De.Tales, the Milan-based architectural firm founded in 2020 by the experienced duo composed by Giuseppe Varsavia and Igor Rebosio, is an expression of original concepts of architecture but also of philosophy. Their way of imagining hospitality and luxury residential projects goes beyond the need to put a personal seal on them, to unravel tales through spaces.

In contrast to the increasingly strong tendency to seek the definition of “archistar”, Giuseppe Varsavia and Igor Rebosio, together with their team comprising more than 35 people, privilege research aimed at satisfying the client’s needs rather than their personal vision. Giuseppe Varsavia, Managing Director of the firm, let himself be interviewed by Medelhan, to which he shared the points and concepts that weave De.Tales.

Such an attitude pays back when the client understands that we are on his side, especially when it is about making income with properties. It is a cross-cutting theme to architecture as well as to philosophy of architecture. The society we live in is nihilistic, where the need to represent ourselves on the network does nothing but satisfy a background narcissism, the need to “make fashion”. But what we create must withstand the impact of time, and only secondarily must provide a recognizable image of what we do. For this, it is necessary to choose the right working partners and dedicate time of thought to the project. What I want to say is that we do not care about short term visibility.

What I have just said carries a specific meaning. However, it is also true that, looking at our company profile, you can read a common thread in the treatment of materials and surfaces, as well as in some lines of thought. We often rely on certain solutions because we know they work in those areas. Thus, there is a fil rouge. However, always looking at our company profile, you can notice a certain variety of styles and attitudes.

In interior design, we do not have to be minimalists when there is no need to, or Parisian decorators when the project needs to be lean, concrete and essential. Projects in Venice have brocades and rococo frames, because the building requires that kind of attention. Then, other projects are characterized by a leaner and more concise language. From this point of view, I think I say well when I say that there is a mix of styles. The type of architecture that distinguishes us is not defined by a certain colour or stone, but rather by the tale of a story.

The choice always follows the logic of curiosity and understanding the artistic gesture. The integration aspect with the rest of the environment is also fundamental, especially when it comes to interior design. At the moment we are also carrying out projects in which sculptural works are placed in the centre of newly formed piazzas, but even in this case everything is linked to the context in which the work must be inserted, to the emotion that it can return.

I am the kind of person who does not read the guides when he goes to art exhibitions. It might be the work of an extraordinary artist, but either it strikes me or does not strike me, like a comedian who does not make me laugh. In the same way, the artwork has to communicate something. Therefore, the choice is strongly linked to the emotion that the artistic object must give you, to the message that you think can bring in that particular environment, to the conception of juxtaposition of elements that communicate to each other. From the furniture to the flooring, the piece must integrate or give a powerful blow to your imagination.

For instance, we are now following the project of a resort in Gallipoli where everything is tenuous, almost turned off at a colour level: it is a holiday resort and it needs to be relaxing. In the rooms there is only one piece of art that brings a touch of colour inside. The criteria can be many and different, but the artwork should eventually, as a German philosopher once said, pierce you like a spear. Otherwise it means it did not give you anything.

As a studio we carry out much research on materials. We also have a specific department, the Digital Lab, dedicated to research on digital representation of architecture and interior design. The people who work there possess such a high level of skills that I could not even turn their computer on. Thanks to them we design directly with renders, so that ideas are immediately confronted with the final representation of what they could be. This way, the work is more immediate with respect to the drafting of a technical drawing, which demands more time.

Therefore, we do research on this front as well as on another, equally current. I am speaking of the Metaverse and the understanding of how it can have functional repercussions on what we are doing. Some team members in particular support the reasons behind this new reality. Personally, I am more sceptical, but I will be happy to be denied if it ever happens. However, I am convinced that everything we do by having a filter in front of us allows us not to be who we are. And this is the underlying vulnus that for me is already a symptom of failure.