| interview with antonio citterio, architect and designer. we met him in his imposing studio in milan .................................................................................... | |||
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| antonio citterio was born in meda (italy) in 1950. he has a degree in architecture from the polytechnic university in milan, and he opened his studio in 1972. he has collaborated with many italian and foreign firms in the design sector like ansorg, b&b italia, flexform, flos, hackmann, inda, pozzi e ginori, kartell, arclinea and vitra. in 1981 he began designing architectural projects. from 1987 to 1996 he was associated with terry dwan and together they designed many buildings in europe and japan. some of their most important works: the headquarters in amsterdam, antwerp and milan for esprit, an industrial plant for vitra in germany and for antonio fusco in milan. other commercial spaces: in 1996, the habitat store in london. in 1999 he founded antonio citterio and partners, a multidisciplinary architecture and design studio, in 2000 the milan office and the hamburg offices were opened. antonio citterio has taught at domus academy in milan and at universita’ la sapienza in rome, and he has been teaching at the architecture academy in mendrisio since 1999. he has won many prizes, among which the compasso d’oro in 1987 and 1995. his products are part of the moma permanent collection and the centre di pompidou in paris. he lives and works in milan. the design work of antonio citterio is part of following manufacturer's collections: www.ansorg.com www.bebitalia.it www.flexform.com www.flos.net www.kartell.com www.vitra.com |
 antonio citterio © designboom  452kb |
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--- we met antonio citterio in his milanese studio on september 18, 2000 --- what is the best moment of the day? definitely the morning, breakfast with my children, my other best moment is when I drink a glass of wine in the evening. what kind of music do you listen to at the moment? while i’m driving, vasco rossi, zucchero...italian artists. during the day i need energy, but at home i listen to relaxing music, classical music. do you listen to the radio? radio 102. what books do you have on your bedside table? at the moment there are 3, I’m rereading hemingway, he does everything I don’t do, he eats, drinks...things i would like to do. do you read design magazines? no, I look at them. where do you get news from? I read 3 newspapers, corriere, repubblica and il sole 24 ore, i take my 40 minutes to read them, my “private” time. do you notice how women are dressing? do you have any preferences? a young, beautiful woman looks good in anything, maybe certain things are better left unsaid, but that’s how it is.. what kind of clothes do you avoid wearing? everything that most fashion designers create. do you have any pets? I used to have a cat. where do you work on your designs and projects? I design in quiet places, here in my office, anywhere, on a plane...but most of the time together with other people, giving them directions or criticisms. who would you like to design something for? I would like to design buildings that aren’t contaminated by commercial aspects, a church, a museum... where what is inside the building enhances the building itself. when you are working, do you discuss or exchange ideas with your colleagues? yes, in milan there are many other designers like me who spent their youth in that ‘milan to drink’ (an advertising campain of ramazotti ) in the 80’s, the topics we discussed were different, but I still see my colleagues, although our exchanges are briefer, everything is different now. I talk with michele de lucchi, marco zanini, aldo cibic, alberto meda, vico magistretti... I must say that I truly appreciate someone like vico. in ‘85 my first building in milan was built and vico wrote me a letter commenting on it, which pleased me immensely. describe your style, like a good friend of yours would describe it. style...I’m in a cold sweat. if I have one, its news to me. I know what I would like to do, I know what I like and what I don’t like. someone else has to judge whether my approach can be defined as a style. a phillippe starck line..., I could have done what alberto meda did and vice versa. which of your projects has given you the most satisfaction? the things I have done are companies, not pieces, I’ve been working for b&b italia for 27 years, 15 years for vitra, 15 years for kartell... of course I’m glad for the things that have become part of the moma or the beaubourg collections. is there any designer and/or architect, you appreciate a lot? in design, eames...there are different moments in one’s cultural formation, all of the italian protorationalist architects and le corbusier, luis kahn, tadao ando, gehry, siza. siza is the contemporary who I respect the most. you are good at designing “bestsellers”. what’s your secret? I make things for myself, I don’t work with marketing instructions... if I won’t surround myself with these things, I