design archive

Buuk, is a magazine holder made out of bent sheet metal.
It’s small size makes it perfect for table-top use.
It was inspired by an open book, hence the name.

Produced by Sintesi

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Snap is a new clock I designed for D&D.
Inspired by old train station clocks; the dial rotates allowing it to either be hung on the wall or used on a table.

It comes in two sizes: 28 x 28 and 37 x 37 cm.

Here are some clocks presented during the Milan and Paris object fairs in January 2007… designed by me.

Panino is clock system… Using only one case we can build many different models just by changing the laser-cut metal grille.
Because of their thickness, you get a nice shadow play as the light changes throughout the day.
Panino is Italian for sandwich and the clocks are built like one.
The mechanism is probably the cheese.

Codice clocks are inspired by sex symbols, military insignia, and totems…
Shapes that appear to hold more meaning than their simplicity suggest.

I’ve always had the fantasy of being interviewed…
And since nobody is knocking on my door yet I decided to steal the typical Designboom interview and answer it.

Read the rest of this entry »

Regolo is a mirror that looks like a ruler…
The idea is for kids to watch themselves grow and mark their progress with markers.
Designed by juanco and me and is manufactured and sold by BanalExtra.

This is the silkscreening done before the mirror is silvered.
It’s magic baby..!

Pits: a TV console that holds your CDs and DVDs on its lateral groove.
The doors are made of laser-cut steel with holes that are not only decorative, they also allow the remote-control’s signal through. The name and design are inspired by the microscopic pits that can be found in disc media.
It can be ordered in wood or laquered.

Diamantini&Domeniconi has just presented a collection of clocks, umbrella holder, and coat stand designed by non other than juanco and me. It was presented at the Paris and Milan object fairs to great acclaim (that sounded cool, ha? :0)

By the way it was featured in Mocoloco!

Two nights ago was the Miami launch of Frida Kahlo Tequila…
The tequila is made in Jesús María in the highlands of Jalisco, Mexico and comes in three varieties Añejo, Reposado and Blanco.
Juanco and I designed the labels, it was a very intensive and colorful job…
The best part was learning about Frida, she’s become one of my favorite artists. Few painters have gone as deep inside their work as she did; painting was her only release… My favorite painting is “Lo que me dio el agua”.

The highlight of the design research was a guilt-free shot at 10 a.m…
Next time you are wondering what to drink, have a Frida in our name!

This fantastic table has only one leg and leans against the corner. It’s got more style than James Dean leaning against the wall…
Who designed it? Why, yours truly! It is produced by Banal Extra in several colors, now go get yours!

Cut Milano, a hairdressing saloon in corso Garibaldi 50 Milano.
Designed by juanco and me in the summer of 2004.

The place doesn’t exist anymore as it has moved.
These shitty pictures is all we have left…

Juanco and I designed a fair stand for MobilService, a company that makes bent plywood furniture with printed graphics. The idea was quite simple: We wanted to make a house, where everything, including the chimney was printed on a flat surface…Sort of like a pop-up book house. This is the result… The first image is a render of the whole thing. We are quite proud of the chairs (red), they came out looking nice. The dark ones are last minute inventions by the company, so we bear no connection…

One last thing: the place looked better than the photos suggest!
My camera was not working properly at the time, and I hadn’t realized it.

A simple stool with an added bonus: a revolving container to store things!
It is constructed in wood, and the revolving container is in plastic. To be offered in a variety of colors. If you are interested in producing this stool, send me an email.
Click for animation!

This piece was presented at a Future Vision Workshop organized by the Future Concept Lab during the Salone Internazionale del Mobile. The name of the seminar was New Basic, New Luxury. Here is what they said about Stool+:

One is witnessing the emergence of a new classicism as an archetype that gives rise to forms and aesthetics that are universally shared and usable. To this is added the absence of genres in a quest for absolute aesthetic values that are expressed through the rediscovery and implementation of the classic lines for a new modernity.

So there you go…contemporary classic! Yeeehaaaw!!!

Other projects can be seen at the Genius Loci Lab website.

click for Hi-Res

Pendolo is a magazine holder that I designed. It can be fixed to the wall with screws or double-sided tape. To use it open a magazine (you can even mark your page this way) and hang it on the metal cable. The wood stops come from the holes in the main body, so it fits in a nice small box. You can buy them from Banal Extra.

PS: The one in the pictures is a prototype, all crooked and stuff…the real one looks better!

Presented at the Salone Satelite in 2002.
A study on minimal points of contact…

Click here for the Contact Collection website!

The corner table is currently in production by Banal Extra.

The highlight of it all: I was approached by a very stylish and charming old lady in the stand. She told me it was very original and well thought, and that she liked it…
I thanked her and didn’t think much; 2 minutes later a young man that accompanied her came back and said, “Just so you know, the lady you just talked to is Lisa Ponti, Gio’s daughter”.
Her comment was now greeted in new perspective because I’m a hardcore Gio Ponti fan! Cool.

What the press said:

Designboom
Buildlab
Casastile
Designvillage

This is the final presentation for my masters degree in design from Domus Academy back in ‘98.
The idea of the project was to design something that could be sold via mail or TV.
I took the challenge to the extreme an came up with The Bestseller, a book holder for your bed.

The design of the object is not the important thing. I wanted to convey a sense of uselessness
that most of the products sold on TV have.

It was recorded in one afternoon with no editing or post-production (quite obvious).
Only the sound was added later.
The model is another story, I took about 2 weeks to finish that!

I had loads of fun making it…
It was the last presentation of that year, and by the time it was shown people were tired of endless
slide presentations… Nobody was expecting something as shitty as this and it completely rocked the boat.