Interviste con Giuliano Ricciardi

Taranto, my city, is famous for the production of mussels. This year the Taranto mussel has become a Slow Food presidium and, on the occasion of this recognition, the inspiration was born to design an object that was linked to this typical Taranto product.

Analyzing the tradition, it emerged that the grammella was useful to best represent the city. Iedde, therefore, was born from the desire to create a re-edition of the traditional grammella. A redesign operation that is not simple because the traditional grammella is a poor object resulting from an anonymous design.

Iedde is already in production. The first series is of 100 pieces and is characterized by a progressive serial number useful for identifying the very first production. Being a symbolic object of the city, production will continue and, thanks to the support of the Municipality of Taranto, it will also become the city's cadeau.

Furthermore, the name IEDDE has become representative of the brand with which I am starting the production of tools and products intended for the consumption and processing of the prized Taranto mussel

The redesing of this concept required a careful analysis of the traditional grammella, but also of its use. Some prototypes have been made and the appropriate corrections have been made on the basis of these in order to obtain a functional and practical object.

I drew this concept for several reasons. the first is the desire to design a representative object of my city. it is also true that it had been commissioned as a gadget for a well-known restaurant in my city whose owner, however, judged the compensation I requested exorbitant.

Iedde is currently produced and sold by me, but a brand with the same name will soon be born and with which other concepts associated with the consumption and processing of mussels will be produced. The idea of transferring the production rights to another company is interesting and I will certainly evaluate the proposals that arrive.

the desire to create a symbolic object of my city and linked to tradition

The grammella is a very simple object, but at the same time unique in its kind. I was inspired by the work of other craftsmen who produce oyster openers, but it is also true that this tool is different from mine because it is intended for a very different seafood.

Iedde does not have a defined target. It can arouse the interest of individuals who want a design mussel opener for special occasions or it can be purchased by high-level restaurants that want to offer their customers valuable tableware, but also by brands that want to offer their consumers particular gadgets. such as wineries or restaurant chains. The municipality of taranto wants to make Iedde official gift of the city

in this product it is the ergonomics and the shape that make the difference compared to common tools for opening molluscs and seafood

Iedde is the translation into the Taranto dialect of the pronoun "she". I wanted an iconic name for an iconic object, so when I'm looking for "she", I'm looking for "the grammella" and not a common grammella

first of all I developed several pencil sketches inspired by the shape of the mussel. After the sketches I switched to a 3d modeler with which I modeled the object and made some renders to evaluate the finish of the handle. Finally, thanks to 3D printing, I produced the first specimen. This example was used by the craftsman who produced the first prototype

Definitely the handle that takes shape from the mussels and the curved shape of the blade.

the project was entirely developed by me, but the support of the craftsman I selected to make the grammelle was very useful

I wanted a handcrafted object, but, at the same time, always the same in each copy. To obtain this result, the use of laser technology for cutting the blades and numerical control machines for modeling the handles was essential. The chamfering of the blades and the finishing of the entire object is manual

Research has been indispensable above all because the traditional grammella is a poor object born more from a necessity than from a project. The study was mainly focused on ergonomics and structure.

the redesign of an anonymous design object is already a challenge, precisely because these objects are often very minimal and with very simple functions. In my case, the grammella is a tool used to open and shell mussels. The main challenge was to evaluate the traditional object to improve it above all from the point of view of ergonomics and structure, thus making it an aesthetically refined object with an attractive design while maintaining simplicity of use and perfect functionality.

Dozens of design concepts are produced every year. Some of these are destined to become products, others remain prototypes, still others remain simple sketched ideas. A very refined design object, linked to tradition, territory, and in which the famous formula "form follows function" certainly deserves a nomination for a design contest

Iedde is the first kitchen tool that I design. In designing it I learned a lot about ergonomics, dimensions, materials and finishes. Simplicity, even if combined with a complex shape, always wins over any applied decoration, especially if we are talking about an object intended for very manual use

Design is a continuous evolution of itself, thanks to the improvement of technique and technology, new materials and new trends.

