Interview with Giulio Cappellini - a living legend of world design

Passing the gallery

Interview prepared: Natalya Sedyakina

Magazine: 52 (2001)

Living legend of world design Джулио Каппеллини looks very modest, outwardly unremarkable. He is a tall, lean man with an attentive gaze and a shy smile. Many years ago (now dozens of years) from his parents he got a small furniture factory. Today, the Cappellini factory enters the third millennium not only as a furniture monster, but as the undisputed leader of design ideas.SALON: Do you remember the time when it all began? - Yes. When I came to the company, I did not imagine that I would stay for a long time. I thought: "I will work a little, a year, maybe, and then I will go in to do a lot of architecture, something that I learned." But it turned out differently. I "got involved." In a nutshell, the situation at that time can be described as follows: there were very few people in the company, and I had the idea of ​​working not only with the tree. Fortunately, in Brianza, within a radius of 10 km you can find everything - from the production of marble to aluminum. The credo of my company reflects the famous phrase Mies van der Rohe: "Any material is good when used for its intended purpose." And when I started working with some Italian designers and developing this idea, I realized that we are moving in the direction in which the world is moving.S.: In accordance with what principles do you determine the purpose of the material? After all, a kitchen entirely of wood, including a sink, or a chair entirely of marble pebbles is a very strange approach to a stone or wood ... - There are several options for "determining the destination." Something is obtained on the basis of what material there is. That is, we think about the chair, thinking about the tree. Another thing is when we invent a form, and then decide which material to use. On the contrary, something is born when we look at the material and think what to make of it.S.: And what is the favorite way to work: when is there first a form and is it filled with content, or when content defines the form? - It is hard to say. And the one and the other method is interesting. But in general, probably, we now have a big advantage in that we use new materials that were previously unavailable for production. That is, even by making things based on the 50s (this is a form), we can make the “content” extraordinary. And it is always an additional plus when a person discovers that a thing is not only beautiful, but unusual to the touch. It seems to me that it would be ideal to strive to “squeeze” the capabilities of each material completely.S.: What is design, in your opinion? - I once decided to be not just a product designer, but a company designer. It is very important for me that the people with whom I began to work were not just the "performers" of design, but the performers of the very idea of ​​my company. And for me it is very important that the designers working for the company respect the idea and the idea of ​​the whole brand. Therefore, I always try to be present in the model development process from the very beginning. It often happens that our prototype, drawn on paper, turns into life into something completely different. Whether it is connected with the price, or with the material that we use, or is it connected with the production technology - that is another question. But in any case, I follow everything quite clearly.S.: What is most important for you in your work? - For me the most important thing now (and it has always been very important) is to do that, to enjoy my work and see that the company is developing. There would be no point in things that people like if the company itself did not develop. And now, with an increase in the turnover of the factory by 40% per year, I understand that I am able to combine both. I will continue to protect those “products” that are being made and that seem to some people insane, because I believe in what I do, and because I am what I am.S.: How do you work with designers? Do you create “greenhouse” conditions for them or are you rather rigidly directing them in a certain direction? - Differently, because designers are different too. Someone gives me an idea, a sketch, and I and my people bring it to production. And there are, for example, designers, such as Jasper Morrison, who give you an idea already established and want to participate in the whole process from beginning to end. There is a completely different breed of craftsmen, such as Piero Lissoni, who draws nothing at all. Lissoni arrives at the factory, sits down with people from the technical office and simply cuts out the prototypes of his furniture. He does not design, he makes furniture. This method may seem strange, but one should not forget that, in my opinion, the great Italian architect Achille Castiglione said that the product was first produced, and then the design was obtained.S.: Is creative for you a conditioned reflex or a normal state? - I live a creative. My task is to make people dream. Opposite my showroom, as you have already seen, there is an amusement park, and it seems to me sometimes that my task is similar to the amusement park task: to make people feel that the dream does exist.S.: Do not you think that you can go crazy when the creative happens 24 hours a day? - I'm probably already crazy. Because, of course, sometimes you need to say to yourself - stop. But I can not, because all the time I continue to move forward, develop. I always tell my employees: when I lose my insanity, you will immediately kick me out. Because then I can not be a designer. You should always think about serious projects, but always try to do it with irony.