Letter to Maria Grazia Mazzocchi Milan, April 2012 Dear Maria Grazia, Thirty is a transitional age; we are still young, enthusiast, full of energy, yet with a little experience and a pinch of disenchantment –important enough to have an impact on reality. For this very reason for us at Domus Academy, the School you founded, this thirtieth anniversary represents a goal to be celebrated, as it carries the awareness that an original educational model was established, and the ambition to spread it around the world. Many friends walked with us during these thirty-year journey, and many still share their passion and talent with our students. Many were and are the students that chose us, and that now represent us all over the world. This exhibition is a tribute to them all, and a way to celebrate this unique experience of Italian design through the products designed by some of our alumni. But, here at Domus Academy, we all know that you are the one we should be grateful to for making this possible. Your courage, your passion, and the many years of your constant commitment made Domus Academy the institution it is today. This is why, Maria Grazia, this exhibition is dedicated to you. From all of us, from the bottom of our hearts, Thank you. Alberto Bonisoli Dean Domus Academy
Lost in translation 6 Lost in identity 8 Lost in production 24 Lost in materials 38 Lost in action 50 Designers 63
Lost in translation Dante Donegani, Elena Pacenti Lost in translation is a way to tell and illustrate 30 years of Domus Academy through the professional stories and experiences of some of the designers that were part of its life. The exhibition, organized in occasion of the Salone del Mobile 2012, finds and presents connections between the projects and the professional work of Domus Academy alumni and some of the research topics developed throughout the years around the idea of the house and its space and atmosphere. The evolution of the domestic scenario and the living archetypes, and the transformations of the objects and of the relationships within the domestic environment, certainly represents one of the favorite topics of Domus Academy’s tradition and researches, often at the core of the didactic offering and design seminars. The products developed by some of the designers that participated in those researches are here exhibited: objects realized after attending Domus Academy, in their professional career and when working with the industry, at times of great changes of the industrial and consumption system. The title of the exhibition thus represents the space that separates the ideas and thoughts elaborated in the research, and the tangible signs between experimentation and real production, between thoughts and actions. Lost in translation shows affinities and differences between the researches carried out at Domus Academy and the world of the objects produced by the designers. The aim is not to demonstrate that the exhibited products are the direct expression of having attended Domus Academy. On the contrary, if there is any connection with the researches Domus Academy focuses (and focused) on, it is actually interesting to investigate the creative mechanism that allows to transform ideas, and the role it plays in all steps of Design education. According to Robert Frost, “poetry is what gets lost in translation”. 6
La danza “Galleria del Copismo” Atelier Alchimia, 1982. Realized for the opening of Domus Academy.
Quotes by Branzi, Manzini, Mazzocchi from Gian Luigi Falabrino “Design speaks Italian. Domus Academy story” Libri Scheiwiller, Milan, 2004
This statement describes very well the design teaching dynamics, and especially those at Domus Academy. Thus, the translation permeates the activity of any “laboratory of ideas”, in which professors prepare audacious and sometimes prophetical design brief, translating current events and demands into theoretical statements. The briefs are then interpreted by students, which mediate them with their multiple personalities, knowledge, cultural backgrounds, and languages. The project is thus developed with a heavy relation work, through the direct dialogue and an intense communication. Thus, the project is what gets lost in this translation: not only in the language translation, but especially in the translation of each strictly artistic project. Design often is what gets lost in the translation of identities, behaviors, materials, technologies, relationships, images and myths… the ability to imagine “things” is necessarily related to something that previously existed. Here is where the meaning of our products should be looked for, and the drawing, the project, is the result of the translation. Since its foundation, Domus Academy based its educational offer and teaching method on a visionary idea that was not trying to somehow replicate Italian design. On the contrary, it was trying to embark on unusual paths, “the design in Milan was made by people with a strong research drive, and thus the real novelty was the research, the push to try to move forward” (Ezio Manzini).
One of the very early catch phrases after the Academy foundation said “it is not about Design, it is about the Designer”, and about the role of the school “the focus is not on didactic methodologies, but on the professors, and especially on the students” (Andrea Branzi). This is the nature and the innovation of the educational project in Domus Academy, which can be told only through the stories of the people that have been part of it: stories of great masters and generations of designers and thinkers; stories of great visions and idealistic ambitions, challenges, differences, and exchanges. “The people who created, worked and still work at Domus Academy have always considered it a san open project towards new frontiers, a place for experiments and innovation, a challenge to break new ground and also a placet o look around in order to identify new existing themes, new problems and to propose new solutions” (Maria Grazia Mazzocchi). Lost in translation is just the first of a series of events aimed at bringing new light to the value and the identity of this great design experience, but also at trying to think about some old and new topics, and at trying to think about the future potential of design, through the voice of its protagonists. 7
Lost in identity Giovanni Lauda Habitat a catalogo
Ik-Seo Choi. Project leaders: Dante Donegani, Giovanni Lauda and Jae Kyu Lee, 1997
We are celebrating the Thirtieth anniversary of Domus Academy. In these thirty years, our didactic activity has often caught and understood (and sometimes anticipated) several steps and several important topics in the design culture. The new living archetypes and the new product typologies, the aesthetics of materials and sustainability-related issues, design direction and the enhancement of local productions, smart objects and user interface design are just some of them. A wide sense of vision yet practicability, intuition yet adherence to reality were used to deal with all those topics. Several different key works were adopted and, at the same time, cryptic and mystic design briefs (like those in the notes) were prepared to develop unusual projects. Those briefs have always been open to interpretations “lost in translation”, to which the title of the exhibition refers to. In the Eighties, the didactic experiences referred to a global scenario: Andrea Branzi’s hybrid Metropolis, a metaphor of post-industrial society and city, which contained “everything and its opposite, each contradiction and each unit”.(1) Plural, complex, and hybrid were the words used to define this new post-industrial reality as opposed to the modern, monological and monofunctional, design vision. Functionality and standardization were not prevailing any longer; since modern certitudes vanished, turning to the symbolic form of hybridization led to the encounter of different logics within the design culture. The same encounter was also happening in didactics with the introduction of new design disciplines (such as primary design and service design) and the identification of transversal or edgy topics. For example, in the Urban Scenography class (of which I was a student back in 1986), projects went beyond hierarchies and disciplinary specificities. They actually focused on the city using (often simultaneously) scenography, cinema, architecture, design and art tools. The telecommunication revolution deeply transformed urban and domestic spaces with the result that functions and behaviors would overlap, multiply, and merge.
Turning to hybridization led to the encounter of different logics within the design culture 9
The didactic researches on new living archetypes carried out at Domus Academy fully got this conflict between traditional typologies and new ways of living
The Masters projects focusing on the hybrid table (1991) and on the hybrid office (1992) identified two emblematic places where changes were ongoing, the functional and aesthetic identity of which had become weak and uncertain. Due to the changes in the business world, space and time organization and management within the office had become more and more similar to those within the house. The development of telecommuting and the rise of new professions made the office disappear into a new hybrid place (the home-office) or into an object (the computer). On the other side the table, abandoned any traditional rituals and took in new behaviors and new forms of socialization; through new tools and new food industry products, the table was opening up to cultural exchanges and gastronomic experimentation. The diversity amongst students, coming to the Academy from all over the world, ensured a multicultural vision of table-related projects. In the Nineties, the didactic researches on new living archetypes carried out at Domus Academy fully got this conflict between traditional typologies and new ways of living. They deconstructed disciplines while integrating in the projects different thinking frameworks, architecture and design, micro- and macro-systems (electronics and metropolis). Even Passepartout (1998) - the livable furniture I designed with Dante Donegani for Edra - and the convertible rug Xito (1998) by Giovanni Levanti for Campeggi were, in those years, the expression of a new hierarchy according to which furniture was contributing in creating a space (just like architecture) rather then being absorbed by it. Objects became places. For example Piano Seduto (2000), by Jae Kyu Lee for Radice was a cushionoffice; Sneaker (2006) by Giovanni Levanti for Campeggi was an upholstered furniture able to create a gym-relax space. Pieces of furniture beyond traditional typologies defined innovative environments. Some examples are the Tatlin couch by Mario Cananzi and Roberto Semprini (1989), the Mobil clothes hanger by Karen Chekerdjian (1999) - both designed for Edra – and the Stones of Glass lamp (2002) by Marco Romanelli and Marta Laudani for Oluce. Agronica (1995), rural and computer oriented, cabled and natural, Lost in identity 10
Left page:
Passepartout
Donegani & Lauda, Edra, 1998
Top:
Xito
Giovanni Levanti, Campeggi, 1999 Center:
Piano Seduto
Jae Kyu Lee, Radice, 2000 Bottom:
Sneaker
Giovanni Levanti, Campeggi, 2006
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Lost in identity 12
Left page:
Stones of glasses
Marco Romanelli and Marta Laudani, Oluce, 2009 Top:
Tatlin
Mario Cananzi and Roberto Semprini, Edra, 1989 Bottom:
Mobil
Karen Chekerdjian, Edra, 1999
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This page:
Felicity vending machine
Kuang Ting Hsiao, Chi Rong Hsu, Jervis Chua. Project leaders: Dante Denegani and Giovanni Lauda, 2010
Left page from top to bottom:
Parmenide
Alejandro Ruiz, Alessi, 1994
Toothpick cactus Larry Laske, Knoll, 1993 Happy Egg
Pierangelo Caramia, Alessi, 1993
Rio
Pierangelo Caramia, Alessi, 1990
Lost in identity 14
A crysis of identities: all of these “hybrid” objects, which are the results of opposed identities, represented the state of things, meaning the varied and ambiguous nature of contemporary production
was a project integrating architecture and landscape architecture, structural and environmental systems, buildings and landscapes. Off-the-shelf houses and service-houses developed in the Master at Domus Academy in 1997(2) integrated new economy consumption models in the architectural project; in fact, they imagined shared areas and “free loan” furniture that determined the flexibility and reversibility of spaces and domestic activities. The topic of hybridization thus expressed the ongoing changes and the encounter between different disciplines and cultural models within the project. The objects developed within the Halfbreed-Meticcio (2000)(3) research expressed this “hybrid” condition, integrating product and packaging, combining ancient rituals with new behaviors, and using artisanal and industrial components, low and high tech, heavy duty and throw away. A crisis of identities: all of these “hybrid” objects, which are the results of opposed identities, represented the state of things, meaning the varied and ambiguous nature of contemporary production. A state of things in which design does not think about tidying up any longer, yet it looks for a new balance amongst contrasting logics, allowing traditional elements and bearer of innovation and cultural diversity to coexist. Since 2000 onwards this new equilibrium, in which both behavioral and functional/aesthetic contrasts had become physiological, emerged in the didactic researches focusing on new categories for objects interpretation (Luxury, Fetish, Monstrous, Shapeless, Eccentric, etc…). This is especially evident in many of the exhibited projects. First examples are the tools thought for a new conviviality and those that interpret an new etiquette: objects that shape that “hybrid table” we talked about, and new product typologies related to new behaviors. Rio (1990), the salt and pepper shakers by Pierangelo Caramia for Alessi are held like south American maracas; Happy egg (1993), ceramic tea infuser by Caramia for Alessi, looks like a holy water aspersorium or a sticked olive in a Martini glass. Parmenide (1994), by Alejandro Ruiz for Alessi, is an ergonomic grater/container: it collects and preserves the cheese, it is easy to hold to grate the cheese, and it can be laid on the table. The Salad servers (2011) 15
Top:
Right page top:
Jae kyu Lee, Rotaliana, 2004
Philippe Bestenheider, Varaschin, 2011
Eyeball
Bottom left:
Nest
Right page bottom left:
Center right:
Nick Bewick and Michele De Lucchi, Castelli
Kuno Prey, Rosti Mepal, 1990
Right page bottom right:
Bottom:
Juan Carlos Viso, Vanalextra, 2012
Silvio De Ponte, Lumen Center Italia, 2012
Drainer
Arcadia Swing
Pierangelo Caramia, Xo, 1987
Lost in identity 16
Swirl
Tutti work architecture
Regolo
17
Top right:
Right page:
Ran Lerner, Joseph Joseph
Pascal Tarabay, Pandora Design, 2000
Salad Spoon
Center:
Oberon
Beach chair
Larry Laske, BeachThingy, 2007 Bottom:
Memorie
Daniela Archiutti, Maria Elisabetta Bauce, self production, 2011
by Ran Lerner for Joseph Joseph are two elements that can be joined together when stored, or when used as a single, large serving spoon. The ceramic plates Oberon (2000) by Pascal Tarabay for Pandora design were designed especially for the aperitif and have a handle that makes it easy to eat comfortably and elegantly while standing. Memorie (2011) is a series of tablecloths designed by Daniela Archiutti: they are already “dirty” and worn. In the pursuit of a new bon ton, wine and vegetable marks left by the flatware are fixed on the fabric by a high temperature finish, with the aim of obtaining a function-related decoration. In 2010, a design workshop was organized, focusing on the topic of shared conviviality (places for outdoor dining, meeting, working, and traveling…). Beach chair (2007), by Larry Laske is a plastic chair back with no seat that, when in the sand, turns the beach into an environment where people can relax, read, and comfortably eat while being in touch with nature. The boundaries between objects disappear, causing linguistic and typological short circuits. For example, in the Alessilux (2010) bulb collection, by Frederic Gooris, all hierarchies between lamps and bulbs are cancelled: bulbs are not hidden anymore, and become micro-lamps, with archetypicalshaped shades. Contrasts and contradictions amongst languages, materials, and technologies characterized even the exhibited products, that express a new, ironic and surreal, kind of luxury. These last ones are aesthetic “whims”, like the Amsterdam (2005) mirror by Monica Moro for Ravarini e Castoldi, which is cut as a diamond, or the Lord (2010) tray - with its border made by several different handles -, and the Fildefer (2011) garden chair - where the metal rods make an upholstered tufted armchair – both designed by Alessandra Baldereschi for Skitsch. Jewelry also reaches beyond the idea of status symbol and the wealth display: they are not simple decorations for the body or the garments, but become Lost in identity 18
19
Left:
Minou
Frederic Gooris, Alessi, 2012 Bottom:
Fildefer
Alessandra Baldereschi, Skitsch, 2011
Right page top:
Vienna
Frederic Gooris, Alessi LUX | Foreverlamp, 2011 Right page center:
Lord
Alessandra Baldereschi, Skitsch, 2012 Right page bottom:
Amsterdam
Monica Moro, Ravarini Castoldi, 2002
Lost in identity 20
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Lost in identity 22
Left page:
Padme
Mercedes Jaén Ruiz, Gandía Blasco, 2007 Top:
Savon du Chef
Frederic Gooris, Alessi, 2012 Center:
Niki
Larry Laske, OWO Bottom:
Tapetimer
Joseph Forakis, Kikkerland, 2005
interpretations of a new idea of wellbeing, multifunctional objects with an identity that straddles fashion and design. Minou (2010) by Frederic Gooris for Alessi is a cat-shaped jewel, and a bag hook to be hanged to the office or restaurant table. The erotic jewels Paradise Found (2009) by Betony Vernon are designed to massage, tickle, stimulate imaginations, and more… The expressive ambiguity, the use of affective and emotional values, the recycle of familiar images that characterize the previous projects are found in the Padme (2008) rug by Mercedes Jaen Ruiz for Gandia Blasco (in which the decoration is embroidered by overlapping wool and cotton) and in three “surreal” products: Niki (1989) by Larry Laske, Tapetimer (2004) by Jozeph Forakis for Kikkerland, and Savon du chef (2012) by Frederic Gooris for Alessi. The first one is an ashtray designed as a chipped cup, the second one is a kitchen timer shaped like a tape measure: you pull up the tape to set the time. The third is a garlic shaped odor remover in stainless steel: you just need to rub it between your hands under cold running water to remove (through ion migration) any onion, garlic, or fish smell (1)
Andrea Branzi, La Quarta Metropoli, Domus Academy Edizioni ,1990
Medium 2 - I semilavorati dell’abitare (Semi-finished products of living). Masters in design 1996. Professors: Dante Donegani, Giovanni Lauda. Design brief: design connecting the components of living. A new relationship amongst products, architecture, and city. The undefined line between public and private space. A new urbanization model of the house that corresponds to that of the product and opens up new frontiers in goods production. Evolutionary accommodations for transitory populations, gained values and values to be gained, new services and old rituals. The idea of living without architecture, through the stratification of the urban territory in a temporary and casual order and the domestic space management while individual opportunities change. The free space and the pleasure of consuming. (2)
(3) Half breed- Meticcio. Masters in design 2000. Professors: Dante Donegani, Giovanni Lauda. Design brief: the half-breed project is: combine heavy-duty and disposable, products and packaging to set individual consumption free from owning expensive and final hardware; combine functions and activities to obtain a better life mobility; combine old rituals and new behaviors in order to establish new hierarchies and new relationships amongst domestic activities.
