diego grandi discusses the concept behind azzurra and davines' universe of ceramics and hair

amongst their highly technical ceramic designs, the ‘chroma’ project saw azzurra‘s showroom occupied by abstract interpretations of manes of hair. the installation’s spectrum of colors slowly spread across the space before giving way to preview the brand’s multitude of new palettes and finishes. from their ‘elegance’ collection through to the ‘hera‘ line by daniel libeskind in 2018, their latest ceramic collections were teased in their new colors, including ‘1250°’, ’luxury’ and ‘le malteceramiche’ options.

during milan design week 2019, designboom spoke with milan-based designer diego grandi to learn more about the concept behind the installation inside azzurra’s showroom.

designboom (DB): firstly, can you explain the concept behind the ‘chroma’ project?

diego grandi (DG): the concept stems from the idea to work with the sense of beauty but also to express yourself. the bathroom is a space of intimacy, where you can really express your sense of beauty through a predisposition of exercises with yourself. color is integral to this idea, and it is one of the elements that link the two brands: azzurra and davines. I wanted to match them together to work around an idea of a new beauty cosmogony. using the color palettes of both, I decided to draw something like a planetarium. I asked azzurra to personalize some sanitaryware in different kinds colors whilst davines created big planets through working with real hair. just like in beauty, the concept represents how people can customize themselves in many levels, from their hair through to their sanitaryware.

DB: did you use the universe as a point of reference for the project?

DG: absolutely, the idea was to create a kind of planetarium – you can also see some nebulas, for example. for davines, each color represents some specific element: air, fire, wind and the earth. we then matched these colors and elements with the ceramic designs.

DB: how did you present azzurra’s collections within the installation?

DG: azzurra has 19 different kinds of materials and finishes on show in the second part of the space. there are three columns that represent the entire color palette of the brand, as well as the different finishes and treatments on the surfaces. for example, there are some treatments that are more three-dimensional, more silky, or more smooth. there are 19 colors, and three kinds of glossy finishes in gold, rose gold and platinum. that is the sense of beauty as people can compose their own bathroom.

image © designboom

DB: how does the showroom communicate the brand’s philosophy?

DG: the whole process started in september 2019, and their showroom looked completely different in comparison to how it is with the ‘chroma’ project. the space available has been optimized to fit this new image, which is a concept of balance overall. it is ideal to showcase a pop-up of products in a more expressive way, and that was exactly what we achieved with the ‘chroma’.