Chiara Lionello believes design ought to at all times be one thing that opens up prospects, whether or not this be an object or an area. ‘In all my tasks, I attempt to give individuals the chance to ascertain a relationship with the designed components, in order that they really feel empowered to make them private via their gestures,’ explains the Milan-based architect, designer and researcher.
Her follow is rooted in exploring the connection between design and its customers, and the way this materials presence prompts recollections and shared experiences. Lionello seamlessly strikes between inside, exhibition and product design, with a deal with reworking up to date residing.
Get to know Milan-based designer Chiara Lionello
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Chiara Lionello)
Lionello was born in Pavia in 1987, and moved to Milan in her mid-twenties after finishing her research in structure on the Politecnico di Milano. ‘I’ve at all times been obsessed with historical past and artwork, and have a specific fascination with stunning, nameless objects,’ shares Lionello. ‘Rising up with mother and father who’re each collectors of on a regular basis issues, I realized to seek out magnificence in easy gestures and day by day areas.’
‘Carosello’ bookshelf
(Picture credit score: Carlo Di Pasquale)
After working for Cristina Celestino and Dimorestudio in Milan, in 2018 she based her personal follow in Italy’s design capital. If founding your personal follow is not sufficient to maintain you busy, Lionello determined to finish a PhD in Structure, for which she developed her analysis between Italy and Tokyo. ‘This expertise was essential in shaping my private design language, because it gave me the chance to dive into a fancy and complicated materials tradition, reflecting on what really defines high quality in areas and issues,’ she explains.
‘Home Round a Blue Quantity’
(Picture credit score: Coutesy of Chiara Lionello)
Lionello additionally desires her designs to be interactive. ‘I imagine that interplay is key for establishing an enduring relationship with objects and areas,’ she says. ‘It’s one thing I at all times attempt to obtain in my tasks, the place the design components may be seen not simply as stunning components to stare at however moderately as instruments for use.’
This interplay can create a way of shock, as in ‘Coup de Théâtre’ (one in all Lionello’s inside tasks, an condominium in collaboration with Paola Ostellino), the place an imposing folding display conceals the kitchen, inviting a theatrical gesture to disclose it. It may allow motion, as in ‘Home Round a Blue Quantity’, the place the central blue aspect organises completely different actions and capabilities round it. Or it could actually evoke recollections, as in Carosello, the place the shapes and colors of the bookcase recall outdated city carousels from childhood, bringing a poetic dimension to the home area.’
‘Wunderkammer’ condominium
(Picture credit score: Carlo Di Pasquale)
That is additionally mirrored in designs comparable to her ‘Inserti’ vases, lately introduced on the Italian truthful Edit Napoli 2025, and outlined by a ceramic vessel geared up with an anodised aluminium bar to help a small flower composition. ‘Of their coexistence, the 2 components create a small structure, an interactive object, ready to be accomplished by the gesture of whoever will use it.’
Though her follow reaches throughout completely different areas of design, Lionello’s work is cohesive as she approaches tasks of various scales with the identical mindset, specializing in creating areas and objects that invite customers to inhabit or work together with them, whereas emphasising the standard of that interplay.
‘This high quality typically stems from a way of magnificence present in contrasts. I get pleasure from juxtaposing completely different colors, supplies and applied sciences, permitting them to interact in a dialogue in the hunt for a singular steadiness,’ explains Lionello.
‘Coup de Théâtre’ condominium inside created in collaboration with Paola Ostellino
(Picture credit score: Ilaria Tariello)
Outdated books and magazines encourage the architect, who has a specific fascination for these locations that may not seem glamorous at first look. Spending hours exploring Milan on foot, Lionello observes surprising colors and supplies from Nineteen Thirties structure to hidden second-hand bookshops.
‘I like the concept that objects and areas might have a persona,’ she feedback. ‘After I was finding out in Japan, I used to be fascinated by the behavior of giving names to instruments or on a regular basis stuff and to think about that they may have a soul, as their human customers. It’s a form of sensitivity that I really feel additionally mine and that I hope may be present in my tasks.’
Supply: Wallpaper