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Lost in production Niko Koronis In Richard Sennett’s book “The Craftsman”, one reads how the homo faber (or “man as maker”) stands in opposition to the homo laborans and how, in contemporary culture, Immanuel Kant’s dictum that “the hand is the window on to the mind” might seem more suitable than ever. Much like Adam Smith, who had concluded that machines would indeed end the project of Enlightenment, Sennett makes the case that it is only through the craftwork that human beings might be able to gain a “true understanding”. This, however, does not mean that we should even start reconsidering the utopia of a craft based economy, simply because handmade things are far better (in many ways) than machine-made ones. Such ideas had been passionately advocated in the second half of the 19th century by people such as John Ruskin and William Morris, when industrial production seemed to threaten everything that was important and sacred in the Arts and Crafts of that period. And Henrik Ibsen’s Master Builder, provided us with a beautiful account of what happened to all these who attempted to “do battle with technology.” Ever since Hermann Muthesius’ Stilarchitektur und Baukunst and his theories about design’s new identity in a rapidly evolving economy, and the introduction of Ford’s T-Model, the “designer” and the “craftsman” have for the most part occupied different spheres of responsibility; the former created the detailed plans that the latter would then go and adjust, translate and sometimes replicate in very large quantities. Furthermore, the prominent emphasis on, or preoccupation with the acquisition of consumer goods that defined the second half of the previous century was driven entirely by industrial production, while what political economists called “commodity fetishism” – that phenomenon when object acquires a perceived value that is far greater than its actual production cost – was principally embodied by industrial perfection. But as many recent developments in the world of design might testify, it seems that we are increasingly swapping one fetish for another.
Personal weight scale Elena Niccolini, Omer Alcan, Amyas wade.
Planning the earth
in Collaboration with the Ceramics Network of Limoges, executed by Viceversa. Project leaders: Isao Hosoe, Ernesto Spicciolato and Maarten Kusters.
The incomplete becomes a positive event in our understanding, it stimulates us as simulation and facile manipulation of complete objects cannot
“Lost in Production”, this part of the exhibition that celebrates thirty years of research and experimentation in Domus Academy, proves above all that in a culture with a oversupply of branding, market driven policies and inexpensive mass-produced objects, where cheap technologies in emerging economies sometimes create a huge problem in quality control, design is increasingly aspiring to craftsmanship. From what is quantitative, industrial and “hightech”, we are experiencing the signs of what is qualitative, craft oriented and “high-touch”. Here are objects reminiscent of the past and molded by the present, critical and autonomous of modern-day commercial culture. Objects that (some more successfully than others) manage to challenge the prevailing idea that the industrial present has triumphed over the artisan past. Objects that, in our current environment of computer precision, of technologically aided perfectionism that can degrade into a self conscious demonstration or of the constantly diminishing sympathy for contingency, incompleteness and constraint, seem to remind us the need to reflect on the fact that maybe as good and valid way to meaningfully innovate is to first revisit and subsequently understand old, sometimes even primitive models and paradigms. This is evident for example in the work done by Marco Romanelli for Driade. Mediterraneo is a “system” of serving plates and bowls whose organic forms have not been “designed” but have been borrowed from the sun drenched Mediterranean landscapes. The absence of a “perfect” form leads Romanelli to suggest an infinite number of “imperfect” shapes, making therefore Mediterraneo an “open” project. These objects work as a proposal, as pictures of possibilities, perfect not only (or not a hundred percent) in execution but also in the fact that they start as a sketch, capable of constantly evolving. The incomplete becomes a positive event in our understanding, it stimulates us as simulation and facile manipulation of complete objects cannot. When put together, these forms manage to recreate primitive sceneries familiar to all of us; that of the stones smoothed by the water and the shells that gather together after the tide. This capacity to narrate a story and bring back images of the past also appears in the work 25
Lost in production 26
Left page:
Se i sassi parlassero
Project leaders Isao Hosoe, Ernesto Spicciolato, Marteen Kusters. Students: Chen-Yu Lu, Francisco Javier Pastor Castillo, Eva Kumi Furio Yamano. Planning the earth in collaboration with Ceramics Network of Limoges. Master in Design, 1996
Top:
Mediterraneo
Marco Romanelli, Driade, 2002 Bottom:
Vague
Defne Koz, Alessi, 2004
by Defne Koz, whose design for Lipton redefines the icon and the ritual of the Turkish tea. Local yet global, traditional yet contemporary, Koz’s archetypal design manages to immediately connect the viewer to a unique cultural context and tradition by employing shared aesthetics (i.e. through the absence of a handle and the hourglass shape). Koz manages to take a generic, functional article and place it firmly in a larger cultural reference, while contemporary geometries and updated proportions make the tea cup more reflective of the designer’s distinct personality and bring it into the shared values of beauty and function. The issue of the designer’s distinct personality is something that also characterizes the work of Karen Chekerdjian. Chekerdjian’s Random plates are much more than just what a first, brief reading might suggest; i.e. a research on the memory of the traces that one leaves behind on a daily basis. These randomly placed outlines of forks and knifes are Chekerdjian’s personal marks of her presence on the object. These maker’s marks are rather peculiar signs that demonstrate an interesting category of material consciousness. Chekerdjian leaves a personal mark of her existence on the objects she designs. In the history of craftsmanship, these maker’s marks usually have carried no political message, as for example graffiti on a wall can. They have simply been the statements that most of the times anonymous labourers have imposed on inherent materials: “I made this,” or “I am here, in this work,” which is to say, “I exist.” Chekerdjian’s work therefore offers us an understanding of the designer’s identity and the politics of presence. Something befitting a designer coming from Lebanon, where plural technologies exist within over-lapping philosophies of the traditional-modern, rural-urban, east- west, religious-secular, etc. The work of Tomoko Mizu for the Sardinian company Nonsoloferro introduces the viewer to a second category of material consciousness. Sardinia is by far Italy’s biggest producer of cork, and in the recent years several attempts have been made to support small and medium sized businesses operating in the local natural-cork industry. Mizu’s chair, at first glance does the obvious; it consolidates the worldwide reputation of 27
Top left:
Lipton Teacup
Defne Koz, Lipton, 2010 Top right:
Random Fork, Knife, Spoon Plate
Karen Chekerdjian, self production, 2010 Bottom:
Tapp-o
Tomoko Mizu, NonSoloFerro, 2009
Lost in production 28
Right page:
Babylon
Harry&Camila, Dedon, 2010
high-quality Sardinian cork, not only in the field of wine but also in the fields of furnishings, and artistic craftwork, amongst others. Yet, at the same time, Mizu’s chair is a demonstration of how experiential knowledge can become a direct stimulus to innovation. Mizu proves to us that the designer must be familiar not only with where, when and how to source his/her materials, but also with the best ways of giving them form. Yet, it is only through working with the material repeatedly, experimenting, failing and trying again, that the designer becomes familiar with its properties well enough to coax it into shape. Craft culture, is thus particularly well suited to innovation. This innovation, as Mizu shows, is the result of design thinking born from the designer’s acts of processing and shaping raw materials in his or her hands. This mode of design thinking based in the experience of craft has been recently called “subtle technology” and is uniquely placed to present us with a model for sustainability and innovation for contemporary design practice. On a similar note, the Babylon series by Harry&Camila is an interesting example of how crafts can become elegantly progressive. Their most recent work comprises garden vases produced in a special type of ceramic that feature irregular surfaces and asymmetrical forms created by advanced computer software. To the extent that a designer is connected to his or her craft through personal, “hands on” experience, that relationship is impossible to replicate, ipso facto craftwork will always maintain a strong element of uniqueness. This is evident in the work by Daniela Archiutti, whose plates are a result of a long and personal research into the production of ceramic artefacts. Being preoccupied with the demise of local craftsmanship in the region of Nove (once very famous for its ceramics) and the subsequent lack or research from the local ceramic industries, Archiutti’s work shows how good craftsmanship comprises a dialogue between concrete practices and thinking; this dialogue evolves into sustaining habits, and these habits establish a rhythm between problem solving and problem finding. Having approached three ceramic companies in Nove who helped her become familiar with the production process of ceramic plates, Archiutti went on to
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(...) one that is all about doing good work and being curious, about investigating and learning from ambiguity and uncertainty
Lost in production 30
choose the moulds that were amongst the most indicative of past collective memories. Part of Archiutti’s way of working involved a close collaboration with skilled craftsmen, whose traditional and long-established technique of glazing the bisque, led to the actual decoration of the plates. Mario Trimarchi’s La Stanza dello Scirocco for Alessi is another example of what can be considered a craftsman’s approach to the design of industrially produced objects. This is an object that although it might appear almost banal to the untrained eye, it has its long story to narrate; one that is all about doing good work and being curious, about investigating and learning from ambiguity and uncertainty. Trimarchi started his collection of steel table-centrepieces by composing different shapes made from cardboard rectangles. After several months of trying and dozens of unsatisfactory formal compositions, Trimarchi arrived at what appeared to be a pleasing result. Nevertheless, what seemed to be more interesting was the interplay of shadows that the first prototype was casting on the table on which it was placed. The design of this centrepiece thus became a detailed research on shadows, their physiognomy and their implied characteristics. As a result, instead of relying on the ever-elevating resolution levels of computers, Trimarchi returned to the craft of sketching. Yet, this was not a retreat triggered by nostalgia: his observation addressed what gets lost mentally when screen work replaces physical drawing. In the process of sketching shadows over and over again, Trimarchi got deeply involved in them; he crystallized them and managed to eventually redefine an almost banal object. Apart from metalworking, woodworking is the other ancient and traditional production method in the area where Alessi has its roots: the Strona valley in northern Italy. So as not to lose this precious link with tradition, in 1988 Alessi acquired the oldest original company in the valley, Battista Piazza 1865. As a result, several very interesting objects have been issued, among which the Twergi kitchen tools. Made of cherry wood, they were designed by Kuno Prey in the mid 1990s when objects were becoming more and more wacky, ironic, plastic, humorous, luxurious and sometimes
Left Page:
Memorie
Daniela Archiutti, Maria Elisabetta Bauce, self production, 2011 Top:
La Stanza dello Scirocco
Mario Trimarchi, Alessi, 2009 Bottom:
Intanto
Mario Trimarchi, Alessi, 2009
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Lost in production 32
Left page:
Top right:
Volver
Saje: Aleph, Waw, Ya
Top left:
Bottom left:
Kuno Prey, Alessi, 1996
Constantin Boym, Gaia & Gino, 2008
Paolo Zani, Warli, 2010
Twergi collection
Karen Chekerdjian, self production, 2010
Skyscraper
Bottom right:
Cuc첫
Pascal Tarabay, Diamantini & Domeniconi, 2005
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Lost in production 34
Left:
Mate
Geert Koster, Metalarte, 2010
Right:
Circus,
Defne Koz, Foscarini 1994
Bottom:
Twister
Rodrigo Torres, Busso, 2005
obsessed with forms destitute of real meanings. Against such a background, Prey’s work can be regarded as an act of courage and a deliberate evolutionary throwback, since his almost primitive forms signify a tendency to revert to ancestral types and rediscover the almost atavistic qualities of mass-produced objects. The issue of ancestral types is what surfaces once more when one comes across the work of Pascal Tarabay for Diamantini and Domeniconi. Yet, unlike Twergi, the powder coated Cuckoo clock is a masterful “transformation” of a traditional archetypal design into a two dimensional graphical representation. Borrowing stylistic cues from both modern minimalist and traditional decorative movements, Tarabay intentionally distorts the real, typical and handcrafted wall-clock carved in the German Black Forest style, in order to make it appear “correct” to the viewer and satisfy what is his/her almost postindustrial nostalgia for the pre-industrial. The writing of a comprehensive text on the relationship between the crafts and design based on the work of Domus Academy’s graduates has been a daunting prospect, not simply in terms of the seemingly limitless range of the material available from which such a text might be fashioned, but also in terms of the considerable geographical and chronological scope which might be encompassed. As it has been seen, this relationship is very rich and convoluted, and hence like any other text with a considerably limited length, these couple of pages could not exhaust all that needs saying about it. Choices had therefore to be made, and the objects/designers that have appeared in this text have been selected on a personal belief that they are some of the most significant and of the highest consequence. Undoubtedly, others could have also been introduced, or some of those included could have been omitted in the first place. This text attempted to give an exposition of only a few aspects of that relationship, without however ever suggesting that there are not other things to be said. One the contrary, it is hoped that these omissions will stimulate more research and reflections that will further confirm the postulate that the crafts’ influence on the theory as well as the practice of design is nowadays more relevant that ever 35
Top:
Manta
Rodrigo Torres, Poliform, 2008 Center:
Dress
Defne Koz, Foscarini, 1996 Bottom:
Pane e salame
Gordon Guillaumier, Bosa, 2004
Lost in production 36
Right page:
BookHook
Omer Unal, OUD, 2011
37
Lost in materials Claudia Raimondo Right page top:
Mutant
Araceli Silva Canillas, Transversal Microenvironments. In collaboration with Seat, 2001. Project leaders: Claudia Raimondo, Marc Sadler Right page bottom:
Purism, no tiling please
Huang, Han-Yi. In Collaboration with Vietri Ceramic Group. Project leaders: Claudia Raimondo, Luca Buttafava, 2005
What the projects of this section have in common can be defined in many different ways. The different definitions and titles used to describe the projects in this part of the catalog are indicators of the opportunities to define an area where - despite everyone being aware of its richness – it is difficult to assign an autonomous status, given that the subject is what things and forms are made of: why define the design of materials as a specific area of the design culture? The answer to this question is part of the history of Domus Academy; it lies in the very nature of the design project and of the research developed in recent years by the school within the horizon of contemporary design culture. Domus Academy has the great merit to have been able to promote - in the thirty years that we are celebrating - a different system to subdivide topics and to define themes within the inexorable process of teaching “commoditification” that has characterized the birth and growth of design schools in recent decades. Since the foundation of the Academy, the titles of the courses and workshops have highlighted the intrinsic complexity of the design culture, merely suggesting a possible change in viewpoint, an ability to focus, or to bring forward parts of a continuum that no one wishes nor wished to reduce to strict disciplinary subdivisions. As seen in the list of animals by Borges (Borges, Jorge Luis, the essay was originally published as “El idioma analítico de John Wilkins”, the themes are heterogeneous and overlapping. They highlight something that is strongly interrelated and present in other fields and areas of research. The projects in this section show a particular emphasis on the materials used in product innovation, in the definition of new forms of expression, in the balancing of combinations, contrasts and synesthesias found in the technical-aesthetic characterization of surfaces and components. In order to sort them, we referred to three thematic areas corresponding to the fields of research developed in the history of teaching at Domus Academy based on materials and design.
