the most powerful shadow. Contrasts can be very
strong. Daylight is full of flaws. It is continuously
modified by the environment and the context.
As human beings we are used to live with this
type of luminous flicker, so when I design
luminaires I try to reproduce exactly daylight’s
model, the faulty one with its rhythms or flaws!
What do you think about imperfection?
It is fundamental. Without it, there would be
nothing. We think in terms that are too strict
and linked to a vision of perfection. Robots
build perfect objects; we work trying to get close
to perfection. But it is so boring. Beauty is to
control imperfection, in order to not cross the
threshold where it becomes gross. To control
it means to be able to handle this type of
language, which then becomes elegance.
Everything is part of it, from gestures to the
way of dressing. “No technology can be really
efficient, even if well built, if at the beginning
there isn’t the human element, the will and
determination to make it work.” (Cordell Hull)
What do you think about urban lighting,
are you interested in it?
Of course I am interested. I am interested in its
more functional sides, such as road lighting, but
also in monumental or pedestrian areas lighting.
It has to be said that, even though we are one
of the nations with the most evolved technology,
we are also one of the less advanced in its use.
There is the need of more cultural tools to be
able to lit public areas. Urban parks in Japan,
China or in some Northern countries are
examples to look at to find ideas and drive.
Would you then accept a proposal?
Sure, there is a lot of things to do on public
areas, cities need emotions. If an assignment
comes, I would not withdraw!
Yacht SX88 Sanlorenzo / Sanlorenzo SX88 Yacht
know what I have to design tomorrow, what
will be my next challenge.
Talking about new challenges, recently the
Oberoi Beach Resort in Al-Zorah was opened.
Another important design where western
architecture is collected and mixed with
the traditional eastern architecture.
The resort is divided into three platforms parallel
to the ocean, and each building is carefully
placed according to its function. The platforms
start from the ocean side and the height of the
buildings grows with each one, in order to
guarantee wonderful views from all the resort’s
areas. Inspired by the layout of an ancient
Medina, the spa is a private and secluded world
waiting to be discovered by guests. The use of big
openings and geometrical wooden walls allows
the eye to freely travel to the far away horizon.
How much does light affect your environments?
Whoever works as a designer draws between
light and shadow. Thus, without light I cannot
even imagine a building. At the same time,
when there is light, I have to control it in some
way, and to understand it according to the
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Spa, The Middle House, Shanghai
environment or to the place in which I am
working. Light is a matrix almost more difficult
to deal with than what we call context. It is a
very precise starting point, and each country has
its own, and this should be taken into account.
For example, Jerusalem light is sharp, totally
different from the light of Amsterdam.
Which time of the day do you prefer?
There is not one single light, there are millions!
Darkness is needed in order to talk about
emotions, especially when you have to work
with electric lighting. You need darkness
to bring out sensuality. Maybe the moment
I prefer is dawn, because it is in movement,
and light starts undefined and unreal.
It is a matter of instants, it changes so fast,
and in a few minutes the day starts.
If light is a matrix as important as the context,
I am curious to know how you deal with it.
How do you treat it in your projects?
Imagine to dig the darkness. Light is a hole in
the darkness. Picture it as a composition. Ideally,
it can be compared to music. If you think about
a composer, its talent is not only in the sequence
of notes, but also in the ability to generate space
and pauses between them. Empty spaces,
silences: light is this. Light is a pause between
a note and another one, between a moment
of darkness and the next one. From the illusion of a perfect world, how much
machines’ evolution affected your work?
I am thinking about new technologies, artificial
intelligence, 3D printers…
The use is fundamental, but in recent times
we have lost a clear headed vision of it. All these
models or series of objects that do things, or
think some for us, are tools, not goals. The real
error is to produce following a virtual thought.
I think that an algorithm remains an algorithm.
Behind it, there must be a mind that conducts it.
I like hybrids, errors and mixes that cannot be too
controlled. I think that it generates a sense of
alchemy, where many things happen by chance.
Is then playing with daylight or electric
lighting the same?
Daylight moves with some rhythms, ways and
errors. In some moments, it can send you very
sharp blades, and five centimetres away there is Piero Lissoni designed products for many
important companies. As he explains, the
interest does not lie in the object itself, but
in the investigation of “shapes, dimensions,
proportions, materials and new technologies”.