ITALIAN CREATIVE DESIGN
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February 2021 – Cambridge // London – U.K.
Laquercia21 Discovering the develpoment of an idea to generate a creative and unique piece of design
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MARGHERITA CESCA NELDER-HAYNES Founder of ITALIANspaceWISE
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With this publication we want to illustrate the essence of Italian Design through interesting, stimulating and curious stories describing uniqueness, quality and originality. An ambitious editorial project developed between Cambridge and London during lockdown. The aim of our publications is to raise awareness by supporting Made in Italy expressed in various forms: interiors, architecture, art, photography, design, trends, materials and much more. This is our support in trying to help promoting small, medium and large Italian businesses and artisans who manufacture Made in Italy treasures and iconic furniture, with the hope of boosting the Italian economy post C19 pandemia in a small but hopefully meaningful way. ©ITALIANspaceWISE 2021 – Cambridge UK
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As an architect and curious soul, I am always on the hunt for interesting and creative products, design solutions and businesses. Those companies or individuals who can turn a beautiful concept into a real product. Bespoke design or made to measure are true caracteristics of Italian design. In Italy it is really hard to find anything “standard”, whether products or furniture. We struggle with buying off-the shelf or even self-assembly furniture. We want our houses to be unique and furnished based on own on wants and taste. That’s why craftmaship is so sucessful. We love high quality finishes and we want the job done properly. This month I am interviewing Laquercia21, a perfect example of a typical, high quality Italian workshop.
New and recycled solid wood, which is restored by hand through a meticulous and totally handmade process combining other materials like iron, recycled materials of all kinds, fabrics, resins and plexiglass. After the first attempts with small restoration, the cousins enrolled in the Renato Bufalini carpentry school in Città di Castello, in the northern part of Umbria. On completion of the two years of the course, they initially set up independentely, Luca in Lazio and Nicola in Umbria. During this time, whilst they collaborated on some commissions, they continued to develop their own style and ideas building various prototypes and models. Their paths crossed again when they jointly exhibited some prototypes at a craft exhibition in Orvieto with their first prototypes. Time was right for them to join together and embrace a wider mission, with a single, larger and better equipped workshop. Laquercia21 was born, and from here they could design, manufacture and sell products that had either been kept in the warehouse, or merely a concept. Today Laquercia includes the cousins Luca & Nicola, subsequently joined by Matteo & Silvia.
Photo 1: Laquercia21 Workshop
Laquercia21 is an artisan design laboratory established in 2010; a collaboration between two joiners and cousins, Luca and Nicola. Their workshop is located in the green heart of Italy, Umbria, a land still closely linked to craftsmanship and nature; an eclectic container that collects and mixes ideas and techniques from the most varied fields: contemporary design, traditional crafts, art, vintage-pop culture, ecodesign. Focusing on artisanal processes, preferring the philosophy of the single piece over mass production. A good old planer and a circular saw instead of CNC machines.
How did you deal with the lockdown - did you work on any interesting or particularly creative projects? Lockdown was undoubtedly a very unusual time for us, both on a corporate and personal level. Although we are a small company, we consist of a varied team with a decentralised structure: one part of Laquercia21 is located in Umbria and the other in Spain. The visible part is the workshop where the carpenters are focused on the design and construction of furniture and furnishings, as well as the transport and assembly of each single piece. Lockdown meant the closure of this workshop a stop to any new production. ©ITALIANspaceWISE 2021 – Cambridge UK
©ITALIANspaceWISE 2021 – Cambridge UK
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The less visible part of Laquercia21 is Silvia, who has lived in Madrid for many years and takes care of the business side of our company. She manages everything related to communication, marketing, website and looks after our social media, as well as handling all the customer enquiries. She also coordinates the delivery and after-sales function.
The lockdown became a period of deep reflection and questioning which manifested itself as a real driving force. Having all this available time allowed us to gather around a virtual table and let our imaginations fly, allowing each of us to voice our ambitions, desires and hopes for future Laquercia21 projects.
So you could say that Laquercia21 has been working in a "remote" and "decentralised" way for many years?
During these brainstormings we spoke about everything: resulting in brilliant ideas but also bizarre, visionary projects reinterpreted in the light of a new world reality. The lockdown confirmed that our team is united and that the affection and respect that binds us is the foundation of our work. Where everyone contributes, everyone is essential and everyone is indispensable.
We are a fairly business-savvy despite our focus on craftsmanship and manual production. Smart-working was already embedded in our culture, so it wasn't difficult for us to continue working in this way. Most of our customers are not located in Umbria, therefore both the design and the order of the piece itself was already a "remote" process.
