There is a long-standing friendship between Fabrizio and me that goes back several years, since high school. We both graduated, and subsequently enrolled in the IUAV in Venice. After a rather common path, we came under a strong influence from the Swiss world, I attended the Erasmus in Mendrisio, and subsequently decided together with Fabrizio, to undertake our thesis under the supervision of the brothers Manuel and Francisco Aires Mateus in Mendrisio, going backwards and forwards between Switzerland and Venice for about six months, for revisions. All this allowed us to breathe a little “Swiss air”, also in terms of design influence, which then emerged in our projects. I think it was the most important moment of our training, because it influenced us a lot in researching guidelines from a theoretical and planning point of view. In the professional field, after graduation we had some minor experiences in studios in our area, although graduating in 2007 was a rather unfortunate conjecture, because it was immediately followed by the global crisis in the construction world. All this on the one hand initially discouraged us, but on the other, it “compelled” us, more or less forcefully, to try to do something on our own, therefore we started up our own studio. Not being children of art and not having any clients in the beginning, we had to look for all our customers from scratch; the first ones we tried to win over were public customers through competitions, and at the same time we completed some smaller interior projects, which we sponsored through web channels. From there, our work gradually triggered a response which has now, fortunately, consolidated, and led us to bigger and bigger jobs and also an increase in the level of the clients.
2. We read in your biographies that you graduated from IUAV with Manuel and Francisco Aires Mateus; What is this choice dictated by?
During the training period there was a similarity between the design process they adopted and the pragmatism linked to our personalities, as well as an empathy towards them. Their working method is very didactic, quite clear and repeatable, from which we learned a lot; it is a very effective approach in the university field because it is easily replicable, reassuring, and for a student it is very useful.
3. You were very young when you opened your studio in Italy. Knowing all the problems that your profession is going through in this country, why did you decide to stay rather than go to work abroad?
That’s a good question. Firstly, I’d like to say that all in all, we are very attached to our territory. Then, the need “forced” us to stay, since not having many customers, we imagined it was easier to start business from here rather than from abroad; staying and being patient was a forward-looking choice to build our own business, compared to going to work abroad in a large studio and finding ourselves making certain choices years later, when it would probably have been more complex.
4. Could you briefly describe your approach when a new assignment arrives?
It is not easy to summarise in a few words, but let’s say that at the base there is always a certain analysis of the site, which stems from our Venetian training, where we search within the context of the design stimuli and suggestions that can be reinterpreted in our work. So, there is always a solid analysis and consequent reading of the site, not only from an architectural and urban point of view, but also emotional and evocative. All this, of course, closely linked to the ambitions of the clients.
5. Your work is heavily directed towards a private clientele; what do you think of competitions and how much effort, both in terms of time and energy, do you dedicate to them?
Participating in architectural competitions is a lot of fun and is an excellent opportunity for professional research and improvement, however we often ask ourselves what is the “essence” from an entrepreneurial point of view. In the beginning, when Fabrizio and I did them at night, they were more or less at a zero cost, whereas now we have a structure and collaborators who work with us, so competitions involve quite a cost, which if you win but then nothing eventuates, it makes our blood boil, and you wonder what the point is in continuing to do them. Unfortunately, they are “a curse and a blessing” in our category, because I believe that we architects are among the few professionals who invest a lot of money, time, energy and sleepless nights for very small chances of victory. However, we continue to participate, indeed, this year we have participated in more compared to past years (almost 20 between contests and competitions); they are an excellent opportunity for research and comparison, which often does not exist when working for private customers. The discussion would be much broader, and it would be nice if there were a more serious and structured criticism of the whole competition system; today the Italian conditions of architectural competitions (and not only) are very serious, and one of the challenges our generation faces is to improve them. Competition criteria is often poorly communicated, and budgets are not calculated accurately.
6. Villa Colli Euganei in Cervarese: Can you tell us about the villa on the Euganean Hills in Cervarese?
This project exemplifies our design process very well, which we talked about earlier. The customers are a young couple, whom we then became involved with because they were among the first to trust us and commission us for an important house. On the peak of one of the hills surrounding the intervention lot there is a neo-Gothic villa, Villa Serenella; our project, which is part of a very generous lot characterised by the presence of a walnut grove, encompasses glimpses of this villa. We wanted to incorporate this “beautiful scene” into the project, and we framed it with a large opening in the living area which on one side faces toward the villa and on the other looks out over the walnut grove. The typology of the building follows the traditional rural buildings present in the area but reinterpreted in a contemporary key. We have thus kept the pitched roof, the jetties and the porch typically Venetian in a contemporary key in the design of this house.
7. Home in Fiesso d’Artico: What can you tell us about the home in Fiesso d’Artico?
In this house we used exposed concrete, a material that is very dear to us (partially due to our Swiss training). For us it was one of the first occasions to use this material with which we “experimented”, limiting its use to the external porch and a few internal details. The house is very simple, conceived in a rather compact way to respect the contained budget, revisiting a type of home that is quite widespread in our area; the roof has been updated, as well as the porch, which is redesigned in a contemporary key and made of exposed concrete, a material that will return with more “courage” in our subsequent architectures.
8. Gym in Massa Finalese: Can you tell us about the gym in Massa Finalese?
This building is the result of a competition we won in 2013 after the earthquake in Emilia Romagna. In this case it was a question of rebuilding a school gym that collapsed following the earthquake. This is also an example of how we tried to grasp the aspects that characterise the territory where the building was constructed. The project stands on the border between an existing school complex and the countryside, consequently, we decided to attribute to it the role of hinge between these two worlds. The horizontal profile of the agricultural fields becomes part of the project thanks to a large glass opening of the playing field over the landscape, while in the lower part, a large patio brings the greenery inside the building which characterises the adjacent school area , thus giving light to the service and circulation areas. In the evening, the building becomes a sort of lantern visible from the countryside, thus taking on the symbolic function of reconstruction and hope following the disastrous events of the earthquake.
9. Paloma Barcelò showroom: Now a question about an interior design: what can you tell us about the Paloma Barcelò showroom in Madrid?
This is a flagship store for the Paloma Barcelò brand and was conceived as the first of an internal furnishing system that can be replicated for shops. It had to be strongly representative of the dynamic corporate philosophy, so we thought of a curved display, with a golden finish, recognisable and easily replicable in the various destinations. We have chosen a local stone as the main material, as the company is based in Madrid, in addition to other materials such as dark concrete and painted metal. The challenge of projects like this lies in making “strategic” design choices in order to be able to combine precise client objectives relating to image, budget and deadlines.
