La Biota is a workshop in Genoa where Michele Sottocasa, former graphic designer and art director and now an established craftsman, creates his Italian briar pipes strictly by hand.
Michele’s craft does not come from a family tradition, but his passion for making these objects began as a child, watching his grandfather’s pipe, and soon led him to experiment until he reached full artistic maturity.
His references are classical, with a particular interest in the Danish style, but his pipes are unique and original. According to Michele, the pipe must not hide any secrets, it is an object of direct connection between mother nature and man, and this is also where the name of the business comes from: ‘biota’, in Lombard dialect, means naked.
Nature, with its forms – especially those of the mountains to which Michele is very attached because of his origins – is a source of inspiration and provides all the materials used to create the pipes: Italian briar, other essences for embellishment, horn rings and deer horns for the creation of special models.

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