My approach to design was born during a practicing in the carpentry workshop of Gioacchino Salvago. After 4 years of apprenticeship, I started working in an architectural firm, Kino Workshop where I learned the first notions of technical drawing and interior design. I finished my journey with university studies, during which I integrated and consolidated the concepts learned from previous experiences

I have always felt the need to express myself and, growing up, I found 2 excellent means to do it: photography and design

it was an autonomous choice

my design is mainly focused on furniture, even though I'm also involved in product design.

they must look beyond the schemes, experiment with their ideas even if they appear bizarre, because everything that is new and unusual appears bizarre in the eyes of the observers. they must trust their instincts, filtering the opinions of critics

Comparing it with music, a good designer is like an academic musician. He knows how to reproduce forms and ideas as the pianist knows how to reproduce the music of a score, but a great designer stands out for his creative talent, he is able to amaze with his lines like a composer with his musical notes.

a good design contains the essential in itself, rejecting all that is superfluous.

the design has two components in it: an artistic and a functional one. Good design enriches with its presence, but beauty alone would only be a decoration and for this reason its functional component is indispensable

I would like to design a chair, a chaise longue to be precise

I'd like to design a modular home

my recipe is: the right sensitivity, a good dose of foresight, a lot of passion and an unusual point of view. My big secret? perseverance

Franco Albini, Carlo Mollino, A. & P. Castiglioni, Charles Eames.

The choice is very wide, the first designs that come to mind are:

Cavour Desk (Carlo Mollino, 1949), a piece of the future designed in the past.

TS522 Radio Brionvega (Zanuso-Sapper, 1962), due to its minimal shape with soft edges

Veliero Bookshelf (Franco Albini, 1940), an extremely technological object for the period in which it was designed

Lounge Chair and Ottoman (Charles Eames), for the perfect mix of elegance, technique and comfort that has made it an icon

It is absolutely necessary to be curious, because curiosity leads to research. The experience in carpentry has enriched my knowledge of wood, when I had the Goccia prototypes built, I followed all the processing steps. Practice is essential.

It is also important to learn to observe the world around us because in reality it is the "world" that tells us what it needs.

Perhaps the carpenter or maybe the photographer

Design is awareness: being aware of the present and imagining a future.

there are many people I met and who supported me along my educational and professional path. Surely my family and my friends are in first place for moral support, but, from a professional point of view, anyone who has believed in my abilities is a great supporter of mine.

Then there is Mauro, an important friend, a person who helped me during a very difficult period of my life when I lost faith in my professional skills.

For the rest I owe much to myself, to my stubbornness.

The desire to express myself through something useful

The first difficulty was to move from the carpentry workshop to the architecture studio. The second was to leave a good job to begin university studies. After university the difficulties have increased. I didn't have a rich portfolio, finding the first customers wasn't easy. Not gaining enough it was difficult to make prototypes of my concepts, so they often remained on paper.

The presentation techniques are different and everyone chooses the one with which he can best express himself. I prefer to tell the story of each design starting from the sketch and concluding with a good render.

I have recently completed the realization of the furnishings for a client in Berlin. For some days I have been devoting myself to the design of furnishings for an important private client in my city. As on other occasions, I will choose the most interesting designs to include them in my catalog. Meanwhile I follow the realization of a fiberglass table lamp designed for an Italian company.

in the past it was the designer the guru. He dictated the trends, he decided the forms, and not only, of the lives of consumers. The Human Centered Design approach places the community at the center of the role of guru and therefore today it is society that "confides" to us what needs must be met.

I believe this is the best contribution that design can make.

right now there are two projects from which I am particularly captured:

a fiberglass lamp, commissioned by a company belonging to a sector far removed from design, which is setting up a new brand. it is the first of 4 concepts. I am the first designer the company has selected.

The unique furnishings for a notary's apartment in my city. It is a very interesting and very demanding job. He explicitly asked for my stylistic imprint and this excited me a lot.