The projects in this section show a particular emphasis on the materials used in product innovation, in the definition of new forms of expression, in the balancing of combinations, contrasts and synesthesias found in the technicalaesthetic characterization of surfaces and components 39
Lost in materials 40
The materials no longer have a unique appearance, but can be shaped into a multiplicity of different images, the new potential for technological flexibility allows a multiplicity of different product solutions
Left page top:
Yuko
Philippe Casens with Pierluigi Cerri and Francesco Pozzato, Desalto, 2006 Left page center:
Nouvelle Vague Cristophe Pillet, Porro, 2005
Left page bottom:
Bella
Maddalena Casadei, Marsotto Edizioni, 2010
Top:
Solar Bottle
Francisco Gomez Paz e Alberto Meda, www.solarbottle.org, 2007
1 - Materials and Technologies The title introduces the technical front as a reassuring “river bank” to approach the field dedicated to designing materials of which the objects and the environment in which we live are made of. The scenario of these projects is the change of the world of materials production anticipated by Ezio Manzini (Manzini, Ezio, La materia dell’invenzione, Arcadia, Milano, 1996) and transferred in real time in the educational contents of the school: “The materials no longer have a unique appearance, but can be shaped into a multiplicity of different images, the new potential for technological flexibility allows a multiplicity of different product solutions”. In this area we begin to see the first collaborations with major companies that produce materials and semifinished products, which enter the world of design and design culture through the themes of technologies and languages innovation. 2 – CFM. The design of colors, finishes and materials - what Clino Castelli abbreviates as CFM - is a simple project theme, a title that appears across all the projects and issues that are developed time after time. Together with interaction, relationship, archetypes. These are the themes of the multi logic vision of the design culture that has characterized Domus Academy. In these design projects, it is the surface to take on the task of ritualizing and making the environments in which we live livable. These are the so-called Soft qualities, the elements of space that are not structures, the interfaces between us and the artificial world around us. A world that is often imposed, of which we can renew the dialogic part through the design of decorations, light, color, sound 41
Top:
Meridiana
Christophe Pillet, Driade, 2004 Bottom right:
Havana
Jozeph Forakis, Foscarini, 1994
Lost in materials 42
Right page;
Hope
Francisco Gomez Paz and Paolo Rizzatto, Luceplan, 2009
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Top:
Tino e Milo
Kuno Prey, Danese, 1987 Bottom:
Nanook
Philippe Bestenheider, Moroso, 2008
Right page top:
Flow - Impronte special Edition
Terri Pecora, Simas, 2004-2010 Right page center:
Blu Canela
Harry&Camila, Rosenthal, 2005 Right page bottom:
Jaipur
Gordon Guillaumier, Varaschin, 2007
Lost in materials 44
systems, tactile and olfactory characteristics. Soft qualities, far from being considered accessories, often represent the very essence of the new concept of the environment and the product, linguistic semi-finished products that deeply determine the conformation of what is artificial. 3 - Design primario is the name - born from the insight of Clino Castelli and Andrea Branzi - we have used in Domus Academy since its foundation, to indicate this point of view on the design project. The growing medium of primary design is the meta-project, meaning what is behind or alongside the design project, where the values of intersubjectivity and sharing make their statement and find their place. Primary design concerns aspects which cannot be taught with engineering precision - such as technical characteristics or the size of an object - but are instead of a cultural nature, like music, which can be the subject of notation, but cannot be measured. “The very choice of the name Primary Design according to Antonio Petrillo - sounds like a contentious statement. He refers to the distinction already posed by Galileo and then explicitly put forward by Locke. They both considered two different types of quality: the primary qualities, such as size, mass, the specific weight of a body that could be said to be objective, were exactly quantifiable and measurable; on the other hand, the subjective qualities such as color, taste, smell that were subjectively variable, could not be measured. Both for Galileo and Locke, the duty of science was to devote itself uniquely to objective qualities, leaving out the subjective ones, far too uncertain and not enlistable within dimensions that could be determined univocally. In this way, science first, and later modern culture, ended up neglecting the whole dimension of individual fruition. They pushed even further away the determination of quality from the concrete ways in which it is actually experienced and valued by individuals. Primary Design aims, instead, at exploring this world of evaluations in which subjective perceptions are the effective methods that come into play and shape a world of values and negative situations that may stimulate or dishearten it.” (Antonio Petrillo, from the Domus Academy Master project briefing. The reference text for this project area is C. Castelli, A. Petrillo, Lingotto primario, Arcadia, Milano, 1985). In the most recent projects we have used primary as the adjective to indicate something intact, native, which exists in its original state and has not been, relatively speaking, touched by human activities. Primary are the environments with the greatest biodiversity such as the primary forest, the most complete diary on the evolution of life. Therefore, primary means the potentiality and richness of a design project: its ”biodiversity”
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Lost in materials 46
Left page:
Mozia
Giovanni Levanti, Diamantini & Domeniconi, 2009
Top:
“Past and present� collection Terri Pecora, Silhouette, 1994 Center:
Twin collection
Terri Pecora, Escudama, 2003 Bottom:
Shine
Shinobu Ito, Nava Design, 2009
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Lost in materials 48
Left page top:
Top:
Art Gallery
4D
Left page bottom:
Bottom:
Omer Unal, self production, 2004
Aki Motoyama/ Domus Academy Design, Brix. Project leader: Eliana Lorena, 2012
Sander Brouwer, Whirlpool, 2012
Salk覺m
Defne Koz, Vitra, 2010
Cloud
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Lost in action Claudio Moderini
Design the behavior then, of people most of all but also of the objects, gestures and actions, objects that move and change, daily micro-actions that tread the boards
It has been a long time since Achille Castiglioni, great master of Italian Design, asserted that to design an object actually means to design the user’s behavior. This interpretation is especially relevant now more than ever, since we live in a world densely populated with all kinds of electronic objects, characterized by unexpected functionalities. It certainly is a world of actions, but also of gestures that at times take on specific meanings, as illustrated by the communication landscape that Bruno Munari cleverly presented in his “Speak Italian: The Fine Art of the Gesture”. Some gestures become interaction archetypes, such as bringing your hand to your ear to listen, or covering your mouth to whisper – which are all gestures that electronic consumer products capture and amplify. Some gestures are obsolete or disappeared, like rotating the telephone disk to dial the number: a gesture that is now replaced by the numeric keyboard and more recently by the contact list, which does it all. Thus, some gestures remain and some disappear, new ones appear and often bewilder us: which of us hasn’t wondered – once, at least – about a “Mr. Somebody” roaming around, gesticulating, and yelling his point of view, to then discover that he was actually talking on the phone using headphones? Or, how could we not agree with the image evoked during a lesson on design and interaction held at the end of the Eighties by Denis Santachiara - if memory serves me right –, which talked about men and women acting weird, stopping along the streets, getting closer to the wall as to talk to the building, while actually taking money out the ATM machine? Design the behavior then, of people most of all but also of the objects, gestures and actions, objects that move and change, daily micro-actions that tread the boards. This point of view, programmatically anticipated by Castiglioni, was also one of the core topics Domus Academy Research Center focused on in the early Nineties. At the time, the research center was directed by Marco Susani and the topic, developed through the activity of
Top:
Scatole, scatole
Marco Susani, Mario Trimarchi, with Elisabeth Vidal. “The Solid Side�, Domus Academy and Philips Design, 1995
Bottom:
Il metro della salute (Health Meter)
Project leaders: Ezio Manzini and Denis Santachiara. Student: Alexandra Korra, Master in Design, 1987
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They are then followed by really indiscreet objects, pervasive and with an electric or electronic “soul” that allows them to communicate and talk to us; these objects that drag us into whirling daily choreographies of gestures, actions and behaviors
Lost in action 52
the Smart Tool Lab, was presented in the now out of print book curated by Giovanni Anceschi : “Il progetto delle interfacce, oggetti colloquiali e protesi virtuali” (“Designing interfaces, colloquial objects and virtual prosthesis”). Design thoughts on the nature of electric and electronic objects, and on whether or not they are actually able to positively influence the world of contemporary design. It is a sort of neo-Enlightenment where the design belief is based on the humanization of technology, on the performative intelligence of objects, and on their impact on the daily territory made of spaces, people and information, and especially of relations. Behaviors that become evident through actions, gestures that intertwine with daily life moments, and in which the objects – even those presented in the “Lost in translation” exhibition – play an active role and become mediators, activators, partners. Thus, I would like to read all of these objects, some of which are electronic, with a specific and distinctive identity, some serious, some odd and playful. I would like to read them not through a historical or typological key, nor for their way to interpret the different design languages – made of shapes, materials, and aesthetic qualities. In fact, I would like to read them for their ability to establish an active dialogue with the people that use them, touch them, manipulate and wear them. After the discreet objects presented at Galleria Mudima in Milan in 1997, the new generation of “almost discreet” – quiet yet provocative - objects make the scene. They are then followed by really indiscreet objects, pervasive and with an electric or electronic “soul” that allows them to communicate and talk to us; these objects that drag us into whirling daily choreographies of gestures, actions and behaviors. Take me and put me back down: amongst the “almost discreet” objects the exhibition presents the “Enorme” phone, co-designed by Marco Susani in 1987.
