The owner of the furniture factory, Carlo Giorgetti, always went against the traditions: “Start doing what you want and convince the market that this is what you need”

Passing the gallery

Interview prepared: Natalya Sedyakina

Magazine: H (54) 2001

At first glance, there is nothing extraordinary in him: an ordinary businessman. When he starts to speak, it becomes clear: he knows very well what he wants. Carlo has a low voice, a rather sharp, not Italian gesticulation. They say about him that he is a despot, that it is practically impossible to work with him. Nevertheless, no designer in the entire history of the GIORGETTI factory has left the company and has never worked for anyone else.S: When did you come to the company? - Too early. I, to my happiness or misfortune, did not study at all. Not because I could not, but because I did not want to. I have a so-called "informal consciousness". I was 14 years old when I started working. But at a certain point, I still realized that I needed to study, and at the age of 17 I went to night school. And in 18-19 years, I was already a full-fledged member of the team at the factory.S: How did your parents react to your reluctance to learn? - On the one hand, they were sorry, on the other - they could not help it. Because I said: "If you send me to study further, then I will leave home altogether." Now I understand that this was the saddest thing that my father could hear from me then. But, on the other hand, such a turn in my fate turned out to be in vain: after a few years, when my father died suddenly, I had to take the wheel myself — and by that time I could do everything.S: You seem like a very strong person? - There was a time when they said that I was a real dictator. But my character wasn’t that from the beginning. I can not say that too "sweet", but very different. Why did I become a dictator? Because it always went against the traditions, against the flow. And when you do everything in defiance, everything around you is hostile. And so, when I had an idea, there was no one around who would support it. When you stay completely alone, you become stronger.S: Thus, the product design is built on evolutsionnosti ... - I think yes. There are two options to get on the market. The first is to produce what the market requires. The easiest option. And the second is to start doing what you want and convince the market that this is what you need.S: And how did you manage to convince the market that your products are "the best of"? - I was just lucky, I think. Good luck is a big deal. I was lucky that I found people who understood the concept of the company and were able to implement it. The most difficult thing in my life was to find such people. My task has always been to make a product that is different from all the others and that they learn exactly as a product of GIORGETTI. In order to do this, it was necessary to understand who to entrust the development of projects.S: How did you find such people? - Again, from the "opposite". We had to find people who had absolutely nothing to do with the world of furniture and the world of interiors. But - architects, with a high professional culture. Real architects used to be people who knew how to build, knew how to paint, make a sculpture - that's who the real architect, not the one who knows how to make beautiful pictures. And so I thought that when I go to these people, something new will turn out, something interesting. And the first person I started working with was Scalarri, a famous artist and architect. Then came Krier. And when I talked to one of them, he asked me: “What do you want? I don’t understand what I’m talking about. I never drew such things.” And I answered: "That's exactly what I want. I came to you, because you do not know how to do it. So do me, draw." He literally reached rabies and started doing something without thinking. And this is how a completely new philosophy was born.S: How did you manage to keep designers in such difficult tasks? - I was a real dictator - too serious, unpleasant person ... But I was not so in the shower. And when I found people who spoke my language, I was happy. I think I am one of the few who caught how to work with the staff. All people on GIORGETTI must be sure of what they are doing. Therefore, having such confidence, they will always work with me. Every week we are going to discuss different issues. It happens that I don’t even say a word: our working relationships have long been agreed and established.S Why do you think your designers never worked for other factories ?: - Good question, to the point, so to speak. Just now one young designer of 26 years old wants to lead a very large competitor. But usually this does not happen. Because those who are trying to pick up "my" designer are, as a rule, people of not very big minds. They have no ideas of their own. No courage. Because even in order to “educate” a person, a certain courage and riskiness is needed. To date, I have not taken a single person from another factory and have not fired a single person. If it happened that someone left, then he left of his own accord. In order for the designer to work with you with pleasure, beautifully, you must have a certain feeling with him, so to speak. And it is very important that a person has a "close connection" with you. I can’t imagine Scalarri to go to some other factory, where the same principles would exist, to get the same freedom ... We really understand each other, this is the whole secret. What I do,. And then, I'm always honest with my architects. If I do not like something, I just say that it is absolutely no good - you need to do it differently.S: Isn't it scary to be in such a state - “without competitors”? This is a very big responsibility ... - A very interesting question. There was a time when I was afraid. Because, indeed, my chosen path leads to isolation. You go the path that no one ever went. And first of all I was afraid of “stewing in my own juice,” that is, not to develop. And then, we do not have mass production. Such is our specificity, and certain difficulties are connected with it. A large industry needs a lot of product, and this sets a very specific task for the designer: I have such a machine, I need furniture of such and such dimensions, with such a price. For me, our work is associated more with the activity of a large workshop than with a factory, but with a workshop that works with the most advanced technologies. It is very important for me. It turns out that you have to invest a lot in cars, almost as much as a serial manufacturer. In this case, we have a completely different strategy, which is impossible to repeat. We managed to ensure that even if someone copies our ideas, it copies them all the same badly. And we still win. And when I was convinced of this, I boldly went ahead and stopped fearing that loneliness I had been afraid of before.Interview with designer GIORGETTI Chi Wing Lo read in the magazine "Salon-Interior" N11 (56) 2001