Goccia, because it succeeds in enchanting anyone who observes it.

Chiglia, because it is the first design object I designed.

on the one hand, design, like fashion and art in general, lives on trends. it is a constant look back with the eyes to the future. on the other hand, the continuous mixing of cultures (whatever the reason, from globalization, to migration) is a large form of input. More and more often we come into contact with objects belonging to different cultures, the result of craft traditions from other places. What changes is the technological contribution. The technology is constantly evolving; technology has reduced the size of bulky objects, improved performance, etc.

Over time we will have more and more technological objects derived from a mix of different cultures.

From 2 to 4 weeks, but it depends on the complexity of the project and the creative vein of the moment.

The first step is to draw up a requirement analysis to define the characteristics of the object for which I must take care of the design. The second step is the comparison with the same type of object already present on the market. The third step is the sketch and so on the other steps

If it already exists, you haven't invented anything, but nobody can stop you from making the difference by leaving an imprint

I firmly believe that it is the trend that influences design very often, that fashion defines moodboards, but it is definitely a winning design that sets trends

Technology is my right arm. 3D modeling, rendering, 3D printing, etc. are everyday bread. it accompanies me throughout the development of a project.

AutoCad 2020, ArchiCad, Rhinocheros 5.0, Cinema 4D+VRay, Adobe CS (Photoshop, Lightroom, InDesign, Illustrator).

Color generates visual emotions, materials stimulate touch and smell, the environment is the cradle that will host these emotions

Style, personality, aesthetics, functionality ... my imprint

WoW, why didn't I invent it? i'm joking ... the first thing that comes to mind is: "luckily I have time to improve"

My ideal partner has an open mind and he is a person capable of understanding and questioning my ideas. Yes, because I believe that the comparison of ideas coming from different points of view is indispensable

Gioacchino Salvago, the carpenter with whom I practiced, taught me simplicity. Bernardo D'Ippolito is the architect for whom I worked as a draftsman and he is the first who felt my potential. Its technical precision and rationalism have greatly influenced my design.

I Mobili di Carlo Mollino (F. & N. Ferrari)

Spoon (various authors)

Il progetto della bellezza: il design fra arte e tecnica dal 1851 a oggi (M. Vitta)

Storia del Design (R. De Fusco)

With study, practice, experimentation. First reproducing, then reinterpreting and endlessly inventing furnishings

Carlo Mollino, because we share a great passion for design and photography, but I would not despise a chat with Rietveldt because, like him, I started in a carpentry workshop

When I received the results from the organization, I could not believe that I had obtained 1 award for each project presented. I'm very excited.

"Being famous" is strange. At first I didn't feel the difference, maybe because there were so many emotions. Over time, I realized my way of approaching a project has changed. I have always been very critical and careful about my design, but now I am much more. This requires much more effort.

I hope that the amount of work also increases at least as much as the commitment

The colors are periodic, at this moment the sage green. The Sea. Orecchiette with turnip tops, a typical dish of my city. Late spring, early summer. My digital SLR. Horm

A concept idea that comes to mind when I least expect it or the call from a customer who gives me the go-ahead to start a new project.

Maybe yes maybe no. I was certainly a creative child. I was fascinated by music and photography, I wasn't good at drawing, but I often drew the furniture I had at home.

The world will be more digital than material. We will have a virtual currency and with it we will buy data packages that will have the form of furniture, products, services and much more.

If it already exists you haven’t invented anything, but no one can stop you from making the difference by leaving an impression

After high school in accounting, I enrolled in the university of economics, realizing very quickly that what I was studying did not satisfy me.

I began to think of my past as a child and then as a teenager in which all my interests were creative and my approach to them was experimental, made up of attempts that were often far from customary.

I left the university of economics and started looking for a job that would gratify me in some way. I began to practice in the joinery workshop of "Gioacchino Salvago" and I realized that wood fascinated me and that working it, seeing it evolve from raw material to finished product, was a continuous surprise.

