LUCE estratti LUCE 326_Capoduri_Alexander Bellman | Page 8

Vogel
of everyday life and the sublime nature
of certain creative moments, knowing that
life needs both.
Daily activities and affection. A large amount
of your work is based on the theme of the
home, a complex system that you (rightly)
describe as being “a refuge and a stage”.
A home reflects the person who lives in it,
but it is a distorting mirror. For this reason,
its design, in my opinion, is a humanly
demanding challenge for an architect.
The objective aspect often goes missing and
is replaced by a mix of visionary ideas, small
realities, and a deep rooted desire to appear,
behind which there is a chirping desire to
hide. Interpreting is difficult, it requires a good
amount of training; however, it is even more
difficult to manage intimacy with a stranger,
a client who – willing or not – our eyes see
much more naked than they imagine.
I have written it, and I would write it again:
there is no place that is more difficult
to design than a home. Then, surely, it is fun.
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their specific competences and experience.
This way of proceeding undoubtedly
complicates management and coordination
of the work, but it allows creativity to flow free
from any prejudice or rules. I must thank all
those who work with me, in primis my partners
Matteo Nobili and Alessandra Lemarangi,
for the emotional and professional overload
that they bear.
that requires the particular strength needed to
confront each other with courage and culture.
It is true that the project of the Journal requires
a large amount of energy, but, since it is
conceived and produced internally, from the
graphics to the texts, we partly recover it. Every
member of the team participates in editing the
magazine, even if it is only a small contribution
of a column. From this point of view, I believe
that the Journal can be considered not only
an advertising tool but also an experience of
personal and collective growth, through which
it is possible to see one’s work from outside;
more precisely, to look at oneself from outside,
to assess one’s daily activities with irony,
always keeping in mind the world outside
the studio. Even the most prestigious and
important work in the world is made, in the
end, of daily moments: so, in my opinion,
it is necessary to balance the components
Based on twenty years’ activity, I would like
to ask you how you think lighting design
is considered today.
Firstly, I would like to say that the continuous
technological development and miniaturization
of light sources, together with the evolution of
the control systems on a large and small scale,
have opened infinite possibilities for designers,
with regard to designing light fixtures as well as
designing light effects. Even important themes
that are decidedly topical, such as energy
saving, can be dealt with a completely different
view and with the awareness that we are living
at a time of great transformation. And since the
market request for lighting design is growing
remarkably, I believe it is the task of those who
carry out this specific profession, which is quite
a recent one, to raise general awareness about
the theme. This is surely a difficult path, since
the clients and the public have a general idea
(which in some way is very true, yet at the same
time false) to identify light – in architectural
disciplines – as being an extremely mild
and easily reversible intervention and, as
a consequence, an accessory one. Nevertheless,
from the point of view of perception, we are
all aware that the change that takes place
between illuminated and not illuminated,
between before and after, is enormous and
sudden. Furthermore, the end user often needs
advanced control protocols, and not only
on/off switches. Therefore, we are not designing
a predetermined physical state, but the rules
that define a set of possibilities.
C14 deserves compliments also for the Journal
that it has been editing for many years.
Especially for the will to invest in something
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How do you imagine the future of C14?
The common denominator of our projects
is method and not style, which is a term that
is more suited to the fashion world. C14 will
continue to search the balance between artistic
interpretation and scientific approach,
pursuing a project ideal that is a true synthesis
of two opposite, and yet necessary, poles.
I often remember the humanist vocation
of our profession, the fact that architecture
is founded on man. The one who dreams big,
who then bends over to work with a paper
and pencil, and the last, who finally by
observing and using, is able to be amazed
as he dreams the dream of another.
Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto:
a good architect must interpret the soul
of men as individuals and as a community.
Our aim is to improve constantly, with the
courage to never back out.
1 | GIOIA 22 - Milano
(public spaces e lobby), 2017.
Cliente: COIMA sgr
Lighting design. Sketch degli esterni
e dell’illuminazione della facciata. /
Lighting design. Sketch of the exteriors
and of the façade lighting
2 | Kiton showroom, Milano, 2013.
Cliente: Ciro Paone Spa.
Lighting design degli interni /
Lighting design of the interiors
3 | For D Casa Showroom
Hangzhou China, 2016
Interior e lighting design. Gioco di specchi
ideato per l’esposizione dei prodotti
Barovier & Toso / Game of mirrors
designed for the display
of Barovier & Toso products
4 | Tralcio di luce, 2009. Lampada da tavolo
a batteria con struttura in ottone brunito
e riflettori rivestiti in foglia d’oro.
Prodotta in collaborazione con Viabizzuno /
Rechargeable table lamp with bronzed
brass structure and reflectors covered
in gold leaf. Produced in collaboration
with Viabizzuno
LIGHTING DESIGNERS / LUCE 326
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