She loves all things blue.
“Water is my natural element. My favourite colour is blue in all the shades of the sea. Dark blue, cobalt blue, turquoise, jade green, light green… I like experimenting with colours; matching chalky and soft colours in the same space, and clashing fluorescent with powerful colours. I’m always looking for new and unexpected ways of combining various moods.”
Her design sense was shaped by one important movement.
“Studio Alchimia and the Memphis movement of the ’70s were on the anti-academic side of Italian design. I began to discover these movements when I was still at the university and I was attracted by their utopian projects. They instilled in me a sense of curiosity for what is different and unusual. I met very special people who believed in the social value of creativity and the ethical function of the industry. It was a great adventure.”
She visits India often – and shops quite a bit.
“Every time I come to India I visit my friend in Ahmedabad who is a very sophisticated tailor and makes wonderful clothes. On my last trip I bought of cast aluminium hooks for my home.”
She likes to use the words friendly, joyful, ironic to describe her work.
“I don’t follow any design rules. Every project is different and unique. I enjoy working on “friendly” objects – simple, imperfect and joyful – and using everyday things in an unconventional way. My “tools” are simplicity, child-like curiosity and irony. They are part of my nature. Irony can make the simplest thing special, and that’s never missing in work.”
She’s been super busy.
“We recently overhauled the Dodo Shop in Paris – the jewellery label known for its quirky charms – into a metropolitan house with theatrical and sophisticated atmosphere. And for the Italian company, Bisazza, I recently designed a collection of cement tiles with dusty colours and bizarre decorations to mix in a thousand ways. Now, I’m working on a new collection of furniture for Gervasoni and Baxter, which will be launched at Milan Design Week.”
India Design ID is on from February 13 to 15, in New Delhi. Indiadesignid.com
