vico magistretti interview

vico magistretti courtesy de padova

february 2003:this was designboom’s first interview (march 22, 2000). we decided to re-publish it in a new translated version.

designboom (DB): what is the best moment of the day?

vico magistretti (VM): the evening, because its nice not to think.

DB: what kind of music do you listen to at the moment?

VM: I only listen to classical music. I love mozart, I don’t know anything about music. I’m not interested in music after shubert, I only like music up to Beethoven, him included.

‘carimate’ chair 1959, for cassinanow manufactured by de padova

DB:do you listen to the radio?

VM: I listen to music on the radio.

DB: what books do you have on your bedside table?

VM: right now I have a pile of 30-40 books, but I’m not reading them, I’m just disorganized.

DB: do you read design magazines?

VM: no, never.

‘vidun’ table 1986, for de padova

DB: where do you get news from? newspapers?

VM: I don’t read them often, I like the herald tribune the best.

DB: do you notice how women are dressing? do you have any preferences?

VM: I like women’s fashion very much.

DB: what kind of clothes do you avoid wearing?

VM: I never wear athletic clothing, even when I play golf I wear the pants I normally wear.

‘selene’ chair 1969 for artemide, now manufactured by heller

DB: do you have any pets?

VM: unfortunately no, I live alone and animals need to be taken care of.

DB: where do you work on your designs and projects?

VM: everywhere, in bed, on a plane, in my office. I always have something to write down ideas in, I sketch on newspapers or magazines in airplanes, usually I tear out the page and then draw on it.

left: ‘samarcanda’ easy chair 1998, for campeggicenter: ‘vicosolo’ chair 1998, for fritz hansenright: ‘shigeto’ cupboard 1988, for de padova

DB: who would you like to design something for?

VM: I can’t stand schoolish-sounding titles like ‘pianist’s house on the garda lake’. I believe that architecture and work is always conditioned by reality. if not, then it is something else, a different work. this means that there is no excuse for designing ugly things. in the sense that since work is always conditioned, but it is born to be conditioned, a hypothetical work seems to me to be something absolutely stupid.

DB: do you discuss your work with architects and designers?

VM: nobody, milan is the city of solitude, nobody.

‘maui’ chair 1997, for kartell

DB: describe your style, like a good friend of yours would describe it.

VM: style is a word which I detest, I think that the two greatest architects of this century were frank lloyd wright and le corbusier, I try do design as simply as possible, remove excess. I like mies when he said less is more. I think that this is the proper way to understand our work.

DB: which of your work has given you the most satisfaction?

VM: I never like to go back to work I’ve already completed, ever. sort of like how the guilty person should never go back to the scene of the crime. a project I really loved was a building on piazzale aquileia. but usually when I think back over my work I only see the errors I’ve made and I am indulgent towards them, I understand that even though I only see my mistakes, something remeins