Interview with Paolo D'Arrigo
I am a designer who explores the matter, appropriates it and gives it back to the world in the form of objects and furnishings. I was born in Rome in 1967.
Designer Interview
24 May 2022
My approach to design was natural, as a result of previous work experience and studies.
I graduated in a technical institute and then I followed sociology at university, in the meantime I was already working in the world of entertainment and communication. All this, combined with a good manual dexterity, has flowed into the first works of self-made furniture
I graduated in a technical institute and then I followed sociology at university, in the meantime I was already working in the world of entertainment and communication. All this, combined with a good manual dexterity, has flowed into the first works of self-made furniture
my studio is in Rome, in a picturesque courtyard that has become one of the most interesting creative hubs in the city.
In addition to my collaborators, I work in synergy with professionals from various sectors around the design business, to cover all the needs of companies that rely on me for product design and creative direction.
In addition to my collaborators, I work in synergy with professionals from various sectors around the design business, to cover all the needs of companies that rely on me for product design and creative direction.
This is a question that could be answered with a flood of words, but I prefer to use a single phrase, which, today more than ever, I find particularly apt: for me, design should be the ethics of industrial production.
Everything can be, indeed should be designed, I have no particular preference, but I certainly love working with natural materials.
I have many projects that I am fond of, I don't have a "favorite", but I am definitely satisfied with this latest product, Coral radiators, because I experimented for the first time with parametric design (AAD-Algorithm Aided Design) to find an innovative technical solution and aesthetic.
A bookmark, in 1996, for Progetti Srl, a company of accessories and complements by Bernini, a great family in the history of Italian design.
As mentioned, I prefer to work with natural materials, in close contact with artisans and small companies, especially for self-productions, but in over 25 years of activity I have acquired a good experience on virtually all materials and production techniques.
There is no particular time of day, perhaps early in the morning, in dormancy, some insights appear.
Before aesthetics, I try to develop my design process on the characteristics of functionality, innovation, sustainability, material consistency and technological research. I love materials, especially natural materials, but I am also strongly stimulated by technological innovations.
Design is my passion, a way of being, so it generates a wide range of emotions for me, from depression to euphoria.
Euphoria.
If there was a one-size-fits-all answer to this question, there would be no designers....
The success of a product is an alchemy based on countless factors, in general it is determined by the balance, between concept and production quality, between narrative and utility.
The success of a product must always be shared between designer and company, there may be a great design, but that will not be successful if the company is not structured, just as there may be a company with great production capabilities, but it will not produce successful products if it has not collaborated with capable designers.
The success of a product is an alchemy based on countless factors, in general it is determined by the balance, between concept and production quality, between narrative and utility.
The success of a product must always be shared between designer and company, there may be a great design, but that will not be successful if the company is not structured, just as there may be a company with great production capabilities, but it will not produce successful products if it has not collaborated with capable designers.
The balance indeed.
I am honestly wary of those who think that design alone can save the world, but it can certainly concretely help improve it.
For me, design is also an interpretation of society and its evolution/involution, so from this perspective it will be conditioned but at the same time an architect of the future social system.
Right now it seems to me that we are witnessing a dichotomy, on the one hand there is a trend back toward local design, based on the typical craft production systems of specific areas, often related to specific materials, and on the other hand the advent of the metaverse is generating new approaches and new possibilities for the application of design thinking.
Right now it seems to me that we are witnessing a dichotomy, on the one hand there is a trend back toward local design, based on the typical craft production systems of specific areas, often related to specific materials, and on the other hand the advent of the metaverse is generating new approaches and new possibilities for the application of design thinking.