don’t make them. don’t force it, if it doesn’t work, don’t do it. you can’t whip the cream? it doesn’t matter! you collaborate with companies in different countries, do you believe that the future vision of entrepreneurs is influenced by national identity? national identity doesn’t exist, only a niche identity within the global market.. do you believe in sharing knowledge via internet? or do you think that the internet has more negative effects on us, as the 'big brother is watching you'? they are necessary phases and it is absolute demagogy to think that only because you can’t ride the tiger that it is a system designed to control. internet allows me to have offices in milan and in hamburg, I receive drawings in real time and I can check them immediately.. what changes will internet bring in the distribution of your products? I am convinced that certain products will be distributed on the internet, and others no. my wife, who is american, buys everythig via internet. but I think that shopping comes from pleasure, and unless it is a question of buying necessities, people prefer to go to stores. this is what I would put on the internet: in 5-6 years, I will have designed 50-100 bathrooms with all the details and someone who wants to redo their bathroom can download the blueprints in 1:1 scale, with the various addresses of where to buy the items, ...I have a lot of faith in this. on the news broadcast they said that italians are afraid of unemployment, criminality and pollution. what are you afraid of regarding the future ? first of all, architects have a positive world vision. they always think of a better world. what concerns me is the abyss between rich coutries and poor countries, crime won’t get worse, nor will pollution. these are serious problems now, but I am not afraid of them. |
 work station 'vademecum', for vitra, 1998  'axess' chair, for vitra 1996  'mobil' for kartell, 1994  'lastra' lamp for flos 1999 |
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the questionaire of marcel proust (1871 - 1922)......................................................................................................................................... (in age of fourteen proust was given an english album "confessions : an album to record thoughts, feelings". seven years later marcel proust published this questionaire) in the literary salons in nineteenth century paris, this parlour game was a popular amusement. for designboom antonio citterio has answered these 'old fashioned' questions. .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... |
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the main traits of my character. to never give up. a quality I desire in a man. a firm mind. a quality I desire in a woman. a sense of balance. what I appreciate most among my friends. that they remember to call me, not only when they need something.. my principal defect. yelling. my favourite occupation. reading the newspaper. my dream of felicity. I’ve been trying to make it come true for the past few years. I’d like to have a space to work in like now, to feel good, to have a house, a small farm... what would be the biggest misfortune for me. -. who I would like to be. to be more intelligent . were I would like to live. I like spain, it’s very mediterranean, it has a lot of wonderful architects, the quality of life, the climate is pleasant (...but I wouldn’t want to live there). the colour I prefer. orange. the flower I love. hortense. the bird I prefer. sparrows (spring, perfume...). my favourite authors. hemingway. my favourite poets. during different moments I read about different themes, if I find an author I like I read everything he wrote,... canetti, calvino. my heroes in fiction. I don’t like heroes and saints. you have to be crazy and egocentric to become a heroe. my heroines in fiction. the same my favourite composers. I don't really have a preference. my favourite artists. the minimalists, matisse, donald judd, sol le witt, I'm a collector. my heroes in real life. architects, those unknown architects, people working without the aim to become protagonists. my heroines in history. - my favourite names. carlotta, marcello, massimiliano. what I dislike the most. heroes and saints. the historic characters I dislike most. I dislike them all - I don't think garibaldi really wanted to create italy. the military enterprise I like the most. nothing comes into my mind at the moment. the reformation I appreciate the most. calvinism. nature’s gift I would like to have. to be more intellingent, taller, more balanced. how I would like to die. 'tocchiamoci le palle' (knock wood). my soul's present condition. calm. the faults I can bear. eating. my motto. curiosity.  ------- monthly designboom newsletter ------- ------- ? comments and contact us ? ------- |
 studio antonio citterio & partners, via cerva, milan, italy, 2000  private house, cene , italy, 2000  vitra furniture factory, neuenburg, germany  private house, milan, italy  cerruti flagship store, new york |
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