Left page top:
Fingertop
Project leader: Marco Susani. Student: Mishael Tsoreff, 1993 Left page bottom:
Irony Scuba 200 Joseph Forakis, Swatch Irony, 1998 Top:
Teaser
Sottsass Associati (Ettore Sottsass, Marco Susani),
Seiko, 1992 Bottom:
Enorme
Sottsass Associati (Ettore Sottsass, Marco Zanini, Marco Susani), 1987
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Top:
Multipot
Donegani & Lauda, Rotaliana, 2005 Bottom:
Diva
Donegani & Lauda, Rotaliana, 2009
Lost in action 54
Left:
Zen Concpet
Motorola Advanced Concepts Group (Marco Susani with Joonwoo Park), Motorola, 2001
Right page top:
Talak
Neil Poulton, Artemide, 20052007 Right page bottom:
v70
Jozeph Forakis, Motorola, 2002
It is a small architecture in primary colors, following the style of Sottsass, who loved stable objects with a large base. The phone seems to say: “take me, but put me back down right away!”. Move, look, touch: along the same line, the watches designed in 1992 by Sottsass Associati with the contribution of Marco Susani for Seiko surprise us with their being essential, and remind us that the watch – first amongst the personal and emotional objects, followed by the fountain pen - is now less and less used as it is being replaced by the mobile phone (which, amongst the thousand of other things, also tells us time and date). Despite this, the watch still remains an interesting object, carrying precise technology, and presenting great expressive potential. It is an object that expresses itself by triggering the automatic, almost instinctive, gesture of rapidly stretching the arm out, and as rapidly bend it to show the dial from under the sleeve. It is an object that penetrates our daily life by marking the time but that, with its numbers displayed on a yellow background, asking to be touched and mixing visual and tactile qualities, anticipates the entrance of touch screens in our daily life. The “Irony Scuba 200” watch, designed by Jozeph Forakis for Swatch, also almost flaunts its tactile and iconic dimensions. Its peculiar elements – the spherical shape, the curved surface of the glass, and the integrated nut – ask to be touched. This characteristic is also evident in another Forakis’ project: the keyboard for SwatchTalk, one of the first wrist phone ever produced. Set aside, connect, and take back: the gesture of emptying the pockets at the end of the day, put away daily use objects, and then take them back in the morning, just before getting out of the door: “Multipot”, by Donegani and Lauda for Rotaliana, is a lamp/ container that holds and charges electronic devices. It represents a new typology of hybrid and multifunctional objects, in which the message straddle aesthetic and performance. Offer your hand and accompany: the gesture of offering your hand like a “Diva” – another multifunctional lamp by Donegani and Lauda: it is no easy thing to understand it, as it certainly does not belong to the usual lamp typologies we are all used to. Its shape recalls the monolith from “2001: A Space Odyssey” and the perforated base makes it clear to the user that this object can do more. In fact, it can play music and hold/charge your iPhone and, when you lift up a corner, you can uncover the light: its shape thus turns into a substance made of ray lights and sounds. Opening up like a fan, and reveal: the “Motorola V70”, yet another object designed by Forakis, offers a reinterpretation of the classic shell-like opening originally introduced on the market by Motorola, to which it is inspired. The typically masculine opening gesture, which recalls the opening of an army knife, becomes here more gentle and elegant - recalling that of a fan – and it is obtained through an 55
Top:
Blur
Motorola MotoBlur user interface: Motorola Digital Design (Creative Director: Marco Susani), Motorola, 2009
Left page top:
Thermometer
Jozeph Forakis, Plugg, 2012 Left page center:
Rugged
Neil Poulton, LaCie, 2006 Left page bottom:
FireWire speakers
Neil Poulton, LaCie, 2007
Lost in action 56
innovative opening mechanisms: the rotator. Here, the upper part rotates clockwise pivoting around the screen, and reveals the keyboard. Grasp, squeeze and caress: in 2001 Marco Susani and Joonwoo Park at Motorola Advanced Concept Group, develops “Zen”, “ a concept that introduces a flip made of translucent material, which while protecting the screen with an iridescent cover (that was, at the time the latest innovation in sunglasses: it was used to color the lenses of mirrored sunglasses) still allows the user to see the screen when closed. It is an object to be squeezed in your hand and that from time to time, even when closed, transmits the typical light signals of the digital communication. Connect, wear, and control: along the line of the well known Nike+ - the running shoes sensor that communicates with the iPod and turns work-out in a social experience – and amongst the discreet objects with an indiscreet “soul” we find “Up” by Jawbone, and a preview of “Plugg”, the new series of iPhone add-ons. These both are witness of a delicate equilibrium between the physicality of the product – portable and wearable – and the fluidity of the digital information. “Up” is a wristband that helps you to live healthier, for which Roberto Tagliabue designed the whole “user experience”. A sensor tracks your physical activity and communicates with an iPhone app that analyzes and elaborates the data to make them visible and easily readable. It also presents a social aspect based on the idea of sharing both data and experiences around the concept of wellbeing. Jozeph Forakis focuses on the eco-system that surrounds, integrates, enhances, and enriches the ubiquitous iPhone and designs “Plugg”. Plugg is a series of mono-functional objects that, when connected to the Smartphone, gather different kinds of data and information and share them with the other users, enabling spontaneous community creation, organized by activity (health and wellbeing, lifestyle and entertainment, work and utilities). Scroll, browse and draw: with the latest generation interfaces, those we daily interact with when using our cell phones (like “MotoBlur” developed by Susani for Motorola), we fully get into the category of indiscreet objects - always connected and
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This page:
Jawbone Up
Roberto Tagliabue, Visere, 2011
Lost in action 58
Right page:
Clibe
Roberto Tagliabue, Visere, 2006-2012
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Lost in action 60
Left page:
Morfeo
Stefano Giovannoni with Rodrigo Torres, Domodinamica, 2004 Bottom:
Morgana
Claudio Naro, Fontana Arte, 1992
We discover the digital world with our finger, intuitively and analogically, like when we slide a piece of paper on the working surface, or when we draw on the sand with our hands. It is a world made of transfer, natural gestures that are replicated on screen
always present. In these objects, our conversations and social relations all come together on the screen’s infinite surface. Through these objects, the gestures become pure action: a one-hand gesture to scroll down information, or two-hand gesture to film and zoom. We discover the digital world with our finger, intuitively and analogically, like when we slide a piece of paper on the working surface, or when we draw on the sand with our hands. It is a world made of transfer, natural gestures that are replicated on screen. Clibe also belong to this category. Actually, myclibe.com, by Roberto Tagliabue: a digital notebook for iPad, on which you can sketch and write about your experiences, and which introduces a break and a moment to think within the fast and ephemeral flow of Facebook updates and Tweets. It represents an opportunity to distill, through drawing and writing, experiences and emotions, and fixes them in the digital world, thus creating new dialogue and relation opportunities. It is an App to trace and share, which thus synthesizes the spirit of those notes: trace a critical path and share an open thought about the unstable equilibrium between objects and behaviors. Paraphrasing the title of the exhibition, we could title this thought “Lost in action: gestural aesthetic of in/discreet objects” A.A.V.V, curated by G. Anceschi, Il progetto delle interfacce, oggetti colloquiali e protesi virtuali, Domus Academy, Milano, 1992 R. Giovanetti, N. Goettsche, Oggetti discreti: un viaggio nel mondo degli oggetti d’autore anonimo, EditoreFondazione Mudima, 1997 B. Munari, Il dizionario dei gesti italiani, Adnkronos Libri, 1994
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Designers
63
Daniela Archiutti
Alessandra Baldereschi
Daniela Archiutti, architect and designer, was born in Treviso in 1969. She graduated in architecture from IUAV in Venice in 1997, and in 1998 she attended the Master in Industrial Design at Domus Academy, where she developed a thesis on the creation of a new brand represented by “a shoe”, under the mentorship of Andrea Branzi. The following year she attended a design seminar within the new Industrial Design course at Domus Academy, once again with Andrea Branzi and Michele Zini. In 1999 she moved back to Treviso where she became product designer at Veneta Cucine, where, since 2006 she is Creative Director. Her commitment with Veneta Cucine does not limit her research activity: since 2000 she especially follows a product line that shows her approach and design vision. Since 2010 she manages and coordinates a creative lab focusing on art and design right downtown Treviso. The lab hosts and shows the work of young artists and emerging designers. Within this context, she developed her latest work “Memorie”.
Born in Milan in 1975, she received her Master at Domus Academy in 2000. Her activity spans from accessories and fashion design to light and furniture design. She participated in several editions of Salone Satellite. She developed Bosco, a highly experimental series of chairs and rugs that use leaves and natural musk, for Dilmos Edizioni. Amongst her exhibitions: Saint Étienne International Design Biennial, Inside Amsterdam, Design Festival Seoul, and Moss Gallery in New York. She is a talented story-teller and she often refers to natural elements; 2010 selected amongst the ten best new generation designer by Ad Spain; 2009 her “Le piantine” (Little Plants) are selected for the GLASS exhibition and the DesignHuis in Eindhoven, curated by Li Edelkoort; 2008 she was invited to participate in some projects at “Memoriae Visionarea” exhibition curated by S. Caggiano, Festival della creatività, Florence (2008); 2008 her Helix bottle opener was selected for the exhibition D come Design (D is for Design) in Turin, Museo Scienze naturali; 2007 her Helix bottle opener was selected for the exhibition “Invito a tavola” (Lunch invitation) during ICFF in New York; 2007 her Souffle armchair was selected for Milano Made in Design in Beijing and Shanghai.
“My arrival at Domus Academy was desired and designed to happen, before becoming absolutely phagocytised I always felt a “strange” person, even lonely and under heard. A part of me was often left quiet and because of it, very vulnerable. With my arrival in Milan everything changed, the passion I have always felt and the inner strength that was handed over to me was fundamental; and since then each one of ‘my sentiments’ is the foundation of my work.” Memorie Self product, 2011 PAG. 30
Designers 64
Memorie Self product, 2011 PAG. 18
“Domus Academy has been for me more than a school, it has been an intense life experience shared with people from all over the world. An engaging year of growth and learning that lasts in time which rarely happens.” Fildefer Alessandra Baldereschi, Skitsch, 2011 PAG. 20
Lord Alessandra Baldereschi, Skitsch, 2012 PAG. 20
Philippe Bestenheider
Nicholas Bewick
Born 1971 in Sion, Switzerland, Philippe Bestenheider has a degree in architecture from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. He worked for studios both in Switzerland and in the US. In 2000 he obtained a Master diploma in Industrial Design from Domus Academy Milan. From 2001 to 2006 he was Senior Designer at Patricia Urquiola’s office in Milan. In 2007 he opened his own studio, working between Switzerland and Milan. In June 2010 he received the Italian national award for innovation “premio dei premi” for the chair Nanook he had designed for Moroso. He designs for Moroso, de Sede, Pallucco, Fratelli Boffi, Varaschin, Frag and Galleria Nilufar. He has been teaching at Domus Academy Milan and at the University of Applied Sciences in Basel, Switzerland.
Nicholas Bewick was born in Newcastle Upon Tyne, Great Britain and undertook his architectural training at Canterbury School of Architecture. Following his practical training and initial professional experiences at Michael Hopkins Architects in London he moved to Milan to take a Master program in Design at the Domus Academy, developing his overall interest in design and architecture. After completing the course he started his long term collaboration with Michele De Lucchi, founder of Studio and Partners, which he helped lead until 2010. He re-entered the De Lucchi (aMDL) studio in 2009 and presently heads one of the project teams.
“When I think back to Domus Academy, I picture a large box filled with dreams. - Length: a year of creative freedom. - Depth: a well of insights to dip into. - Height: a handful lasting friends and partners around the globe.” Nanook Moroso, 2008 PAG. 44
Swirl Varaschin, 2011 PAG. 17
“Athough the idea to undertake Domus Academy course was initially considered a ‘sabatical’ year away from the UK it was obvious from the beginning that would become much more, and considering I am still here after more than 25 years it had a huge impact on my whole life. Apart from the friendships and introduction to ‘the Italian way’ Domus Academy opened the door to a different kind of professional situation that was free from the precise titles – architect, interior designer, product designer etc found in many other countries. For me personally this was very important it suited my nature and character and allowed me to participate in a wide range of project experiences. I undoubtedly feel more ‘complete’ even more ‘prepared’ to undertake different types of work. Having recently returned to teach at Domus Academy it is interesting to make comparisons, the world is much more multi-cultural and nomadic, and one continues to ask how all these young minds can have the same fantastic chances that I have had to participate not only in the world of contemporary Italian design but also internationally. Thank you Domus Academy.” Tutti work architecture Castelli PAG. 17
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Constantin Boym
Sander Brouwer
Constantin Boym was born in Moscow, Russia, in 1955, where he graduated from Moscow Architectural Institute. In 1984-85 he earned a Master diploma in Design from Domus Academy in Milan. In 1986 he founded Boym Partners Inc in New York City. His studio’s designs include tableware for Alessi and Authentics, watches for Swatch, lighting for Flos, showrooms and retail displays for Vitra, and exhibition installations for many American museums, including Museum of the City of New York and Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. His studio is currently based in Doha, Qatar. From 1987 to 2000, Boym has been faculty and program coordinator at Parsons in New York.
Sander joined Whirlpool’s Global Consumer Design team as a senior designer in 2008. His responsibilities range from designing hoods within the cooking category to leading the Visual Brand Language for Bauknecht. During Whirlpool’s 100 year anniversary in 2011, Sander was responsible for the design of Fireplace concept, which won the iF product design award 2012. Sander started his design career at Feiz design studio in Amsterdam, where he helped designing products for Nokia, Offecct and Alessi. Here, he developed his enthusiasm for design. This drive for design was expressed by being one of the three winning entries of Beck’s prize second edition organized by Designboom in 2005. Sander moved to Italy, where he obtained his Master diploma at Domus Academy in 2007. The year after he graduated he was an assistant professor for the Product Design course at Domus Academy. After being selected for a collaboration with Scuola Politecnica and Poltrona Frau Group, he gained experience at Alias design, designing furniture and creating vision for a unique market within the Group. Sander has a bachelor degree in Industrial Design and Engineering from the University of Professional Education in The Hague, Netherlands, and is graduated with distinction from Domus Academy, Milan.
“Domus Academy in the 1980s was the time when everything seemed possible. These were the glory years of New Italian Design, when Memphis was still sizzling hot. We sat in our studio space, fueled by visits by the likes of Philippe Starck or Jasper Morrison, who were still young and not-too-famous guys, and we dreamed of following in their steps. One thing that the school taught us well was the ability to dream. All in all, for me Domus Academy was a life-changing experience, in the most literal sense of the word. I arrived there as a Russian architect from Boston, and when I left a year later I became a designer and headed for New York. I lost my first wife along the way. Yet I felt that the vast world of objects has opened up for me. It was as if I learned how to speak their language. As a professor, now I often try to explain to my students the meaning of ‘design culture’. In my time at Domus Academy, design culture needed little explanation: it simply was in the air. This amazing design culture filled our class discussions, and it extended far into furniture galleries and showrooms of the city. Learning how to breathe it was one of the greatest gifts I received from Domus Academy.” Skyscraper Constantin Boym, Gaia & Gino, 2008 PAG. 32
Designers 66
“…It defined my identity as a designer at the center of chaos, multi-cultural influences and a beautiful country like Italy. One year at Domus Academy pushed my creativity to a higher level, due to the environment where creative problem solving is an essential element to sustain yourself.” Art Gallery Whirlpool, 2012 PAG. 48
Mario Cananzi
Pierangelo Caramia
Born in Rimini, Mario Cananzi attained his degree in Architecture from Florence University in 1985 with a thesis on a design for a motorcycle prototype. In 1989, he obtained his Master diploma in Industrial Design from the Domus Academy in Milan. Since 1988, he has been working in Milan. As a designer, he has worked with numerous companies: Edra, Vittorio Bonacina, Sawaya & Moroni, Punt Mobles, Disform, Metals, Ollko, Masterly, Steel, Morphos and Mimo. Recently, he has been collaborating with international firms such as Piaggio, Bimora, Aprilia, Yamaha and KTM in the motorcycle industry. He is a consultant on the design of commercial space for companies in the fashion industry such as Fiorucci and Basile. In 1992, he won the Forum Design Prize at the Milan Furniture Fair for his Quadronda armchair, manufactured by Bonacina, and in 1993 he scooped the Top Ten Prize at the Cologne Furniture Exhibition, for his Tatlin sofa, manufactured by Edra. He has held lectures and seminars at the Domus Academy and at the Politecnico di Milano.
Architect, he graduated from University of Florence in 1984, and he is part of the architect association “Ile de France”. He received his Master in Design (Urban scenography) from Domus Academy in Milan in 1986, when the program was directed by Andrea Branzi. His professional activity spans across different countries, from Italy to France to Japan: Memphis, Sawaya e Moroni, Cassina, Alessi, Poltrona Frau, Il Coccio, Pirelli, Arredaesse Produzioni (Italy). XO, Doublet, Tarkett, Dior, Daum, Thales (France), Omron, Inter-art (Japan). Amongst his architectures and interior designs are: Café brasserie “Le Pigalle” – Paris; “Bond street Café” – New York; Industria tessile Doublet –Lille, France; main office building of the Nord-Pas-De-Calais region – Paris; ShowRoom and retail space of the Printemps department store for Alessi – Paris; Show-Room et boutique “Ittierre” (VersusVersace, D&G- Dolce & Gabbana, Gian Franco Ferré-jeans, Exté) - Paris; restoration and interior architecture of the castle “Villiers sur Authie (XVII Century) France; Restoration of Saint Nicholas church (XII Century) – Cisternino- Italy; multibrand boutiques in Moscow and general concept for the Russian fashion label “Ladies&gentleman” stores; adaptation of the general concept and management of the work on the Gucci boutiques for Granitolith-Villa Nova in Paris and London; public lighting installations in Cisternino – Italy; Loft in Brussels; house in Paris. Since 1990, he teaches architecture and design at the École Européenne Supérieure d’Art de Bretagne Rennes- France. Since 2007, he teaches at alla École superieure d’Art moderne in Paris.
