HUB161 Network Connects Italian Excellence in Design, Gastronomy, and Hospitality

Raffaella Verri Zorzi, a philosopher with a background in business communication and design, founded HUB161, a network uniting over forty Italian businesses selected for their ability to transform everyday gestures into art. The name references Leonardo da Vinci's golden ratio 1.618, symbolizing balance and proportion. Members include Eleit, a Naples-based design startup by Titti Gallucci creating tableware that enhances Italian culinary traditions; Mirei Monticelli, a Filipino-Italian designer in Milan recognized for her sculptural Nebula lamp at Salone Satellite during Milan Design Week; and Tommaso Chiappa, an outsider artist who places drawings and graffiti in workplaces and hospitals. In gastronomy, Feudo Mondello in the Belice Valley grows durum wheat stone-ground for artisanal pasta, paired with oil from Premiati Oleifici Barbera, a Sicilian company founded in 1894 by Lorenzo Barbera. Hospitality venues include Castello di Rossino on Monte Resegone, Tenuta Zamparina inspired by French chambres d'hôtes in Montignoso, Villino Ida in Civitavecchia, Villa Stecchini in Romano D'Ezzelino owned by an ancient Veneto family, and the newly opened Baglio del Gattopardo near Agrigento's coast, owned by architect Giuseppina Guggino, who defines luxury hospitality as making guests part of a larger story.