Speaking of “friction” and “contamination”, these themes are fundamental to me. I do not believe in pure, interference-free designs. On the contrary, I want the final composition of the project to have contaminations and influences. There is no style for me that is only modernist, post-modernist or minimalist. Instead, there is a style that consists of cross-references, quotations and varieties. From an iconographic point of view, there are certain specific images that belong to my imagery and are important references for the architecture that I intend to carry out.

Among them, I can mention the modernist villas of Palm Spring, some case study houses in Los Angeles and the interiors captured by Schulman’s photographs. A recurring theme of my imagery is that of transparency and lightness, which can be found, for example, in the projects of Casa a Patio and L.A. Modern. Then, there is a cinematic theme that refers to some scenes by director Stanley Kubrick, as in the project Loft A. There are also references to some architects who formed my cultural background, including Portaluppi and Jean Prouvé. These are only some of the images that converge in my architectures and interiors.

What elements are at the base of your world of references in the design of spaces? 

My approach to architecture is a broad one, in the sense that the focus is not on the technical needs of the layout, but rather on the creative process and on the multiplicity of references and images that accompany it. These suggestions are always transversal and certainly come from the world of architecture, but also from art, cinema, theatre and music. I believe that this wealth of information, icons and images is part of our cultural heritage and can somehow be transferred to the creative process itself. There are some images in particular that I am very attached to that emerge spontaneously, almost involuntarily, and never due to a rationally planned decision. 

Among these, the sets of director and scenographer Bob Wilson, which are characterized by being abstract, almost crystallized outside of reality. From an artistic point of view there are the paintings by Francis Bacon or Mark Rothko, of which I observe chromaticism in particular. The images that most inspire me sink into memory and remain in the experience. The mechanism that brings them back is a synaesthesia between different senses. Then, I must add the fact that these are not always “high” references, but sometimes these belong to a lower cultural side, “pop” I would say. Examples I can cite are David Bowie’s outfits or Luna Park’s signs. 

One more aspect that I intend to emphasize is the strong link with music. For each of the houses in the book we have defined a soundtrack that can be heard through a barcode. The visual discovery of the interior of the house is thus accompanied by a musical background. This synergy, this desire to speak through words, images and music, is also the prerogative of Carlo Donati Studio’s projects.

What is the invisible thread that connects your references?

These images are part of my experience, a form of stream of consciousness. They settle in my memory until I return them to my work. If I were to locate the thread that binds them, there are two very distinct strands. One is more rational, balanced, almost minimalist – here are, for example, Bob Wilson’s sets. The other is instead more dreamlike, unexpected and particular – here we find the paintings of Francis Bacon, with his representation of a disrupted humanity, and the scenography of Kubrick. They are two worlds that finally converge in my way of designing, which certainly has a minimal component but also a richer one, which makes it less arid. Often I only notice in retrospect that I have created something that in the colours and in the drawing resembles realities that I had seen. For instance, when I painted the interior of a house of cerulean, orange and ginger shades and then found a photograph of David Bowie with the hair of that exact orange and dressed in the same colour palette of the house’s interiors. 

Which projects are the most illustrative of your approach?

L.A. Modern is a house with a markedly modernist architecture where the relationship with nature is central. Among the devices used to convey this theme there is a majestic tree stem that passes through the perforated ceiling. The relationship with nature is very strong also in Casa a Patio, an urban villa of 1000 m² which is characterized by a structure closed to the outside and turned inwards. The house is in fact mirrored on itself as it develops around the patio. The fact of being completely transparent offers the opportunity to look at the other spaces through the mirrors of the courtyard. It is a home that lives on itself somehow. 

In many cases the context is decisive for the creative part. This is the case, for example, of  the project Nero Mediterraneo, a villa that overlooks the Aeolian Islands. What typifies it is that it is entirely made in black, covered with volcanic basalt stone and black marble. This choice recalls the colors of the Aeolian Islands, an archipelago of volcanic islands chromatically characterized by black shades that the owners love to visit during their boat trips. The house also includes a turquoise colored pool, which resembles a crater of light in this black sea. The pool, which in this case is placed in visual relationship with the living room, is never treated by us as a technical element, but more as a space of everyday life.

Finally, I would mention Loft A, a very complex project from the structural and plant engineering point of view as it is the result of the union of four different units and a portion of a former art gallery. The entrance, despite being large, was originally long, narrow and without windows. We therefore designed a new composition that would be more fluid. The interiors are defined by ovals that engage on elliptical volumes, all complemented by a backlight that gives the feeling of a natural atmosphere. The glossy red resin floor is functional to enhance these slightly curved, dreamlike shapes, inspired by the architecture of Oscar Niemeyer.