“Studying is the best thing I´ve ever done, If I had known I would have tried the global master, the perennial, the one that lasts for life, if I was able to I would have done it at Domus Academy.” Tatlin Edra, 1989 PAG. 13
Rio Alessi, 1990 PAG. 15
Arcadia Swing Xo, 1987 PAG. 16
Happy Egg Alessi, 1993 PAG. 15
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Maddalena Casadei
Philippe Casens
She was born in Forlì in 1976. She received her degree in Architecture from University of Ferrara. In 2002 she graduated with a Master in Design from Domus Academy in Milan. For the three following years she kept collaborating with Domus Academy. In 2004 she started her collaboration with James Irvine focusing on design, interior design, display design for several companies such as Alias, Danese, Muji, Pamar, Thonet, WMF. In 2010 she started her solo activity, still strictly collaborating with Irvine studio. She also collaborates with her father’s architecture and engineering studio based in Forlì.
Philippe Casens was Born in Metz (France) in 1961, he graduated in Interior Design at Istituto Europeo di Design in 1986 and did a Master in Design Domus Academy in 1994. He has been collaborating with Domus Academy since 1995. In 2005, for the Domus Academy Research Center, he coordinated the Hyundai and Kia training course and in 2008 the Master in Car Design with Audi, under the direction of Marco Bonetto and Gino Finizio. He is co-directing the EDIV (Ecole de Design Intérieur Véhicules) Master Course in Mulhouse (France) and since 2011 he is directing the course of Master in Car and Transportation Design in Domus Academy. Through collaborations with significant Italian designers and architects (Andrea Branzi, Clino Trini Castelli, Isao Hosoe, Pierluigi Cerri), he has developed different projects, approaches and methodologies within the field of transportation design (Alstom, Lamborghini, Fiat Advanced design, Italdesign, Ntv, Poltrona Frau) and industrial design for Alessi, Arflex, bTicino, Ceccato, Desalto, Domodinamica, iGuzzini, Legrand, Muvis, Philips, Teuco, Zanotta, Palazzoli for which he has been awarded, in collaboration with Isao Hosoe, in Italy (mention for Compasso d’oro - ADI) and abroad (Good design - Chicago Athenaeum) in 2006.
“Domus Academy: here ideas travel in an organized chaos, they meet each other, and then enriched go around searching for new reflections.” Bella Marsotto edizioni, 2010 PAG. 41
“Domus Academy has been very important in my professional life; I attended Domus Academy and I knew there most of the people I was supposed to work later with. After a working experience with Andrea Branzi I decided to join the Master course in 1994 and immediately started to work.” Yuko Desalto, 2006 PAG. 40
Designers 68
Karen Chekerdjian
Silvio De Ponte
Karen Chekerdjian is an object and product designer of Armenian-Lebanese origin, with a background in film, graphic design and advertising. She graduated from Domus Academy in 1997, where she studied under Massimo Morozzi, a founding member of the legendary 1960’s design studio, Archizoom. She holds a Master in Product Design and Design Direction. After graduation, Karen worked in Milan for a number of years. During this period, one of her first designs - a suspended hanger system entitled Mobil - was put into production at EDRA. In 2001, she returned to Beirut and opened her own atelier, which is divided into two parts: the Studio and the Store. Karen has regularly participated in a some of the biggest annual design fairs, including New York’s ICFF, Salone del Mobile, Cologne’s Mobelmesse, Paris’ Furniture Fair and lately Dubai Design days. Her work has also been exhibited in a variety of international exhibitions, amongst them Utopi (Copenhagen), Beyond the Myth (a pan-European show), Promosedia 2007 (Milan), Northern Lights (Tokyo) and ECHO (Beirut) and at galleries ranging from The Issey Miyake Foundation (Tokyo) and the Spazio Orlandi Gallery and the Nilufar Gallery (Milan) and the Sfeir-Semler Gallery (Beirut).
His methodology follows an interdisciplinary approach where genres and functions merge. Essentially, it is based on the relationship and exchange amongst professional activity, research, and experimentation, which become evident through him teaching at the most prestigious Italian Universities and International schools, participating in conferences, lectures and workshops at international universities, excellent cultural entities and high-level companies. Since 2010 a crucial aspect of his professional and research activity is the design and methodological investigation of the light, the relationship and interrelation between light and materials. He designs lighting systems for architectures and urban spaces, interior and product design for important Italian and foreign companies.
“Domus Academy was for me the big turn of my life. I had finally found exactly the school that I always dreamt of. A non-academic school that was able not to judge people, but to get the best out of them.” Saje: Aleph, Wa, Ya self production, 2010 PAG. 33
Random fork, knife, spoon, plate self production, 2010 PAG. 28
Mobil Edra, 1999 PAG: 13
“Domus Academy left a strong mark in my cultural, personal and professional path. The reflections, arguments, encounters and comparisons with the professors and the tutors of that time with my classmates with multicultural origins, living day by day with my mates and friends, all of this has changed me deeply as a person and as a designer. Domus Academy hasn´t been simply a school, to describe it like that would be extremely restrictive. It has been a laboratory, a place where you could express yourself in comparison with the others and where you can find yourself as well… It allowed me to understand and to comprehend things, to look at things sorrounding me with new eyes... Through Domus Academy I could dig deeper and direct my interests and my work towards lighting design. I remember, about Domus Academy, its lights, the smell of the black rubber floors that squeaked as you walked over them allowing you to capture the dimensions of the space.” Nest Lumen Center Italia, 2012 PAG. 16
69
Dante Donegani & Giovanni Lauda
Jozeph Forakis
Dante Donegani was born in Pinzolo (Trento) in 1957 and holds a degree in Architecture from the University of Florence (1983). From 1987 to 1991 he worked at Olivetti. Giovanni Lauda was born in Naples in 1956, and holds a degree in Architecture from the University of Naples. From 1988 to 1991 he was part of the studio Morozzi & Partners. In 1992 they found D&L, a Milan based architecture, interior design, and design studio. They developed booths and displays for fairs and exhibitions, and designed products for several companies such as Luceplan, Edra, Radice, Viceversa, Rotaliana. They collaborate with the didactic activity at Domus Academy in Milan; in 2001 they curated the exhibition “Italy-Japan: Design come stile di vita” (Italy-Japan: Design as a life style), in Kobe and Yokohama; in 2004 some of their works were exhibited at the “Metamorphosis” Architecture Biennale in Venice. Their chaise longue “Passepartout”, designed for Edra, is now exhibited in the permanent collection of Triennale di Milano and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Their lamp Lisca by Rotaliana was awarded the IF design award in 2006. Multipot, designed for Rotaliana, was awarded the Compasso d’Oro in 2008.
Designer Jozeph Forakis was born in New York City, and received his BFA-ID from Rhode Island School of Design and Master-ID from the Domus Academy in Milan. His strategic design consulting studio jozeph forakis … design, based in Milan, works across a variety of sectors with international clients including DuneNY, Epson, Foscarini, Fujitsu, Kikkerland, Normann Copenhagen, LG Electronics, Magis, Samsung, Swarovski, Swatch, Tecno, Yamaha Motors … amongst others. He is partner and Creative Director with two new tech/consumer startup companies. The first, +Plugg, will be launched in Spring 2012 with a line of smart accessories for iPhone/iPad. From 1999-2002 he was European Design Director for Motorola and led the team responsible for the design of the Motorola V70 mobile phone. From 1993-1997 he consulted with the Domus Academy Research Center in Milan, where he designed the award winning Logitech Cordless Mouseman Pro – the first “vertical” mouse concept. His designs have won many awards and have been featured in numerous publications and have been displayed in many galleries and museums around the world. In 2004 he was the subject of the first One-Man exhibition ever organized by ADI (Italian Design Association).
“Domus Academy: this 30st anniversary is an important occasion to re-live the moments in which our personal and professional occurrences have crossed paths with those of the school. A story lived in an intense manner first by students, then by teachers and also shared with many friends participating into the exhibition.” Multipot Rotaliana, 2005 PAG. 54
Designers 70
Passepartout Edra, 1998 PAG. 11
Diva Rotaliana, 2009 PAG. 54
“Domus Academy helped me see that design is a house with many doors. Behind each door is a unique vision of what design can offer to society, to culture ...as well as to commerce. It is up to each one of us to find, or to create, our own door ...and to walk thru it.” Tapetimer Kikkerland, 2005 PAG. 23
Thermometer Plugg, 2012 PAG. 57
v70 Motorola 2002 PAG. 55
Havana Foscarini, 1994 PAG. 42
Irony Scuba 200 Swatch, 1998 PAG. 52
Francisco Gomez Paz
Frederic Gooris
Born in Salta, Argentina in 1975. After obtaining the Industrial Design degree at the Universidad Nacional de Cordoba he moves to Milan in 1998 where he attends the Master in Design at Domus Academy. Since opening his design office in Milan in 2004 he has developed products for leading design companies such as Artemide, Driade, Danese, Lensvelt, Luceplan, Olivetti and Sector among others. Francisco’s approach to design is driven by his own curiosity, the knowledge of technology and materials and a highly experimental hands-on creative process. His work has received several international recognitions such as the Good Design Award 2010 and the Red Dot Award 2010; he has been honored together with Alberto Meda with the First Prize of the Index Award for the Solar Bottle, which has also been selected for the MOMA’s Study Collection and recently he received the Prize of Prizes to Innovation in Design from Italy’s president Giorgio Napolitano for the Hope chandelier and the prestigious Compasso d’Oro 2011. He is active in the fields of research and education, he is visiting professor at Domus Academy from 2000 and has held lectures in Italy and abroad. His projects have been exhibited in several international events and published by main design publications. He works and lives in Milan.
Frederic Gooris, industrial designer, born in Leuven (Belgium) in 1974, graduated from the Hogeschool Antwerpen in 1998. In 1999 he moved to Milan, where he obtained his Master in Design at Domus Academy. He gained experience working for Philippe Starck and Stefano Giovannoni for 5 years on a very wide range of projects for internationally renowned companies such as Target, Alessi, Laufen, Oras, Inda, Magis, Deborah, Lavazza, Hannspree, Nissan, Helit, Siemens, Modo, Ycami and Felice Rossi. In 2004, he founded Studio Gooris in Milan doing product and concept design for companies all over the globe, including Alessi, Ferrero, Target, Levis, JC Penny, Foreverlamp, Oras, EQ3, among others. In 2009 he cofounds Bombol, a company for design oriented baby furniture. In search for new horizons, in 2010, he moved to Hong Kong and opened Studio Gooris Ltd.
Hope Luceplan, 2009 PAG. 43
Solar Bottle www.solarbottle.org, 2007 PAG. 41
“Educated to be an engineer, I was very hungry to understand the Italian ability of translating poetry into its products, and Domus Academy is probably one of the best design banquets I have ever attended. Being in touch with true masters of design, important international artists, and surrounded by very talented co-students, it all contributed to opening my hard shelled mind set like a coconut.” Tam-tam, Polaris, Vienna, Ricordo Alessi LUX | Foreverlamp, 2011 PAG. 21
Minou Alessi, 2012 PAG. 20
Savon du chef Alessi, 2012 PAG. 23
71
Gordon Guillaumier
Harry&Camila
Gordon Guillaumier was born in 1966 and educated in Malta, Switzerland, England and Italy. He graduated in industrial design at the IED, Milan (1988-91), later he obtained a Master in Industrial Design at Domus Academy, Milan (1992). In 1993 he took an apprenticeship with Baleri Associati and that same year collaborated with the architect and designer Rodolfo Dordoni. During this period Gordon designed and presented his first own products for Foscarini and Mito. In 2002 he set up his own design studio in Milan, working on product design but also as design consultant. As a consultant and art director, he worked on the Atlantide e DHouse collections for Driade, on bathroom accessories for Dornbracht Interiors, on kitchens for Rational, on furniture for Fiam’s Liv’it collection, on outdoor furniture for Roda and on handles for Pamar. As a product designer, Gordon has worked for various internationally renowned companies; ceramics and tableware for Bosa, Pandora, Paola C and De Vecchi, furniture for Arketipo, CasaMilano, Desalto, De Sede, Fontana Arte, Frag, Matteo Grassi, Montina, Minotti, Moroso, Roda, Tacchini, and Varaschin, lighting for Foscarini, AV Mazzega and OLuce appliances for Elica, handles for Pamar, bathroom accessories for Nobili Rubinetterie and Azzurra Ceramiche. Gordon has participated in various exhibitions and trade fairs; ”Pro-gettare”Abitare II Tempo, Verona (1999), Pandora Design, Milano (2001); Molteni Villa Torlonia (2002); Pamar, Palazzo Crivelli (2006/2010); Roda, Salone del Mobile Milano (2006/2010). In 2006 he has lectured at the faculty of Industrial Design at the Politecnico di Milano.
Known for their mysterious objects, exemplars of vibrant design of the 21st century. The futuristic shapes are reminiscent of technologies applied to high speed, the imaginary of HARRY&CAMILA drawing on aeronautical performances, with fantasies of aircraft wings, space travel and ships. Their resulting design approach concentrates on experimentation with materials and topologies. HARRY is from the Netherlands, class 1966, industrial designer with a degree from the Design Academy Eindhoven. CAMILA Chilean nationality, grew up in Mexico, degree in Fashion Design, Istituto Marangoni Milan. They met during their Master at the Domus Academy in Milan 1994. In 1998 they established studio HARRY&CAMILA in Milan. In 2002 HARRY&CAMILA moved to Barcelona but continued to spend time in their adopted home Italy, working with a number of design manufactures. A good mix between the Dutch free spirit and the Latin sensualism. They work across a wide range of disciplines signing for clients worldwide like Alessi, Dedon, Fontana Arte, JLindeberg+Puma, Living Divani, Rosenthal studio-Line. Harry&camila have exhibited extensively around the world and won several awards including in 2007, 2008, 2009 & 2010 the GOOD DESIGN Award of the Chicago Athenaeum, the world’s oldest and most prestigious award of its kind.