Our composite network is made up of many strands (meaning each of us has a fundamental role to play) and this has ensured that Laquercia21 has been able to conduct business even during the harshest months of confinement. In mid-March 2020 Silvia conceived and implemented a communication plan in just a few days, adapting to the new business environment. She reached out to both existing customers and new clients to reassure them that despite everything that was going on, Laquercia21 was still there; despite working from home they were still operational! The closure of the workshop certainly created challenges, both in terms of production and delivery lead times as well as internal organization, but this didn’t phase us. We just needed to re-focus the lens we used to view things, finding creative and effective solutions wherever possible.
Photo 2: Luca in the workshop – finishing area
I recently heard a about Stort-UP – what is it? Stort UP! is a new way of looking at wall systems, and a project we were involved in just back in February 2020. The idea was to create a prototype and organise a temporary exhibition at Ral Arts & Crafts in Milan, a store we have collaborated with for several years. Everything was built and ready for the opening, press invitations already sent out when lockdown hit. ©ITALIANspaceWISE 2021 – Cambridge UK
©ITALIANspaceWISE 2021 – Cambridge UK
©ITALIANspaceWISE 2021 – Cambridge UK
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So Stort-UP! suddenly turned into the "wannabe" project looking at us from afar and saying "If I could, yes I would", as U2 sang in 1984. Fortunately the lockdown finished and we started again the furniture production and the designing of other Stort Up! wall units. Stort-UP emerged from reinventing the concept of a traditional wall system, by subjecting it to an energetic scramble, blowing up a stack of container modules and secretly watching the resulting impact. What interests us is to exploit a wall from end to end for functional furniture by applying the same "patchwork" approach that we already use in the design of individual furniture. The result is a heterogeneous mix of elements that interpenetrate, develop symbiosis, and create precarious landscapes stacked together, without losing their function.
What project are you most proud of? We don't have a project we're most proud of; with every new idea we experience the same excitement as if it were our first. Products intended for public spaces such as wine bars, restaurants or showrooms are something that we particularly enjoy working on because we know that our furniture and the spaces where they sit will be seen, used and touched by many people and this is one of our greatest satisfactions.
Photo 4; STORT-UP wall unit – the sideboard
One of the works destined for public spaces is the 3-meter long Nature Graphic sideboard built using only natural wood, intended for the brand new, hi-tech showroom of the wellknown Mariner ceramic production house in Reggio Emilia.
How do you see the future of MADE IN ITALY? Photo 3: Stort-UP Work in progress
We replicated this free style through the available materials we used, ranging from old and new wood, resins, iron, etc. Stort-UP is our ironic low-tech contribution to the world of contemporary innovation, an idea that is born then explodes, producing distortions with a totally unpredictable aesthetic outcome.
The first prototype of this series is the “Crab” wall.
I’m not too familiar with the world of industrial design but I do know something about craftsmanship. It seems to me that in recent years the concept of "Made in Italy" has been very successful, with some exceptions. Small companies have created a niche for themselves by focusing on innovation, imagination, eco-design, with small production runs, communicating through professional online marketing. I believe that this trend will continue in the future. Maybe not the only way, but certainly a positive route for the Made in Italy brand. ©ITALIANspaceWISE 2021 – Cambridge UK
©ITALIANspaceWISE 2021 – Cambridge UK
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In recent years we have seen an unprecedented combination of design and craftsmanship emerge, due to various factors but perhaps down to craftsmanship being well suited to the contemporary desire to create storytelling around the product. A craftsman doesn’t need to produce contrived copy about a finished product, because he himself is the story and the value is in its authenticity. With this process – which is different every time - the journey from idea to realization creates the uniqueness many people yearn for today, fed up with the mass and uncritical consumption proposed by traditional production chains.
A message to ITALIANspaceWISE What we liked about ITALIANspace DESIGN was the fresh approach and professional view towards Italian design. We love the passion that inspires this project and clearly emerges from the Quaderno publications. We really enjoyed taking part in this interview, as well as the format and the style of your questions. It fills us with pride to be able to share our artisan design philosophy within the pages of a design magazine so focused on innovation and fun, which promotes Made in Italy in Europe.
In this issue of Quaderno // CONTRIBUTORS MARGHERITA CESCA NELDER-HAYNES Concept Development & Editorial REBECCA ORDE Editorial Support ALESSANDRO BULGARINI Graphic Support
For more information on this product or for featuring opportunities please contact italianspacewise@gmail.com Submissions and contributions are welcome. Quaderno for ITALIANspaceWISE is a on-line publication about Italian Design. Reproduction, duplication, distribution and remixing are encouraged providing you give full credit to the material source and allow the same conditions to your contributors. Thank you for your cooperation.
©ITALIANspaceWISE 2021 – Cambridge UK