A Narrative designin which stories and fantasy worlds are the interpretative sap of objects, 'things', instruments.
Everyday life is dressed in lightness and magic with Alessandra Baldereschi, designer Milanese with a strong playful spirit, the main creative inspiration for his projects.
Appointed in 2010 among the ten best designers of the new generation from AD Spain, born in 1975, after an artistic education, he obtained a master's degree in Industrial Design at the Domus Academy in Milanthen obtained a study residency in 2001 in Japan where he develops ceramic tableware projects with companies in the district of Gifu.
Upon returning to Italy, he began collaborating with companies such as Swatch Bijoux, Fabbian Illuminazione, Moss NY, Dilmos, De Vecchi, Chimento, Coin Casa Design, Seletti, Skitsch and other brands, realising lighting and furniture projects.
His works include his experimental 'Bosco' series, seats and carpets made from natural leaves and mosses, part of the Dilmos Editions.
And then his exhibitions: the Saint Etienne Biennial, Inside Design Amsterdam, the Seoul Design Festival and the Moss Gallery in New York. While in 2007 his 'Soufflé' armchair was selected for "Milan Made in Design'. in Beijing and Shanghai and in 2009 Li Edelkoort chose his collections for the GLASS exhibition at the DesignHuis museum in Eindhoven.
His way of expressing himself, his harmonious poetics, which characterises each of his projects, his inspiration from fantastic worlds in which nature is the undisputed protagonist, are the signature of a way of conceiving design and the object itself.
I furnishings and everyday tools take on a different guise, tell a story and, in that guise, acquire an identity. The decoration becomes functional, leaves a message, the sign becomes the synthesis of a thought and an emotion that exudes familiarity and contemporaneity.
An initial artistic training and then a plunge into industrial design: what have these two paths left you and how do they reconcile in your production?
They have left me receptive to everything that is able to get in touch with my sensitive side. Whenever I tackle a new project, in addition to the function of the object, I also try to make the emotional part visible.
Your travels and experience in Japan: can it be said that your style is eclectic and has been nourished over the years by these pieces of the world and culture?
In Japan, I learnt that aesthetics are as important as function and that strength can be expressed with subtle gestures. It is a place where everything around you is an expression of care and grace. In 'The Book of Shadows', Tanizaki describes Japanese culture very well: ' ...whoever touches any part of it,..., will have the impression that everything is oriented by a dominant preoccupation, which has nothing to do with religion, nor with philosophy, nor even less with history, but with something else that I dare to call it:
an ecology of sensitivity'. An unforgettable experience that taught me attention to detail, the search for beauty, joy and poetry in everyday things.
The forms of nature are often present in your designs. What is the significance of this choice?
Mine is a gentle Nature, which wants to evoke well-being and harmony. I like to suggest a scenery, as in the case of the Painting screen for De Castelli, where everyone can imagine their own landscape given by a memory or a fantasy. Or I use small natural details to inspire a place, for example in the Greenwood collection for Ichendorf, some natural elements decorate glass for the table. They are all different subjects that, when observed together, describe a story of the forest.
In an interview you said that your teacher is the writer José Saramago...why?
Because he has helped me to grasp and understand many nuances of the human soul. He is a scholar of Man and his condition: in his greatness, weaknesses and cowardice.
His novels, without place and without time, are similar to fairy tales: they speak directly to the innermost part of us.
The project that most represents you, the one you are particularly attached to?
The 'Fildefer' outdoor furniture collection because it has an instantly familiar image. Because it contains something old and something new together. The iron rod is used as if it were the graphite of a pencil, a pattern of articulated curves that reproduces the effect of classic Capitonné upholstery. I used the texture of the
Capitonné and turned it into a metal structure. It is like deja-vù: something you know together with something completely new. The three-dimensional decoration
gives the collection a vaguely surreal aspect and creates an effect of immateriality and lightness in space.
Tell us about the projects you are working on...
For about a year now I have been following the art direction of one of the most important Italian gift brands and you will see the result starting next September. For Le Bebè the collaboration continues and, after designing the children's bedroom collections, baby accessories, lamps and their show room in Milan, we are now designing the other two show rooms that we will soon open in China and Qatar. For Design, this year we are presenting the extensions of the Bamboo collections with AlotofBrasil and that of the Donut family of chairs for Mogg, now produced in 'total black'.
For Ichendorf my storytelling with glass continues and for the upcoming Maison & Object in Paris we will present two new tableware collections.
A memory as a child that in a certain way marked your path in this field?
My mum building a dollhouse with a small shelf and furnishing it with models of furniture made by her.
How does your creative process come about?
It stems from research into the irrational and sensitive side: the origins of the object or type, ancient stories, folk beliefs, tales and childhood memories. They become material used in the creative process. Working with emotional aspects or memory, the story is created spontaneously.
In your opinion, what should design tell us today? What does he lack and what is his potential?
Design should take care of all things around us. There are so many unexplored fields, for example I am thinking of the food industry. A few years ago, during the
Salon, I exhibited at Rossana Orlandi's a collection made from herbs called 'Grandmother Tips'. The collection explored ancient recipes for cleaning the
environments with herbs. To realise the project, I contacted many Italian producers of herbs and spices and found incredible interest because the project
offered a potential to sell amteria first in other sectors and in other ways.
The book you are most attached to? Or a film?
Oceano mare by Baricco: I am in love with the painter who paints the sea with the sea.
If you were not the designer you are today, what would you like to do with your life?
I would like to take care of plants and have a greenhouse.
What is the element that must never be missing from any of your projects?
A small surprise, an unusual element, sometimes even only one colour.
Photo credits: Massimo Gardone