Pane e salame Bosa, 2004 PAG. 36
Designers 72
Jaipur Varaschin, 2007 PAG. 44
“We met each other....it introduced us into the marvel of the Italian culture, their passion and creativity....opening doors.... meeting and working together with many great people from all over the world. WLOVEDA” Blu Canela Rosenthal, 2005 PAG. 44
Babylon Dedon, 2010 PAG. 28
Shinobu Ito
Mercedes Jaen Ruiz
After graduating in Japan, at Tama Art University in Tokyo, she obtained a Master diploma in Design at Domus Academy in Milan. From 1988 to 1995 she worked in Japan for CBS Sony (Sony Music Entertainment), engaging in design and marketing activities. Since then she has been working between Milan and Tokyo as a consultant for important companies. She works also as a graphic and interior designer and is involved in marketing activities. She has a wide experience in the interior and furniture design, leading the projects from conception to implementation. Her attention to detail and her approach to design from a woman standpoint are features of her widely appreciated work much valued by her clients.
Mercedes Jaén Ruiz, born in Elche (Alicante, Spain) in 1973. Graduated in Industrial Design from Universidad Cardenal Herrera in Valencia in 1997. In 1998 she moved to Milan, where she obtained her Master diploma in Design at Domus Academy after obtaining a scholarship from Impiva (Valencia). In the last ten years mainly collaborating with Michele De Lucchi, she has developed among others projects for Intesa Sanpaolo, Telecom Italia, Camper, Zambon group, Design Gallery, Produzione Privata, Rancilio, Mondadori, Olivetti and Corraini Edizioni. She also collaborated with Defne Koz, Sottsass Associati, David Chipperfield architects and Future Concept Lab and with Pepe Gimeno and Punt Mobles in Spain. In 2000 she founded Aerolito studio with Ricardo Espinosa. In 2001 she was invited as an artist in residence from the Gifu Prefecture in Japan. In 2009 she was selected for the first International light festival Led in Milan with the project Milano Merletto. In 2003 she won the Design prize Injuve given by the Spanish Government in the design section and in 2002 she was selected in the graphic design section with Aerolito studio. In 2003 she won ‘Premio Nacional de diseños no aburridos’ with a jewellery project. Silver prize at the 1st International Carpet Design Competition held in Japan in 1999 and honorable mention on their second edition. In 2002, 3rd prize in the first edition of the Porada international design completion. She lives and works in Milan.
“Domus Academy is a free and casual school capable of developing concentrated and aggressive workshops, facts that surprise me for the equilibrium maintained between these two approaches. For me as a Japanese, this was a very interesting and exciting experience I have never seen before. Domus Academy was the proper school for me and for my feelings of that period. Not only studying and deepening various fields but improving my cultural knowledge, thus experience and education was primary for me; moreover you get to connect with people of other nationalities and cultures completely different from yours, which enables you to project your own cultural identity onto theirs and viceversa, thus learning one from each other. Currently I am an international designer based between Milan and Tokyo, who works with a vast range of design fields that could vary from object to space. My career of International Designer was very important and helpful for my experience at Domus Academy. Happy 30 years of activity for Domus Academy!”
Padme Gandìa blasco, 2007 PAG. 23
Shine collection Nava Design, 2009 PAG. 47
73
Geert Koster
Defne Koz
Geert Koster was born in Groningen, Netherlands, in 1961. He graduated from the Academie Minerva in Groninngen in 1984, later he obtained his Master from Domus Academy in Milan in 1985. Since then, he works in Italy, where he collaborated with Studio Michele De Lucchi, as part of the group “Solid”, and co-founded “O2”, ecological design group. For Studio De Lucchi he worked on displays, interior design, and corporate image for companies such as Abet laminati, Groninger Museum in Groningen, the “Citizen Office” exhibition for Vitra, the Artemide showroom in Shanghai, visit tours at ENEL plants, the Ettore Sottsass Exhibition for Cosmit, the Mandarina Duck retail stores in Europe and Asia, and Telecom Italian fair booths. In 1989 he opened his Milan based studio, which focuses on architecture, interior and furniture design, and industrial design. His activity includes interior design, furniture and objects for companies such as Belux, Cappellini, Olivetti Synthesis, Lema, Metalarte, Montis.nl, Gruppo Sintesi, Wever&Ducre, and Hidden.nl.
Defne Koz designed products for worldwide known, design oriented companies in different sectors; Furniture, Lighting, Tableware, Household, Sanitary fixtures, Fashion Accessories, Branding Consulting and Art Direction. Recent clients include: Panasonic, Nestlé, Unilever - Lipton, Alessi, Foscarini, Leucos, FontanaArte, Sharp, Mobileffe, Liv’it, Pirelli, Cappellini, Slide, Durst, Egizia, Rapsel, Merati, Guzzini, WMF, VitrA, Authentics, Nissan, Casio, Gaia&Gino, MPD, OmniDecor, 888, Tuna, Megaron, Alparda, Nurus, Hamam, Delta, Arcelik, Sisecam...Her idea of design is influenced by her training in Ettore Sottsass’ studio, by the combination of her Turkish and Italian culture, and by her curiosity for very different product types. Her interests span from humanizing new technologies like digital audio systems to rediscovering the tradition of hand made ceramics. Common to all her projects are her distinctive design language and the research on the sensorial qualities of materials. Her designs have been exhibited at Triennale di Milano, Galleria Jannone, Galleria Posteria, Spazio Mudima, Ideabooks, Galleria Post Design, Spazio Vigentina in Milan, Biennale del Vetro Venezia, IDYB Koeln, Kunstmuseum Dusseldorf, Ubersee Museum Bremen, MARTa Herford, Ozone Gallery Tokyo, Les Atelier Gallery Paris, Abitare il Tempo Verona, Museo di Pietrarsa Napoli, Design Week Belgrade, Design Week Istanbul, MeDesign Genoa. She held seminars at UIC Chicago, Domus Academy, Milano; Fukui Prefecture, Japan; Architectural Association, London; Bilgi University, Istanbul; Centro Borges, Buenos Aires, Design Week Belgrade, Design Week Istanbul.
“At the Academy of Arts in Holland I did my thesis on art history about Ettore Sottsass, which made me decide to apply for Domus Academy in 1984. Thanks to this experience and to the collaboration with Michele De Lucchi I could later on curate and design an exhibition. It has been a great honor to do this work with master Ettore. My favourite anecdote about Ettore Sottsass: I am a designer and I like designing things. What else can I do? Go fishing?” Mate Metalarte, 2010 PAG. 34
Designers 74
Vague Alessi, 2004 PAG. 27
4D Vitra, 2010 PAG. 49
Dress Foscarini, 1996 PAG. 36
Tea Glass Unilever Lipton, 2010 PAG. 28
Circus Foscarini, 1994 PAG. 35
Larry Laske
Jae Kyu Lee
Larry Laske was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1963. He has won several national and international awards. His appetite for the whimsical and the unexpected can be seen in his collaborations with famed designers: Ettore Sottsass, Emilio Ambasz, Philippe Starck, and Ingo Maurer. Recipient of the Hallmark Honor Prize in 1980. Recipient of scholarships at both Northern Illinois University, Dekalb Illinois and University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, where he received his B.F.A. Industrial Design. In 1986 traveled to Domus Academy (Milan, Italy) for post-graduate studies in Scenografia Urbana (urban scenography) under Andrea Branzi, graduating with a Master in Design.
Architect and Designer Jae Kyu Lee was born in 1963 in Korea, where graduated in architecture. He then moved to Milan, where he attended Domus Academy and obtained the Master in Design in 1996. He currently lives and works in Seoul. Now, he is a professor of Hong-Ik University Graduate school of Industrial Art. From 1997 to 2008, he was a member of the “Studio D&L” in Milan. One of his projects “Piano Seduto” has been selected for the Permanent collection Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. He returned to Seoul in 2008, established “Studio BUTTON”, a multidisciplinary studio in Seoul with projects on urban planning, architecture and design. He has won several awards and competitions, and exhibited in major museums, design fairs and publications.
“Domus Academy was my baptism for every aspect of my life.” Beach chair BeachThingy, 2007 PAG. 18
Niki OWO PAG. 23
Toothpick cactus Knoll, 1993 PAG. 15
Eyeball Rotaliana, 2004 PAG. 16
Piano seduto Radice, 2000 PAG. 11
75
Ran Lerner
Giovanni Levanti
Graduated from Domus Academy in 1998, has lived in New York City since 1999 where he has steadily built up his reputation as a dynamic and international designer. Lerner is best known for the witty sensibility of his popular designs. Ran Lerner Design Inc. was established in 2003, designing for clients of wide accessibility from implementing his own signature “whimsy” to aesthetic form. His work is based on the core concept of interaction of product and user, encouraging “touch” and emphasis on “relationship” of human to object. Lerner also promotes eco-friendly manufacturing by the efficient use of material and low energy fabricating technologies, often designing multi functional products affordable for the public at large. Lerner teaches Industrial Design students at The Parsons School of Design and FIT. He has recent publications including “1000 product designs 2010”, “Wall street journal”, “New York Times’ “Time out New York”, ”Food and wine”, “ID”,”Domino” “Gourmet”, “The Today Show” and others Ran Lerner’s Design Inc.’s list of current clients includes Umbra, Joseph Joseph, Acme, Rosenthal, Wedgwood, Waterford, Kikkerland, Cambridge Silversmiths, Yamazaki, Reed & Barton, Nambe, Starwood hotels and other leading manufacturers. The designs could be found at retailers such as Macy’s, Bloomingdales, Crate & Barrel, The Conran Shop, Moma store, Bed bath & beyond, Target, and others.
Giovanni Levanti is a Milan based professional, born in Palermo in 1956. He received his degree in Architecture from University of Palermo in 1983 and in 1984 he moved to Milan where he attended his Master at Domus Academy. From 1985 to 1990 he collaborated with Andrea Branzi’s studio. In 1991 he founded his own studio. He collaborates with Campeggi, Cassina, Diamantini & Domeniconi, Domodinamica, Edra, Foscarini, Marutomi, Memphis, Nagano, Pallucco Italia, Salviati, Serafino Zani, Twergi-Alessi. Some of his products and designs have been selected for prestigious international exhibition such as: Design una storia italiana (Rome, Turin, 2011), Le fabbriche dei sogni (Milan 2011) Abitare l’Utopia (Verona, 2010), Quali cose siamo (Milan 2010),1978-2008 Made in ItalyBrazilian Design Biennal (Brasilia, 2008), Il Modo Italiano (Montreal, 2007, Toronto, Rovereto), 1945-2000-Il Design in Italia-100 oggetti (Seoul, 2001, Beijing, Shanghai, traveling exhibition), Il Design Italiano 1964-1990 (Milan, 1996) La Fabbrica Estetica (Paris, 1993) Capitales Europennes du Noveau Design (Paris, 1991) Creativitalia (Tokyo) Dodici Nuovi - Memphis (Milan, 1986). Some of his objects are exhibited in the design collection at Triennale di Milano, at the Museum of Fine Arts in Montreal and at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. He was awarded the Premio Palermo Design Week 2007 and Design Plus Prize 2000 at Messe Frankfurt Exhibition amongst others, and he was selected for the XXII Premios de Disegno cDIM Professionales 2004 in Valencia and for the XIX Premio Compasso d’Oro ADI 2001 in Milan. In 2010 Beppe Finessi curated a dedicated exhibition at Docva-Careof-Via Farini at Fabbrica del Vapore in Milan.
“There couldn’t be a better school, I’ve learned so much on the importance of a good concept, that makes a product better and not just different, an element that I try to embed in all my design today.” Salad Spoons Joseph Joseph PAG. 18
Designers 76
Sneaker Campeggi, 2006 PAG. 11
Xito Campeggi, 1999 PAG. 11
Mozia Diamantini & Domeniconi, 2009 PAG. 47
Tomoko Mizu
Monica Moro
Tomoko Mizu was born in Japan. After a period of professional training in the watch industry at SEIKO Corporation, she moved to Milan. She received her Master in Industrial Design from Domus Academy in 1988 and established her own Milan based studio, Mizu Creative Design Lab, in 1994. Her activity focuses on product design and corporate image: she is a product and communication consultant for Fiera di Milano. She works with international companies such as Cappellini, Sawaya & Moroni, Horm1988, Bonacina Vittorio, Rithzenhoff, Giovanni De Maio, Trunk e Kanebo. In the past few years she has been closely working with Italian artisans to enable a closer relationship between the artisanal and the design world. She participated in the Biennale d’Artigianato Sardo in 2009, for which she was awarded the “Compasso d’Oro” in 2011. Her projects were exhibited in many exhibitions and published on Italian and international magazines. Since 2010, the vases she designed for Cappellini are part of the permanent collection at M.A.G.M.A. Museum in Roccamonfina (CE). The last project she developed with Giovanni De Maio was exhibited at Expo Luxe in Rome. She runs workshops at Domus Academy, Politecnico di Milano and IED.
Monica Moro was born in Sweden and subsequently moved to Italy. After graduating in Architecture and obtaining a Master in Industrial Design from Domus Academy, she worked at Andrea Branzi studio where her activity focused on design. She also collaborated with Antonio Petrillo, Clino Trini Castelli, Anna Gili, and Alessandro Mendini. As a freelance designer she currently collaborates with several Italian and international clients. She is also external researcher at the LNU University in Sweden and at the Laboratorio Colore (Color Lab) within the Indaco Department at Politecnico di Milano, where she teaches classes in the field of Design and color.