During this experience I was noticed by Arch. Bernardo d’Ippolito, who invited me to join the team of his architectural firm, KinoWorkshop. It was there that I learned to draw and I approached Design, remaining fascinated to the point of undertaking university studies in Industrial Design at the Polytechnic of Bari.

d-Lab studio is a laboratory of ideas for interior and product design, specializing in the design of furnishings and accessories.

It is a place where different professionals meet and compare for the development of the concept / product.

My studio is a home where customers can touch and try products, furnishings and accessories designed by me.

I think it's the only way to allow customers to have a direct experience with what I can offer with my professionalism

Design is an emotional and artistic expression. It means having an open mind, farsighted. It means daring, going beyond all that is approved even when it seems excessive. It means believing in one's own ideas, always looking for a comparison.

If the idea is brought to maturity while respecting aesthetics and function, there can be no right or wrong design.

I like to design furniture, especially tables, sideboards, and bookshelfs but I also like to experiment with other areas such as lighting and products

Chiglia Table is the design of which I am most proud, but I secretly love Goccia. Really, all my designs are part of me and, as a "father", I can only appreciate my creatures / creations.

Chiglia is a tribute to the marine activity of Taranto, the town in which i was born and

currently lives. it is the representation of a wreck underwater. The inspiration of the project comes from the skeleton of boats, whence the name.

Goccia is a buoy suspended in mid-air, a landmark as is the domestic hearth, an ideal place of gathering, of which it represents a contemporary vision .

Even in this case, the theme is the sea; this is representative of connection with my city.

Mantis table is the first product that i've designed for a company, DeMura /SistemaLab srl. It is a zoomorphic object that arise as trace of the past. it remember a fossil that, by its nature, freeze a track through time, balancing the vulnerability and resistance inseparably.

I like to work with wood, but I really like experimenting with other materials too

Certainly when I'm outdoors, especially when I'm traveling. Different places and culture offer me different images and ideas.

Clean and essential lines, simplicity, functionality.

Enthusiasm, joy, lightness, peaceful. A mix of emotions that grow like a tingling that rises up the back and reaches the nape of the neck

Pathos, satisfaction, produness.

A design is successful when creativity and functionality are in harmony each other, when the project goes beyond the simple graphic gesture, when the style exceeds the duration of the trend

The balance between shape and function, the careful choice of materials.

From an ecological / environmental point of view, the conscious use of materials, considering that some are limited in nature and that others require intrusive production processes.

From an ethical point of view, the simplicity of interaction between object and user.

Experience and study teach us that everything is cyclical. Design follows the trend and it's helped by the constant development of new technologies.

The trends are overcome by others, they change thanks to the technological development of materials and production processes, they adapt to our needs (natural or induced) and reappear in the form of design.

My last exhibition was in Milan during MDW 2016. Next exhibition will be at Ex Chiesa di San Francesco, Como, Italy for A'Design Award from 10th June to 31th july 2019. I hope in another exhibition before the end of 2019 out of italy

Basically, I am an emotional, romantic and creative person, which leads me to say that my design is often the result of personal experiences that I want to externalize in some way.

The outer world is the greatest source of inspiration. Traveling leads me to observe, learn by direct experience, try what I do not know. In fact, every time I return from a trip, I bring with me a wealth of knowledge, emotions and memories that I transform first into a design and then into a project.

The sources of inspiration are therefore of various kinds; the wreckage of a boat as in the case of the Tavolo Chiglia, the desire for a fixed point to which to hold as for Goccia or the need to enclose my thoughts safely in a shell as for Arca.

I took my first steps in the design field working in carpentry and I believe that the direct relationship with wood and the manual workmanship have somehow forged my modus operandi.

Mine is a rational Italian style, a style in which objects tell or represent something while maintaining a clean, sometimes minimal line. I work a lot on the project, starting with an idea full of details that I slowly subtract, highlighting what interests me and giving lightness to the final product.

