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Interview with Filippo Sesti |
Home > Designer Interviews > Filippo Sesti |
Editor Frank Scott (FS) from DesignPRWire has interviewed designer Filippo Sesti (FS) for A’ Design Award and Competition. You can access the full profile of Filippo Sesti by clicking here.
FS: Could you please tell us more about your art and design background? What made you become an artist/designer? Have you always wanted to be a designer?
FS: Always I'm been interested in the creative process, I remember who I begin to think to become a Designer around 15 years old. First of all I am interested in being an architect in the sense that I am interested in space, shape and the volume before the decoration and furnishing
FS: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
FS: The ODD studio was founded in Milan in 2002 then in 2004 we migrated to Genoa, we operate in many areas from restoration to the design, but the most interesting things we definitely made working on historical and monumental environments with an attention to the contemporary
FS: What is "design" for you?
FS: I am an architect who still has studied in the school of Vitruvius: "Utilitas, Firmitas, Venustas" I firmly believe that to be contemporary don't means to be free to do anything to impress, certainly when it comes to interior design it is simpler and there is definitely more chances for to play, in any case I always tried to "dry out" all my artistic gesture for reduce it to the essence
FS: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
FS: Things, spaces, volumes....and also details
FS: What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?
FS: My favorite design is a small and poetic project which is called "Translucent Cube". Inside of a seventeenth century hall in a former palace in the historic center of Genoa I had to create a small kitchenette and I created this cube absolutely perfect a contemporary, minimalist architecture that reusing industrial materials such as polycarbonate in a completely innovative way. The other important element of the project is the light.
FS: What was the first thing you designed for a company?
FS: My first project was the visitor center of Petra, Hashemite kingdom of Jordan, for the Cooperative Archaeology of Florence (1992). The project was never Realized, but Became official UNESCO project.
FS: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
FS: I don't have a favorite material, I like very much structure were you can feel the gravity of a wall, the shadow which the wall do in a window, but I think that each situation is different and it requires a different approach. Then I would like to have the opportunity to experiment differents solutions and technology, I am attracted from all the opportunities of the building
FS: When do you feel the most creative?
FS: When I'm drawing
FS: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
FS: The space, I try to image how will be that space that I am drawing. As we move through as you climb as you descend ... solo dopo penso alle superfici, prima il volume
FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
FS: Anxiety, worry of not making it, lighting, anxious to draw right away that suddenly becomes clear. I need time to plan, I must leave to settle the impressions and ideas, then everything melts
FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
FS: Joy but also sad because it ended
FS: What makes a design successful?
FS: When the solution to the problem is the most easy that you could find, almost always is the best
FS: When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?
FS: A good project for me is when the source is a conceptual view of the problem that you are called to solve, what once, in different words, you would have said form follows function. This does not mean that a project has to be trivial or indeed traditionalist. A bad project for me is the one that has as only end aesthetics and originality pushed to the limit but devoid of content
FS: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
FS: The designer still has a vital role in society because he thinks, designs and makes the space where we live and where we move and we look at every day. This space however, these architectures, must have many qualities not only the aesthetic end in itself, must be well dimensioned, rationale for human life, comfortable, safe, green, and smart
FS: How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?
FS: On the one hand I see more and more experimentation with new materials and new and daring structural and architectonic solutions that I judge the positive, the other not always see the ability to control this process. The result is that our urban landscapes are full of architectural objects with a copied language and poorly digested that uses inferior materials or bad, the effect is really depressing.
FS: Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?
FS: Usually I'm inspired by the context even if I'm working into an interior. I look at the space of the home, the volumes, the finishes in search of a detail of a quality to be valued and to be the core concept of the project
FS: How would you describe your design style? What made you explore more this style and what are the main characteristics of your style? What's your approach to design?
FS: Minimal pop. what I'm saying is a nonsense, but I think that I'm a minimalist fascinated by the color and by the pop culture
FS: Where do you live? Do you feel the cultural heritage of your country affects your designs? What are the pros and cons during designing as a result of living in your country?
FS: Of course. The pros is that we have a great and wonderful artistic background from which to draw for planning of new things. The cons is that often the same background becomes an obstacle to accept the new, either because the administrations tend to be too conservatives either because it is easy to copy the already made rather than using it as a base to go ahead, either because an unprepared class of architects has destroyed the territory with works frankly too often ugly
FS: Can you talk a little about your design process?
FS: I think my way of working is similar to those dogs that turn on themselves 3 or 4 times before finding the perfect spot to curl up. So I think and think back, drawing, leave to settle .... it is a gradual process
FS: Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?
FS: it is difficult because I do not consider myself wise enough to teach others. I can only convey a lesson that I got working from my teacher and mentor, the architect. Stefano Boeri. Never to be too fond to your idea. After a while that you are working on an idea you lose your objectivity, either because we become attached at our ideas, either for mental laziness, then it is good to stop and change the point of view; try to rotate 90 ° on your point of view and see what happens
FS: From your perspective, what would you say are some positives and negatives of being a designer?
FS: Positive: the creativity and freedom, negative: the lack of opportunities in general and also to express this creativity. I speak as an architect in Italy
FS: What is your "golden rule" in design?
FS: To Be humble
FS: What skills are most important for a designer?
FS: To be able to draw well I think it is still important
FS: Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?
FS: First of all, paper pencil, rubber, pantone markers ... then normal softwares that everyone uses
FS: Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?
FS: We get up in the middle of the night to quickly draw an idea that you can not put off until tomorrow
FS: How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?
FS: In my case, as architect, for my work may need even two years from the start to the end
FS: What was your most important job experience?
FS: As an recent graduate I was called to work with the University of Genoa, Faculty of Architecture, to planning of the port of Genoa, the largest Italian harbor.
FS: Who are some of your clients?
FS: young couples, freelancers, administrations
FS: What type of design work do you enjoy the most and why?
FS: Small projects, interiors, pavilions, small construction....where the poetic is the principal function, where the detail is what that is really important.
FS: What are your future plans? What is next for you?
FS: Right now I'm working on a tourism revival project of a territory. we will restorie some artifacts and create open educational paths. It comes to architecture, graphics, design etc.
FS: Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?
FS: Usually bymy self or in team if I need of special technical / specialized skills
FS: Do you have any works-in-progress being designed that you would like to talk about?
FS: Right now I'm working to produce watch. In particular "Arabesque", a wood watch and "Spicchio" a aluminium watch
FS: How can people contact you?
FS: Visiting my web site:" www.oddweb.it"
FS: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?
FS: Nothing else, Thank you
FS: Thank you for providing us with this opportunity to interview you.
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