“The year that I did Domus Academy was truly unique and special. It is hard to name only one person that has influenced my thinking, my carreer. If I had to name only one person I would say Arch. Ettore Sottsass jr. Thankfully, even after Domus Academy I had many opportunities to talk to him. He taught us that beyond the measurements of the human body , there are many things to be considered, the social movement and the culture. He opened another perspective of the function in design.“
“Fascinated by the title of the exhibit Lost in translation, and even with movement of emotions I rethink my experiences at Domus Academy. Fascinated because I grew up on the line of the unstable encounter of two different cultures and languages, southern and northern. I have lived and I have experienced so many times the process of loosing and as many times the enrichment that comes on the path of a project. I am moved by the encounter of new people and realities and above all a new dimension in the design thinking that occurred there. Everything was originated there at Domus Academy, the pain, the joy and sometimes (rarely) the enlightment and, I wasn’t ready for this, the internal transformation of facing and looking at the project, the other one and the world. In reality I think that the enjoyment of the designer is the path between the idea to the final product.” Amsterdam Ravarini Castoldi, 2002 PAG. 21
Tapp-o NonSoloFerro, 2009 PAG. 28
77
Aki Motoyama
Claudio Naro
Aki Motoyama, known for incorporating her artistic and intercultural perspectives to her design, was born in 1986 and spent her life both in Japan and the United States. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan School of Art and Design in 2008, where she was honored with the Barbara & Dorothy Heers Freshman Award. During and after her studies in Michigan, Motoyama studied furniture design and fabrication in Copenhagen and Boston. In 2010 she attended the Domus Academy with a scholarship for her Master in Product Design. Recently, one of her works was the semi-finalist of the Furniture Design Award offered by Singapore Furniture Industries Council. “CLOUD” from Brix will be her first design to be produced.
Claudio Naro holds a degree in Architecture from University of Palermo in 1983. From 1983 to1984 he collaborated with the class of Environmental Design at the Faculty of Architecture in Palermo. He was awarded a European Union Scholarship for the Master in Lighting Design at Domus Academy: he thus moved to Milan in 1984 and graduated from Domus Academy in July 1985. From 1985 he collaborated with the architecture and design studio Sottsass Associati in Milan. In 1987 he moved to Paris, where he taught at the École Nationale Supérieure de Création Industrielle. In 1989 he moved back to Milan and founded his own design studio. From 1998 to 2000 he taught Design at the Accademia Statale di Belle Arti in Macerata.
“Domus Academy is a melting pot. You meet with people from different ages, culture and background. You share the experience and merge ideas into form. What I have seen, who I have met, what I have felt, what I have absorbed. My life there was beyond studying design in Italy.”
“La Domus, as it is called by the alumni, gave me the capacity to understand, appreciate and love quality objects, not only as a work of invention, but also as the use of creativity on an object that in certain occasions becomes art. It gave me the possibility to develop sensitivity, which I had before in a less profound manner, and the motivation to engage in a constant research of potential new modern classics, that in my interior architecture projects became precious instruments to work with. The high quality of the lectures, that nurished me throughout the course, left me the capability to understand objects, to decode the concept that originated the project. This ability is fundamental to understand, among the huge number of objects produced every year, which ones are the objects that have content beyond the sales matter. What I learnt at Domus Academy is not only technical, but also a humanistic vision of the project that allows us to see the objects as vehicles of cultural and emotional communication.”
Cloud Aki Motoyama, Brix, 2012 PAG. 49
Morgana Claudio Naro, Fontana Arte, 1992 PAG. 61
Designers 78
Terri Pecora
Christophe Pillet
Terri Pecora, Californian, was born in 1958. She studied fashion illustration at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California and moved to Italy in 1988 to attend the Product Design Master Program at Domus Academy in Milan. In 1991 she established her own studio, working with various European companies such as Adidas Eyewear, Art & Cuoio, Bisazza, BRF, Marco Bicego, Dom Ceramica, Edra, Emmebi, Esprit Eyewear, Interflex, Flou, M&Z Rubinetti, Montblanc, Persol Eyewear, Plumcake kids, Prènatal, Simas, Silhouette Eyewear, Swatch, Vice Versa and Zanotta. She has worked in many sectors: furniture design, interiors and exhibition installations, art direction and graphics, fashion accessories, products for the home, accessories, wall coverings and fittings for the bathroom.
Christophe Pillet is a French designer who has won international acclaim for the spectrum and quality of his creations. Architecture, objects, furniture, art direction: his signature is invariably associated with the finest brands and projects of ever- increasing weight and prestige. From transforming the Lancel boutiques across France and the rest of the worldwide, designing the new Hotel Sezz in Saint Tropez, and the restaurant Maison Blanche in Fes and Casablanca, to creating stands for Renault at international automobile shows: the scope and the variety of his projects share a common attitude, independent of scale. Whether it be as design director for Lacoste, or in long-term collaborations with Driade, Cappellini and Emu, his considered interpretations are a testament to high-voltage chic, distinguished both by its precision and rigor. Pillet’s ranges were originally Italian. There were certainly few places as magical as Milan for designers in the 1980s. Having been awarded his diploma from the Domus Academy, he became part of the Memphis group (as an assistant to Martine Bedin, and Michele De Lucchi), when they led the vanguard of a new approach to design. Upon his return to Paris, Pillet was involved in the development of the Starck agency. Having graduated from extra to actor, Pillet would take on the role of director in 1993 with the creation of his own agency. In the same year he was nominated ‘Designer of the Year’ at the Salon du Meuble de Paris, and his independent career was launched. His personality and his career offer distinctive characteristics. Whilst having an art school background (he studied in Nice), he initially launched a music career: he has retained a taste for certain rhythms and time signatures, as well as a search for harmony.
“Domus Academy was a bridge from one place to the next, and it was not always a sturdy one. Sometimes it was like walking over a deep crevice on one of those tiny swaying wooden numbers in a Harrison Ford movie. But it was a very good experience, very Italian. As they told us students: it was up to us what we wanted to get out of our year at Domus Academy, they weren’t babysitting, and they meant it. Visiting professors like Francesco Binfaré, Alberto Meda, Richard Sapper and more were par for the course. They talked passionately about their life, loves and work: even if you couldn’t understand them it didn’t seem to bother anyone! My course included student protests and the “cipollisti”, a laughable counter-proposal to the “bolidisti” movement created by a frenchman, a scottish guy and a spaniard. Domus Academy was a great introduction into Italian design culture: chaotic yet constructive, experimental and incredibly productive.” Past and present Silhouette, 1994 PAG. 47
Flow Simas, 2004-2010 PAG. 45
Twin line Escudama, 2003 PAG. 47
Meridiana Driade, 2004 PAG. 42
Nouvelle Vague Porro, 2005 PAG. 40
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Neil Poulton
Kuno Prey
Neil Poulton (born 1963) is a Scottish product designer, based in Paris, France. He specialized in the design of deceptively simple-looking mass-produced objects and has won numerous international design awards. Poulton is best known for his designs in the fields of technology and lighting design and is often associated with manufacturers LaCie, Artemide, Megalit and Atelier Sedap. Among his recent clients, Christofle, Forestier, the Glenmorangie Company and Vertgo Bird. In 2007 the Centre Georges Pompidou museum in Paris acquired six Poulton-designed objects for its Permanent Contemporary Collection. In 2008, Time magazine included Poulton in ‘The Design 100 - The people and ideas behind today’s most influential design’. Neil Poulton has lived and worked in Paris since 1991. Poulton gained a BSc degree in Industrial Design (technology) at Napier University in Edinburgh in 1985 and was awarded the SIAD Chartered Society of Designers Student Product Designer Of The Year. In 1988 he gained a Master diploma in Design at the Domus Academy in Milan, Italy, under Italian architect Andrea Branzi and designer Alberto Meda. Poulton’s tutors included Italian architect Ettore Sottsass, German industrial designer Richard Sapper, Isao Hosoe and Anna Castelli Ferrieri. Poulton’s designs have won numerous awards, including seven French “Etoile de l’Observeur du Design” prizes, ten German Red Dot Design Awards, two “Best of The Best” Red Dot Design Awards, five German “IF” International Forum Design prizes, three French “Janus de l’industrie” awards, two “Recommendation Premio Compasso d’Oro”, and the “Menzione d’Onore Premio Compasso d’Oro 2011”.
Kuno Prey was born 1958 in San Candido/Innichen, Italy. After completing his education in Art and Design, he began operating in his own studio. His natural curiosity led him to experiment the use of new materials and technologies. He made a name for himself as design consultant for numerous international companies. His original and ingenious work develops into highly successful products that won many international awards. In 1993 he is appointed Professor of Product Design at the Faculty of Art and Design at the Bauhaus–Universität Weimar, Germany, founded that same year by Prof. Lucius Burckhardt. Thus, he had the great opportunity to contribute actively to its development right from the beginning. In 2002 he returned to Italy to found the new Faculty of Design and Art at the Free University of Bolzano/Bozen that, guided by him as dean until 2010, is now rated among the most reknown schools in Europe. Starting from October 2010 he has resumed teaching full time and doing research in product design.
Talak Artemide, 20052007 PAG. 55
Designers 80
Rugged LaCie, 2006 PAG. 57
FireWire Speakers Lacie, 2007 PAG. 57
“For me, a 24 year-old with deep roots in the Dolomites, Domus Academy was a true test bed and an opportunity of intellectual enrichment, that I could project myself in a strong international dimension. I remember that at least once a week they would give us lectures and tell us about their creative world with visions of a very distant reality. A really special school of life.” Drainer Rosti Mepal, 1990 PAG. 16
Twergi collection Alessi, 1996 PAG. 33
Tino e Milo Danese, 1987 PAG. 44
Marco Romanelli
Alejandro Ruiz
Designer and critic, he was born in Trieste in 1958. He received his degree in Architecture from the University of Genoa in 1983 and his Master in Design from Domus Academy in 1984. In 1986 he opened his studio in Milan. From 1984 to 1994 he collaborated with the Faculty of Architecture in Genoa at research and didactic programs. From 1986 to 1994 he wrote for Domus magazine, and from 1995 to 2007 for Abitare. Since 1995 he is art director at O-Luce. From 1996 to 2005 he was art director at Montina and, in 2007 at Marazzi. Upon request of Fiat Engineering, he designed the restoration of the “Museo della Civiltà Romana” in Rome-EUR. His works were published both in Italy and abroad. In 2004 he participated in the Venice Architecture Biennial in the “Notizie dall’Interno” (Domestic news) section. Since 2006, he teaches “Jewelry design” at Politecnico di Milano. As regards his design activity, since 1988 he collaborates with Marta Laudani, with whom he developed projects for prestigious italian and international companies. In 2011, Laudani&Romanelli were awarded the Compasso d’Oro for developing a design experience with local artisans promoted by Regione Sardegna.
Born in Bahia Blanca in 1954. Designer, interior designer and interior decorator. He collaborated with Alchimia studio and with Gregotti Associati. He was teacher at the European Design Institute and at Domus Academy. He works for Alacta, Perani, Mimo, Red-Zanussi. Parmenide Alessi, 1994 PAG. 15
“Domus Academy was the true starting point of my design thinking. There I met, contemporarily, the post-modernists, specially Sottsass e Branzi, back then representing a dominant culture, an a great master of the “classic Italian Design”, Mario Bellini. I chose without a doubt the last one! Learning however from the first, the need to make the projects become a tale or at least a story. To Maria Grazia Mazzocchi goes the tangible sign of my gratitude!” Stones of glass Oluce, 2009 PAG. 12
Mediterraneo Driade, 2002 PAG. 27
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Marco Susani
Roberto Tagliabue
Marco Susani is a design consultant based in Chicago. In 2010 he co-founded with Defne Koz the studio Koz Susani Design, where he is responsible of the disciplines of Experience Design, Interaction Design and Strategic Design. He designed for companies like Motorola, Philips, Panasonic, Seiko, Olivetti, 3M, NTT Japan, Zumtobel, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Tokyo Gas, Toshiba, Apple, Logitech, Unilever, Telecom Italia, Mediaset, bTicino, Fontana Arte. In USA, from 2000 to 2009, as an executive in Motorola’s Global Consumer Experience Design, he led the culturechange toward a design-oriented, experience-driven company. Marco Susani began his career with Ettore Sottsass, the undisputed icon of 20th Century design, first at Olivetti Design, then as Associated Partner of his studio, Sottsass Associati. His works have been shown in exhibitions at Triennale di Milano, Memphis Gallery Milano, Centre Pompidou Paris, Axis Gallery Tokyo, Grand Palais Paris, and Design Museum London. He won many prestigious awards; his works and interviews have been featured in international magazines.
Roberto Tagliabue has been actively involved in interactive media, product design, and brand identity since the early 90’s. Appointed Nike’s Director of Digital Innovation in 2005, Tagliabue is known for designing innovative, wearable products like NikePlus that blur the boundaries between physical and digital. The firm has produced one successful product story after another, including Microsoft Courier UX, Motorola Droid Home UI, Mindswarm, Jawbone UP, and the new Unstuck app. It helped fuel LunaTik’s sensational Kickstarter campaign, and is currently working on a number of new projects.
“Domus Academy: We expected personalities, prominent, but we didn´t expect anything from the school. It was the first year. A school-not-school, they told us. I don´t think I understood back then what they meant. We were a guinea pig in an experiment that taught us how to.... experiment and experiment again. We learnt how to be curious, how to discover new ways to do design, to reinvent everyday our own craft. Fortunate, we continued to reinvent ourselves for therty years, and in the end maybe we understood what they meant. Thank you prominent personalities, and thank you school-notschool for having changed our lives.” Teaser Seiko, 1992 PAG. 53
Enorme 1987 PAG. 53
Designers 82
Zen concept Motorola, 2011 PAG. 54
Motorola motoblur Motorola 2009 PAG. 56
“It was 1992, the first Interaction Design Master at Domus Academy. There, on the roof of a building in Milanofiori, we were learning about the internet, the email, the browser and discovering how to envision and design new digital devices that would improve and transform our lives. There I learnt that designing innovative digital experiences means to go beyond making technology do more, last longer, weigh less or go faster. I learned that it is about understanding how devices and services fit into people’s lives. The perfect experience is a carefully planned consumer journey. It has been a life changing experience.” Jawbone Up Visere, 2011 PAG. 58
Clibe Visere, 2006-2012 PAG. 59
Pascal Tarabay
Rodrigo Torres
Pascal Tarabay is a Lebanese architect born in 1970; he was based in Beirut, Milano and now Lima. He has worked as a designer and art director on all scales of the creative project, from architecture to product design, from one offs to mass production, with artisans or multinational companies, for single clients to corporate companies. His work has been frequently showed, awarded and published in exhibitions and the medias. In 2011 he decided to start his own edition company: Editions Unlimited.
Born in Bogotá, Colombia in 1976. In 1998 he obtained his degree in Industrial Design from the faculty of Industrial Design of the Jorge Tadeo Lozano University in Bogotá and received the Master in Design at Domus Academy of Milan in 1999. In 1997 he won the Mario Santo Domingo prize for the best students of design and architecture of Colombia and did a internship at the CID (Central Industrial Design) at Whirlpool Europe (Italy). In 1998 he participated with his final thesis at the New Designers Exhibition in London that took part in the Business Design Centre. From 2000 until 2004 he worked as a designer for Stefano Giovannoni’s studio in Milan. In 2005 and 2008 he won the “Lapiz de Acero” design award with Morfeo and Manta chair. He has worked for major international companies such as Alessi, Poliform, Nike, Microsoft, Domodinamica, Potocco and Busso among others. In 2006 he participated at the exhibition “La fabbrica del design” organized by Domus Academy and the municipality of Milan. His work has been published on some of the most important design publications in Europe, Asia and America. He has been visiting professor and project leader for the Master in Product and Interaction Design at Domus Academy in Milan and visiting professor at IED in Turin. He has held conferences at several universities in Italy and Colombia. He lives and works in Milan.
