SPAZIO ROSSANA ORLANDI

Signature meets the design legend behind Milan’s oasis of taste and talent.

Tell us a bit about your space. It’s not a normal shop; to come here is an experience. What I try to do in these spaces is to create a dialogue between pieces, one which will evoke emotions within our visitors. We also have a gallery in Porto Cervo [Sardinia], in the Promenade du Port.

During Expo Milano 2015, you’ll be creating a club in Spazio Rossana Orlandi. How will that work? We want to keep the unique atmosphere of the space, so there won’t be floods of people like they have at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile di Milano [Milan Furniture Fair]. Instead, we want to give our visitors an experience, allowing them to interact with our pieces. If they want, for example, club-members could have dinner on this table... It’s all about letting people live in the design.

How do you ‘source’ the designers that you nurture? I travel a lot. This month I’ve already been to Prague and Eindhoven [in the Netherlands]. I go to all the exhibitions that I can, but I prefer to visit design schools directly. I discovered Maarten Baas at Design Academy Eindhoven. I like discovering designers at the beginning. Designers are most natural at school. There’s none of the fear that comes as soon as they start to develop projects. It also lets me see how they work in their studio; have they created one lucky project, or are they really talented?

What recent designers are you working with now? There’s Wonmin Park who won a prize from the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2014 for Best Transparency. He works with polyester and makes incredible things. He is from Korea, but is now based in Eindhoven. The Korean government is helping promote talented designers, so we have already selected three to work with us.

Do you often find yourself inundated with proposals from young designers seeking your help? We see so many proposals from all over the world; Asia, Africa, all over. Although they rarely come from Australia or New Zealand. It’s mainly a geography problem, with the expense of shipment and long distances. Ideally I think that they should come to Europe and work.

Is it a challenge for young designers to get manufactured? It depends on what they want to do, the way they want to do it and, most of all, if their project is interesting. Once they have their products here, they are shown in the salon. What I will do if I like their project is find a factory interested in producing a prototype, attaching the right company to the right designer.

Are there any particular designers you are inspired by at the moment? In Prague I’ve found two designers that work under the name Studio deFORM. I think they will be very good in the future. There are a few who are young and developing well, such as Nika Zupanc. She is a Slovenian who makes fabulous pieces and is now very well known. We started with her at the beginning and she’s exploded.

Have many of your designers have ‘exploded’? I would say 90 per cent of the designers we are

interested in have exploded in a short time. First of all, we have to trust in the work of the designer. If we don’t trust that, we’re not interested.

What are some places that you’ve found inspiring?

It depends what I’m looking for, but for the moment I am very involved in the Emirates. I find it interesting that the countries there are evolving so quickly, and the Arabians are very curious. I love curious people.

How do you find design in the Middle East today?

It is truly amazing. I go quite often and every time there are new things; there is an enormous amount of work to do for designers. The first time I visited Dubai I was shocked to see how they have built up from the desert 01 Image by Guido Castagnoli 02 The Salvidor Dali Leda chair 03 Dali’s famed 1935 artwork, ‘Femme à Tête de Roses’ into the 21st century. I also visited Bahrain, which was gorgeous, small but very chic. I’m a friend of the Minister of Culture and she showed me how she wants to keep the old villages alive. It is very easy to destroy in order to build new things but she’s done a fabulous job with the civil designer, an Italian, and all these village houses have become museums, restaurants, guesthouses or theatres. You can still see the new buildings – enormous, built on the water, like the fabulous opera – but they keep the old stories alive at the same time.

As for travel, do you have any favourite places to visit?

I definitely like to travel, as there’s always something interesting and new to discover. In Australia I found the most beautiful sky in the world. I loved it.

Do you prefer to stay in hotels – such as the art hotels that have been popping up – or with friends?

If it is a decision between a friend and a hotel, I will always choose a friend. When I travel, I prefer to live the life of that city, embracing the sense of place and the people who live there. If you are curious about a place, but simply follow a guide… that, for me, is a shame.

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