Book Release
Born in Oasi Zegna
*When a Book Is More Revolution Than Paper
written Alban E. Smajli
Chidozie Obasi, in collaboration with Rizzoli New York, has unleashed a lush manifesto that bleeds green—Born in Oasi Zegna. It's a tome that sits pretty on a coffee table and a radical vision printed on paper, a siren call from the wilderness to our urban jungles, urging a seismic shift back to nature, intertwined with the finesse of high art.
The setting is the sprawling Oasi Zegna, a vast natural reserve nestled in the Italian Biella Alps, founded by Ermenegildo Zegna. Early in the last century, beside spinning wool; Zegna was spinning a new kind of gold—green gold. Over half a million trees planted in a quest to forge an oasis where enterprise, humanity, and nature thrive in harmony. This legacy, cultivated by generations, is not just surviving; it’s thriving.
Obasi's Born in Oasi Zegna defies the traditional bounds of what a book can do. It’s a historical capsule, a playbook for the future, and a visual epic that starts with a seed and sprawls into an ideology. Its pages are a loop of seasons—timeless, almost otherworldly—each turn immersing you deeper into a vivid collage of images, sketches, and echoes from the past.
credits to the book
publisher Rizzoli New York
creative director Laura Decaminada
text Chidozie Obasi
illustrations Paolo Bacilieri, Cecilia Carlstedt, Giuseppe Ragazzini
Born in Oasi Zegna
Book Design
The book’s design is a sensory feast—think textures that make your fingertips buzz, colors that pop like spring after a long winter, a tangible symphony of visuals that beckon you to see, feel, think, and connect. This is where aesthetics meet ethics in a beautiful, bold union.
This April, Born in Oasi Zegna takes root in Milan, transforming from static print to a dynamic, living entity. The city’s historic Piazza Duomo will see new green spaces, donated as the first step in a global initiative to replicate the Oasi ethos worldwide. It's a move that screams the urgency of sustainable respect and the critical role of urban green lungs in bridging our lives with the rhythms of the natural world.
Culminating during Milan Design Week, the book transforms into an experiential beast. The ZEGNA Headquarters will morph into an immersive installation, pulling the outside in. Visitors will wander through a constructed wilderness, each step a page, each corner a narrative spun from the Oasi itself, blending the physical with the fantastical.
Born in Oasi Zegna is a call to arms and turning heads, changing minds, and maybe, just maybe, changing the world.
Dive in, the revolution is printed: available exclusively at ZEGNA stores and zegna.com
all images
Born in Oasi Zegna, 2024