In Frescobol by Design, photographer Gabriele Rosati and architect Alberto Simoni reinterpret Brazil’s beach sport through a series of sculptural works and photography
A skirt made of bats. A stacked column of curved wooden paddles. Wall-mounted arrangements that appear like oversized brooches. In one room, a floating ring of polished forms hangs mid-air, each one identical yet slightly off-beat in rhythm. Elsewhere, a portrait of a figure is dressed in what looks like a garment, but is in fact an assembly of repurposed equipment. The material across all these works is the same: layers of smooth, striped wood, destined for the beach. This is Frescobol by Design, an exhibition and project from Brazilian menswear and lifestyle brand Frescobol Carioca, made in collaboration with Gabriele Rosati and Alberto Simoni, who have pulled apart, reassembled and reimagined the famed Brazilian beach sport.
Frescobol originated in the mid-1940s on Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, and is credited to Lian Pontes de Carvalho. The game is cooperative rather than competitive, where players rally to keep the ball in motion, not to win points. It was first played using bats made from driftwood and repurposed tennis balls and, over time, the equipment saw heavier bats swapped with lighter, varnished wooden versions and rubber racquetballs replaced with improvised ones. It’s highly indicative of Rio’s laid-back beach culture, where the sand becomes a playground for games, relaxing, exercising, eating, flirting, napping, dancing and selling things. The sport’s collaborative spirit later inspired Frescobol Carioca’s founding in 2013, with handcrafted frescobol bats at the heart of its offering, alongside swimwear, resortwear and accessories, all rooted in the rhythm and ease of Rio’s lifestyle.
This same energy can be found in Frescobol by Design, a project developed by Frescobol Carioca in collaboration with Milan-based photographer Rosati and architect-sculptor Simoni, who were brought in by Graeme Gaughan. “Gaughan has known our work for a while and was interested in how we often bridge fashion and architecture – using objects as tools to explore narrative, materiality and space,” says Simoni. Together, the pair worked “side by side on the creative direction, approaching the project as a sculptural study more than a product campaign.” Harry Brantly, CEO of Frescobol Carioca, adds: “Frescobol Carioca was founded on a single product that embodies both craftsmanship and the spirit of collaboration. Partnering with emerging creatives for Frescobol by Design felt like a natural extension of that ethos – a way to reimagine our eponymous frescobol bat through fresh perspectives, while staying true to the values that shaped the brand. It’s a celebration of heritage, creativity, and the ongoing dialogue between tradition and innovation.”
The result is a series of sculptural and photographic works that reframe the frescobol bat as something more than a sporting object. “I developed a series of sculptural pieces and images that reinterpreted the frescobol bat as an object beyond its original use – somewhere between artefact, artwork and symbol,” explains Simoni. By altering scale, stripping back function and using raw, often reclaimed materials, the bat was transformed: “They became characters, almost totems.” Rosati’s photographs built on this approach, presenting the objects in carefully composed settings that “echoed architecture, fashion and product design”, says Rosati. As Simoni notes, “We approached the whole thing as a single system – object, image and setting all part of the same language.”
Rather than depict the game directly, they focused on the ideas embedded within it. “It was less about representing frescobol as a sport, and more about drawing out its underlying codes like duality, rhythm, fluidity and connection,” says Rosati. Those values were mirrored across the exhibition (which took place in London earlier this month) through repetition, mirroring, spatial tension and careful abstraction, achieved through a process of detaching the bat from its function. “By isolating its silhouette, shifting its scale, or multiplying it, we allowed new meanings to emerge,” Rosati explains. Meanwhile, Simoni approached the bat “almost like a raw module”, experimenting with “cutting, mirroring, stacking” to create forms that hover between art and architecture. “In some cases, it was no longer clear if it was meant to be held, observed or inhabited,” he says. That ambiguity was key, encouraging the viewer to reconsider the bat’s shape and symbolic weight.
Working closely with the material itself also became central to the project. “The wood isn’t just a surface or a shape; its grain, texture and natural composition carry the true meaning of the product,” says Simoni. By incorporating damaged bats and leftover materials from production, the project embraced a reuse strategy that both honoured the object’s origins and disrupted expectations with a gloriously surprising outcome – not least a beautiful collection of objects that radiate the warmth of a sizzling hot day on Copacabana.
Standing as a collection in its own right, the project also responds directly to Frescobol Carioca’s new ethos, The Art of Summering – a phrase Rosati and Simoni interpreted through space, time and intentional design. “We tried to refer to it as a spatial concept,” says Rosati, “a way of inhabiting time with ease, clarity and intention.” Drawing inspiration from the curves of Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer and the openness of Brazilian landscape architect Roberto Burle-Marx, the work sits “in that tension between stillness and movement, function and contemplation”. Rosati adds, “It wasn’t about decoration, but about shifting perception and inviting the viewer to reconsider the object’s role in space.”
Ultimately, the project reframes sport, design and material as interconnected tools for looking at the world with a fresh perspective. “While frescobol as a sport provides the foundation,” Rosati reflects, “the work invites viewers to reconsider familiar forms as sculptural and spatial experiences.”
“It’s less about function,” he concludes, “and more about engaging with the object as a trigger” – a prompt to observe, reflect and slow down. And maybe get yourself down to the beach.
