The carpet is the product on which the design research of Deanna Comellini. Trained in the Bolognese artistic environment of the 1970s, with various local companies, in 1977 she founded the company G.T.DESIGN for which he is designer and art director.
After an initial approach to high-tech materials and shapes, she later focused her attention on techniques from various international cultures, which led her to work on an idea of 'imperfect design', handmade, natural materials and elementary colours and shapes.
Thus was born the contemporary philosophy of the carpet, seen as an essential element of interior architecture: "It is the first element around which the intimate, domestic atmosphere is built. It represents the scent, the habits, the poetics of a home,' says the Comellini.
The collections of G.T.DESIGN are based on the encounter between craftsmanship and design culture. A continuous research and experimentation of new ways of designing and processing textile fibres, the use of natural materials such as linen, coconut, bamboo, wool, hemp, silk. The craftsmanship enhances the imperfections and sensitive vitality of the objects.
Forty years of experience behind them for Deanna Comellini e G.T.DESIGNa series of high-end carpet collections in which quality and artistic creativity stand out.
Such as Kama, a carpet capable of reinventing the contemporary vision of this object, in which light and colour merge to create luminous planes capable of making rooms unique and exclusive. O In-Touchwhose name refers precisely to the uniqueness created by contact with the material. A special softness that, together with colours, shapes and dimensions beyond the limits of the ordinary, satisfies the most extreme demands. In-Touch Campitureis characterised by a special tile inlay, reminiscent of the paving of Italian piazzas, in which the fields of colour are separated by delicate grooves carved into the pile of the carpet. In addition, the Tencel, the material from which the carpet is made, is an environmentally friendly fibre obtained from renewable sources, from which biodegradable yarns are obtained as they are derived from cellulose.
Among the best-selling collections of G.T.DESIGN we also find IN-Cantowith a sophisticated shade, elegant and graceful thanks to the iridescent grosgrain webbing. Combinable in both classic and modern contexts given the 10 colours available.
What role does the carpet play in the contemporary home?
The carpet is a very particular element among others in furniture, both for its form - its being a thing - and for its position in space. What I feel is fundamental is its capacity to humanise the home. A bit like light, it exists in its materiality, but it is also a perspective element, that is, it gives the possibility of seeing space otherwise. As a rediscovery of less usual points of view, the carpet sets us on the discovery of the ground, for example, as a starting point. The body is also less structured when sitting, lying, playing on a carpet. Far from the rigid structure of the piece of furniture, the carpet remains open to the interpretation of the person living it, and at the same time, 'opens' to a new horizon of knowledge of the space around it: it is like a frame that gathers a space in power, ready to cradle us, collect us and transport us where we want to go.
Are you going back to handmade?
As far as the return to handmade is concerned, there would be a million reasons on which it would be more important than ever to reflect today, from the more concrete such as the appreciation of craftsmanship, manual labour, to the more philosophical, such as the loss of humanity within the technological horizon.
This is a combination that is not necessarily negative, and being nostalgic is probably never the right way to go, no matter how far technology may advance for the well-being of mankind, what I do believe is that the latter is inextricably linked to his ability to build and create through his hands.
So revalorising this type of work means operating an awareness-raising strategy (for everyone). One of the main points that comes to my mind at the moment is always related to the humanisation of the environment: while the other elements of the home are often the result of industrialisation processes, in the carpet there is the possibility of the handmade, which connects it to its history as a nomadic object resulting from journeys and relationships.
Which cultures have influenced you?
I think I should rephrase it like this: what are the 'exchanges' that have influenced me? It is precisely in the concept of exchange and openness that is the inspiration. It is with a gaze that seeks the beauty and complexity of the relationships between the various ethnic groups and cultures of the world that it is possible to add another small relative and relational vision. Mainly, I prefer to say what does not limit me in my vision, that is not having any preclusion, or constraint, to one culture, to the closed concept of 'culture'. It is the fluidity that
interests me, the exchanges and sharing of meanings and aesthetics, the encounters within history. The incessant amazement, finally, as the engine of creativity.
What about ecodesign?
I have the impression that there is a lot of talk about ecodesign, both within the academic and research environment as well as talking about trends, but that very little is actually done with it. On the one hand, it is the way of looking at things that needs to be changed, otherwise the demand will not change and little will continue to be made of it. Often the fact that an object changes over time, that it changes appearance or colour, is not counted among its values, and this is how natural fibres behave.
If the value system is not slowly regenerated by better (i.e. sustainable and social) values, the demand for making ecodesign an industrial phenomenon will never be sufficient.
What project are you currently working on?
I always work on several projects at the same time, because always, from an initial idea, others intertwine that later take different paths. We have recently worked on projects with large architectural firms such as Gensler, Zaha Hadid, Hba architecture, and more recently with Piero Lissoni's firm in New York on several projects in North America.