Sometimes it's a style that inspires me, like vintage for the Berlin furniture series, in other cases it's the instinct to command and the style draws inspiration from the challenge with myself to realize something empirical, abstract, maybe never seen before, Goccia for example

I live in Taranto, in the south of Italy.

Italy is historically known as the cradle of the Mediterranean. The south above all has been influenced by different cultures, so yes, my design is partly influenced by the cultural heritage of my country.

On the other hand, in Italy, despite having a certain reputation in the field of design thanks to the great architects and designers who made history, from Mollino to Albini, from Magistretti to Castiglioni etc, design, the real one, often has a market of niche

I study products and company know-how, I listen to their requests, I analyze the information collected and elaborate some project drafts. I choose the proposals that I consider most valid and submit them to the client company.

If they show interest in my concepts, I proceed to the definition of the details and the development of the concepts, then I follow the realization of the prototypes.

It's important to be present at all stages of the production process, I always learn new things.

The first step is to evaluate the skills and the portfolio of designer, trying to understand if his vision and his abilities are in line with the company, but a test is necessary. A good method could be to submit to him an idea to develop and verify his abilities.

I do my own research, analyze the products on the market, define what I want to improve, elaborate the concept and proceed with prototyping.

My Brionvega TS502 (1966). an old Kartell coffee table, my reading lamp, the armchair that I restored and on which I am sitting right now and a Retinette Camera

I wake up very early in the morning, have breakfast and go out for a walk. Sometimes I go to the beach, others to the old town, but I always carry my digital camera and a notebook with me. I go to my studio and start working. I always try to take a little break between one engagement and another, it is useful to distract the mind. i've my mediterranian lunch and, after a excellent espresso, I start working again. Sometimes I get time for photography, other times I go out and meet my friends.

Fly with your imagination.

Remember that the abilities of each of us are endless.

Follow your dreams by making choices that challenge you.

Life is one and it is yours, be creative and be amazed

Being a designer is exciting and never boring. The thought that an object designed by me will furnish a home or that someone will use it or wear it, gives me great satisfaction. It is not easy at all, you must never give up, patience and perseverance are necessary, but, if you have talent, the rewards come sooner or later

Creativity, lightness and harmony

Empathy, perception, creativity, decision and execution, but the key is the practice.

Notepad and pencil are essential for starting and then modeling and rendering software such as Rhinocheros, Cinema 4D, V-Ray, cad software especially Autocad, but also Archicad. Inevitable Adobe CS

The time needed to develop a concept changes based on complexity. I usually plan the workflow based on deadlines. If I am not inspired, if the idea does not arrive or if development does not take off, I prefer to become estranged to clear my mind and wait for the "light bulb" to light up

It depends on the type of object and the designer's creativity. I happened to spend whole days to design a simple container and take a few hours to develop more complex aesthetic projects as Chiglia Table.

How did you become a designer?

The Berlin Project, an important interior design project for a private client that required a lot of effort. The assignment involved the design and construction of all the furnishings for an apartment in Kreuzberg (Berlin). A part of the furnitures has been custom designed, another part has given rise to a new series of furniture, the Berlin series

Business clients as De Mura (Sistema Lab brand), Selip spa, but more often private customers that looking for exclusive furnishing for their home.

I started my career in a carpentry workshop and I like to design furniture and furnishing accessories. Wood has a special charm and working it is always exciting

Expanding my career, I would like to continue with self-production, but i like the idea to collaborate with a big firm. Win more Awards, because it's a way to have più visibility. Learning all what is new, it's important to increase one's skills.

Sometimes alone other times as a team. It depends on the complexity of the project, but I'm sure it's important to deal with other colleagues, artisans, etc

I am involved in the development of some concepts for a company that works with fiberglass and I am developing a new series of furnishings

Email: giuliano.ricciardi@dlabstudio.it - Mobile: +39 3470706181 - Website: www.dlabstudio.it

The interview was exhaustive, thank you