And on the second day, they said: let there be Rising Stars. We couldn’t miss one of the hottest conferences of this amazing event. On a rather interesting and yet fun lecture, all 6 of them had the opportunity to say a little bit of their education, background and experience. In case you’ve missed it, Best Design Guides will tell you everything you need to know about the Rising Talents Conference at Maison et Objet 2018.
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Maison et Objet decided, this edition, to honour the ever-lasting quality of the Italian design. As such, the awards were all given to young transalpine designers: Federica Biasi, Federico Peri, Guglielmo Polleti, Kensako Oshiro, Antonio Facco and Marco Lavit Nicora. In an all-around conference, the designers spoke about the DNA of Italian design, their education and how the design left a mark in the past, and how can it do it again in the near future. After all, the rising stars of today are the heavy-weight names of tomorrow.
All of them were on the same page regarding the Italian identity, when it comes to design, of course. One of the aspects that were discussed was the amazing first generation of Italian designers, in the 50s. We felt the pride and joy of the young awardees when they discussed their ancestors, thus they felt that they were filling their shoes. They’ve also recognized how important for the so-called 1st generation to have had ambitious entrepreneurs that wanted to share with the world (aka us) the quality and the authenticity of the Italian design. That generation though had some trouble to explore the zenith of their creativity, thus, back in the 50s, they were almost obliged to follow the established paradigms in the market. The good news is that although this new generation still has to respect the Italian DNA, they have all the freedom they want to explore their creativity.
The youngsters felt very thankful to some Italian galleries, as they provide them with all the support and investment necessary for them to be able to achieve their best work. They fell that, nowadays, there’s a really good relationship between the gallery owners and the designers, which makes them feel more and more comfortable. They all agreed on a very important point, one that describes easily the concept behind Italian Design: the importance of being contemporary. They all know and feel they have to design for the present and the future, not for the past. Sure, they may get some inspiration from their ancestors, but they always keep up with today’s and tomorrow’s demands.
Guglielmo Poletti
Guglielmo chose to study in a Dutch school rather than an Italian one. Something that might have caused some stir amongst the crowd, drinking every word the young blood were saying. Thus, if the Italian design is that good, then why did he chose to study abroad? Well, for the Rising Talent, it was better in a sense that he could experience design from a different culture and shake off some pressure about being Italian, about filling up the shoes of the great, celebrated Italian designers. He also demystified that, one can be a designer, one can be an architect, but one doesn’t have to be both. It is a concept that is heavily thought in Italy.
Kensaku Oshiro
Then, there was Kensaku Oshiro, the outsider of the group. Kansako’s Japanese, but he feels very much like Italian. He studied until high school in the country of the rising sun, but then he chose to travel to the Mediterranean country. Not because there aren’t any good design schools in Japan, but because he fell in love with the Italian DNA. He stated that, in Japan, the design is way too disciplined and functional rather than artistic.
Federico Peri
Federico Peri’s academic life started with a missed shot. He actually started to study marketing, but he fell in love with the design. Since a very young age, Federico sneaked to his grandparents metal workshop and played with different materials, always experimenting, always looking for new reactions. But, the real development in the designer’s career was the 6 months he spent in Paris, where he said it changed his mind on what design should be and look like.
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Marco Lavit Nicora
Marco started with classical studies then he pursued architecture. On his 2nd year in architecture, he found design. He enjoyed developing prototypes and he loves to work with his hands. He honours the Italian tradition by creating his designs with Italian artisans, thus he doesn’t believe that there are any out there who’s better than them.
Antonio Facco
Antonio Facco has his own studio in Milan, and he found his freedom when he started to study design. He feels that is important to get in touch with other cultures, thus nowadays there’s no Italian, American. English or Chinese market, but a global one.
Federica Biasi
Federica Biasi said she felt so proud to be awarded such prestigious award. She feels it is really important to be chosen to the M&O, thus the M&O is one of the first luxury design fairs to happen in the world. It functions as the perfect channel to introduce fresh new designs and concepts right at the beginning of the new year.
When asked if she had any inspirations/role models, she answered none. Well, as a matter of fact, she had several, but rather unconventional ones. She stated that she draws her inspiration from nature, cultures, objects and, most importantly, from her feelings. Almost like a classical artist, she draws what she feels and the result is quite amazing. One of her featured pieces at M&O is a beautiful contemporary rug called Om. The inspiration process for the rug was quite fantastic and rather unorthodox, thus she spent 7 nights on the Morrocan desert, and the colours she saw at dusk and dawn are the ones in the rug. The blue represents the Morrocan culture, thus it is a colour much appreciated in the Northern-African country. She’s also quite passionate about the issue of gender equality in the Italian market, as she thinks that, most of the times, women are misunderstood. She feels the need of young female designers in the world of Italian design, and, judging Federica’s work, she’s absolutely right.
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Source: CovetED Magazine
