint of the piece, how it should ‘sit’ in space and what visual balance it needs. Then the scientific part comes into play. I work with a partner who specializes in remote sensing, meaning the use of satellites for environmental purposes. He retrieves the data, cleans them, corrects them, and applies algorithms that transform a real mountain into a model suited to becoming a piece of furniture.
This dialogue between aesthetics and science allows us to interpret the mountain without betraying it. And from this approach, special collaborations were born as well, such as with Simone Moro, who wanted to reproduce all his eight-thousanders…”
So you bring the Dolomites and other peaks “around the world”…
“Exactly. We can say that our mountains change latitude with incredible ease (he smiles).
A table with the Dolomites ended up in Greece, a bench with Mont Blanc went to China, a mirror with Alta Badia is now in Egypt. In the end, our works become large three-dimensional postcards carrying landscapes elsewhere.
We must admit that at first we thought they would attract mainly mountain enthusiasts, people with memories tied to those landscapes, but over the years we’ve realized how much our clients appreciate the concept itself, the value of a collectible piece. And in this context, as mentioned, representation by Rossana Orlandi has given us tremendous visibility.
The media also matter a great deal, as does our presence on Instagram, where we document every new piece.”
In the end, if one cannot “go to the mountain,” the mountain will find a way to reach them, sometimes in solid wood, turning memories into a constant presence.
By Francesco Inverso
dolomitisch.com
How the wood is used
The process begins in the carpentry workshop, where the raw block is created by cutting and vertically gluing several wooden boards—an essential solution because wood moves, and horizontal layers would create color variations during carving.
On this block, the technological phase takes over, carving the topographic model. Then the piece returns to the artisans for assembly, hand-finishing, and lacquering, which protects the wood from stains and allows safe cleaning without absorbing liquids.
The entire process exceeds forty hours. Each piece is finally laser-marked with a unique code and accompanied by a certificate representing its digital fingerprint.