“Domus Academy changed my life, professionally and personally. I discovered, I shared, I found friendship, I loved and I started a family.” Cucù Diamantini & Domeniconi, 2005 PAG. 33
Oberon Pandora Design, 2000 PAG. 19
Manta Poligorm, 2008 PAG. 36
Twister Busso, 2005 PAG. 35
Morfeo Domodinamica, 2004 PAG. 60
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Mario Trimarchi
Omer Unal
Sicilian, Mario Trimarchi is a Milan based professional since 1983. He is an architect that belongs to the “freehand” generation, and always moved around the visual universe considering drawing, photography, design, and image as parts of the same field of investigation. He directed the Master in Design at Domus Academy in the early Nineties, and was par of Olivetti Design studio with Michele De Lucchi. In 1999 he established FRAGILE, Corporate Identity Care studio that currently runs with Frida Doveil. At Fragile, he designs identities, corporate image, and visual alphabets used to tell different specificities. He designed the logo for Poste Italiane and many others, the graphics for large exhibition and communication systems for Italian design companies, displays and interiors. He never gave up drawing, nor thinking about architectures. He designed for Alessi, Artemide, Deborah Milano, Philips, Matsushita, Serafino Zani. His works were awarded many prizes, amongst which Smau Industrial Design Award, Good Design Award, and Red Dot Communication Award. His interests currently focus on the topic of unstable geometries, which he designs with the intent to slightly move the usual balance of our normal relationship with objects.
Omer Unal was born in Ankara, Turkey in 1973. He Graduated from Marmara University Faculty of Fine Arts Interior Design Department in Istanbul. In 1996-97 he earned a Master Diploma in Design from Domus Academy in Milan. He later earned his second Master Diploma in Interior Design from Marmara University Faculty of Fine Arts Interior Design Department. In 2000 he founded UBstudio along with his partner Alper Boler in Istanbul, Turkey. His studio’s work included Product design, Shop Window Designs, Interior Designs, Architecture for various local companies in Turkey. His “Sema” coffee table designed for the Turkish company Nurus won 2008 IF best design award. His works have won eight international and local awards from 1996-2012. In 2012 he founded OUD studio, and he is continuing to design in the fields of Product Design, Interior Design, Architecture. His work has been exhibited in MAK Vienna Museum of Applied Arts, MoMa shop.
“At the beginning Domus Academy was the creation of a privileged place to interpret the world, to invent questions, to search for partial answers, beyond the logic of standardization. I like remembering it so.” La Stanza dello Scirocco Alessi, 2009 PAG. 31
Intanto Alessi, 2009 PAG. 31
“Until the 90’s my country Turkey was a Non Liberal Nationalist country. Access to knowledge therefore intellect, and communication with the outside world was limited. You needed knowledge to access knowledge. Given this situation, my knowledge of design theory was limited to what I could get my hands on in few libraries and what was taught in my university. During and after, I was deeply influenced by the words of Enzo Mari, Ezio Manzini, Andrea Branzi who gave lectures at Domus Academy. I felt like a five year old in a candy store, a dry sponge sucking up all the information around me. A caveman that has just been unfrozen was brought into the 21st century. It was the best educational experience of my life. I have a multi disciplinary office that works mainly with local Turkish brands who are trying to expand globally.” Book Hook OUD, 2011 PAG. 37
Designers 84
Salkim self production, 2004 PAG. 48
Juan Carlos Viso/Juanco
Paolo Zani
Juan Carlos Viso/Juanco (1973) grew up in Caracas, Venezuela and graduated in Industrial Design at the Instituto de Diseño de Caracas. In 1998 he moved to Milan to attend the Master in Design at Domus Academy. From 1999 to 2001, inside Studio Dordoni, he worked together on the creative research for furniture design, objects, lamps and furnishing-accessories for Artemide, Minotti, Molteni & Co, Breil, D&G. Since 2001 he works as a freelance designer and collaborates with professionals of architecture and fashion houses like +ARCH, Studio Ortelli, VSM46, Armani, Missoni, Sergio Rossi and Piazza Sempione in diverse projects and visual display development. In 2002 won the “Designboom & Sotheby’s rocking chair competition” and the price “Macef young design competition”. In 2004 he started a professional association with Lorenzo Bustillos, dealing with graphic work, interior and product design. Collaborating with Banal Extra, Diamantini & Domeniconi, Frida Kahlo corp, Cut Milano, Cleaf, and Mycrom. Throughout the years he has participated in a wide range of projects, from design research for hi-tech companies as the likes of Canon and Softbank Japan, to the design of coffee cups made out of Industrial glass in Venezuela. He is the creative director of Mavari, a start-up surf apparel company based in Santa Cruz, California. His works have been published in many international publications.
He was born in Cesena in 1960 and currently lives and works in Milan. He graduated from I.S.I.A. di Faenza (Istituto Superiore per le Industrie Artistiche) in 1986, later to obtain a Master in Industrial Design from Domus Academy (in 1987). His Milan based studio focuses on: - product design like ceramic tiles (Marazzi, Ascot, Gabbianelli-Italy), hi-fi accessories (Ross electronics-Great Britain), mobile phones (Fujitsu-Japan, Haier mobile-India), flatware and cookware (Alessi, Lagostina, Santandrea, Guzzini, Cierre accessories-Italy, WMF, Fissler-Germany), appliances (Ariston/Indesit, Ocean-Italy), rugs and carpet (Warli-Italy, Louis De Poortere-Belgium), eyewear (EspritUsa), furniture (FontanaArte, Kristalia-Italy, Steelcase Strafor-Usa/France), home and office lamps (FontanaArte, LumenCenter-Italy), bath furnishings (Moab80) - research and consultancy projects for the development of design concepts, materials and products for Italian and foreign companies. - interior design for stores, showrooms, and fair stands. Since 2001 he is Art Director at Cierre Accessories, company that produces flatware and table accessories. In 1992 he creates “Warli”, a collection of contemporary rugs made in India and Nepal with traditional wool and plant fibers weaving.
“Domus Academy for me is a modern Myth where Naiveness awe Complexity (and viceversa) and Rationality embraces Poetics (and viceversa). The Quest for Beauty in its deepest sense (il Bello).”
“Domus Academy was my first home in Milan. It opened the doors and the international visions of design but most of all it was a multi-disciplinary, anti-ethical, corrosive and concrete laboratory of ideas to which I always go back.” Volver Warli, 2010 PAG. 32
Regolo Vanalextra, 2012 PAG. 17
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Dante Donegani
Niko Koronis
Giovanni Lauda
Dante Donegani was born in Pinzolo (Trento) in 1957. He took his degree in Architecture at Florence University in 1983. From 1987 to 1990 he worked for Corporate Identity department in Olivetti. Since 1993 he is Director of the Design Master in Domus Academy, Milan. He has designed interior design projects for private houses and stores, various trade fairs, showrooms and expositions. In addition, he has designed products for several companies, among which Memphis, Stildomus, Isuzu, Radice, Rotaliana, Viceversa, Luceplan and Edra. He has realized several exhibitions projects and settings such as “Michelangelo Architetto”, at Casa Buonarroti in Florence; “Mondrian e De Stijl” at Fondazioni Cini in Venice, “Piero della Francesca” at San Sepolcro. His projects have been awarded by major architectural contests, such as “Manhattan Waterfront” New York 1988 (1° prize), “Berlin wall”, Berlin 1987 (1° prize) both in collaboration with A.Branzi; “A square with a monument” Kejhanna Japan, 1991(2°prize). Since 1993 he has opened D&L Associated, with Giovanni Lauda. They have worked together in different projects of design: setting up of art exhibitions, tradefairs and showrooms. They are also responsible for art direction of some furniture industries, both in Italy and abroad. In 2001 they directed the house section of the exhibition “Italia e Giappone-Design come stile di vita”, held in Kobe and Yokohama by Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc. The chaise longue Passpartout produced by Edra is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art of San Francisco. In 2004 he exhibited at the Venice Biennial “Metamorphosis”. He gives lectures in various Universities in different countries.
He is graduated in Architecture from the Welsh School of Architecture, where a year later he did his Master degree in Environmental Design of Buildings. He then moved to Milan, where he attended Domus Academy and obtained the Master Diploma in Design with distinction. He spent a year as tutor of the Master in Design, after which he studied for his Phd in Theory and History of Architecture at the Architectural Association in London. He has been a Fellow at Central Saint Martins and a researcher at the Alvar Aalto Foundation in Helsinki. He has taught, lectured and undertaken research in architecture, product and urban design, and has taken part in several exhibitions, amongst which the Venice Biennial and the Triennale di Milano.
Giovanni Lauda was born in Napoli in 1956. Degree in Architecture. From 1989 till 1992 was a member of Morozzi & Partners design office, working on product design and corporate identity. In 1992 he opened together with Dante Donegani D&L Studio. They have been in charge with the setting up of art exhibition, trade-fairs and show rooms and have designed products both for the house and the office. Since 1994 he is responsible of the course “Design culture” in the Industrial Design Master Course at Domus Academy. Visiting professor at the Milano Politecnico and at the Palermo University. From 2002 till 2004 he was the columnist of “Progetto design” for Interni magazine. He was between the curators of the exhibition “Il design italiano dal 1964 al 1990”, which was held at the Triennale of Milan in 1996 and in 2001 of the exhibition” Italy-Japan: Design as a lifestyle” in Yokohama and Kobe. In 2004 he exhibited the project “La casa liberata” at the Venice Biennial “Metamorphosis” .
Designers 86
Claudio Moderini
Elena Pacenti
Claudia Raimondo
Claudio Moderini is an interaction design director and researcher, with a background in architecture and industrial design, founder and director of the Master Program in Interaction Design of Domus Academy. His main competences range from creative direction to envisioning and strategic design, to the development of design concepts for future scenarios and interaction design solutions. His main design and research interests range from the introduction of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the everyday life and environment, to its potentiality in supporting the qualities of the social relations, to the potentiality of interaction design to innovate/transform the product and service design processes. He has been project leader and coordinator for Domus Academy of more than 40 design projects, researches and workshops both in conjunction with international companies such as Canon, Fujitsu, Mitsubishi, Nokia, Motorola, Pioneer, Samsung, TDK and within EU research initiatives. He has lectured and held design seminars at Politecnico di Milano, Royal College of Art, University of Siena, University of Milano Bicocca, FUKUI Prefecture in Japan, Shie Chien University Taipei, NTUT Taipei, Hong Kong Design Institute, Hong Kong Polytechnic, Kookmin University Seoul, MIT Boston, Bilgi University Istanbul, Tonji University Shanghai, Universidad Major Santiago del Chile and Toluca Tech Mexico, focusing on interactive design, envisioning and strategic design. Specialties: Conceptual and Strategic Design, Interaction Design, Design Research, Free Style Thinking.
Graduated in Architecture and PhD in Industrial Design, Elena Pacenti deals with the design of services, design of service interfaces and design of new media for everyday use. She is the Director of the Master in Service and Experience Design of domus Academy. From 2003 to 2009 she has been director of Domus Academy Research Center. She started working at Domus Academy in 1997 as part of the Domus Academy Research Center (DARC), where she has been coordinating research projects in the area of design innovation. As service and interaction designer at DARC, she developed research projects for the European Union and design advice for governmental and private agencies in Italy. From 1998 to 2005 she has been Contract Professor at the Faculty of Industrial Design at Politecnico di Milano, where she teaches interaction and service design. She has participated as lecturer in several national and international conferences such as: Info-Eco Door of Perception 3, Amsterdam, 1996; Gerontechnology, Simposium Internazionale, Helsinky, 1997; Tecnologie per la Cooperazione, Convegno Nazionale AIF, Rimini, 1999; New Media Visions, Domus Academy, 1999/2000; Web Experiences, Domus Academy, 2000; i3 AC2000 (Icubed Annual Conference), Jonkoping 2000, HKDC 2007, Service Design Conference, SDN, Amsterdam 2008, Northern Service Design Conference, AHO, Oslo, 2009, SDN Conference Berlin, 2010.
Claudia Raimondo is an architect with a PHD in Industrial Design, Venetian, lives and works in Milan. She has been a professor at the Architecture School and the Design School at Politecnico di Milano, at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera and international schools such as ENSCI Les Atelier di Parigi among others. Since 1993 she has been the project leader of the Master in Design at Domus Academy, among which: 1993, Master The Native Office with Clino Castelli; 1996, Multiply surfaces with Aldo Mondino; 1998, Superply with Antonio Petrillo; 1999, Ceramica Sapiens with gruppo Sargadelos; 2000, Ambienti fototattici, materiali e luce; 2001, Microambienti trasversali with SEAT; 2002, Slightly Domestic with 3M; 2004, Tiles of Italy. Exercise in Architecture with Assopiastrelle; 2005, No tiling please with Gruppo Ceramico Vietrese; 2007, Healing Habitat with Policlinico S. Orsola di Bologna; 2008, Crystallized with Swarovsky; 2009, Changing surfaces; 2010, It Happens; 2011, Deconstruct with Leroi Merlin; 2012, White space; 2012, Ri-Bayflex with Bayer Material Science.
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Domus Academy
Lost in translation
CEO Marc Ledermann
Curators Dante Donegani, Elena Pacenti
Dean Alberto Bonisoli
Curators of the thematic sections Niko Koronis, Giovanni Lauda, Claudio Moderini, Claudia Raimondo
Executive Director Marketing and Enrollment Paddy Jansen Student Services and Industry Relations Director Brunello Morelli CFO Ronald Voordendag Marketing Communications Manager Sabrina Di Pietrantonio
Exhibition coordination Angela Ambrogio, Mara Ribone, Chiara Vaghi Catalogue coordination Mara Ribone Exhibition design Dante Donegani, Federica Cevasco, Filippo Nichetti Catalogue graphic design Francesca ValadĂŠ Exhibition graphic design Francesca ValadĂŠ, Marcella Foschi Translation Michela Marini Press Office SEC Relazioni Pubbliche e Istituzionali
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