We, as the Designer Interviews ("DI") had the distinct pleasure and opportunity to interview award-winning, most creative and innovative Pierangelo Brandolisio ("PB").
I was born on the 1st of October 1966 in Bern, Switzerland. In May 1999 I'd graduated I.U.A.V. - Venice/ITALY in architecture, and found The Brandolisio architecture studio. In 2015 I bought my first dog, a beautiful puppy of American Akita, called Aki. The brand BRANDO comes from this great love. The twenty-year experience in the world of architecture and my passion for detail have lead me to create new experiments. After a careful evaluation of the pet market I decided to offer my contribution to propose the products recognised in the world of design, not only products for pets but objects designed to satisfy even the aesthetic needs of home environment. From these reflections and from living in daily contact with pets, I have created a series of models that differ not only in their construction materials, but also in their forms, due to different pet instincts, needs, and ability of choosing their favourite places. Pet Home Collection represents the first and significant reflection in the world of pet design that has led to combining aspects of animal welfare with design.
Pierangelo Brandolisio Designs
We are pleased to share with you original and innovative design work by Pierangelo Brandolisio.
Designer Interview of Pierangelo Brandolisio:
DI: Could you please tell us more about your art and design background? What made you become an artist/designer? Have you always wanted to be a designer?
PB : I’d graduated IUAV, the Institute in Venice. I have always paid particular attention to detail as a constructive, but not decorative element. I am greatly influenced by the Italian Master Carlo Scarpa. I have always dreamed of being able to freely express my thoughts without impositions, as often happens in architecture. The world of design certainly offers you more expressive freedom.
DI: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
PB : I belong to that Italian reality, in which the studio is conceived as the ancient workshops of master craftsmen, where everything begins, takes shape and gets completed.
DI: What is "design" for you?
PB : The graphic sign becomes a medium of an idea, an expression of function, of form and beauty.
DI: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
PB : I like challenges, reflections. I think that every new project is stimulating.
DI: What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?
PB : Definitely "Baco". I have dedicated almost a year of work for its perfection, having to design also a work bench for the construction of its frame, entirely hand-sewn and with no visible welding.
DI: What was the first thing you designed for a company?
PB : I designed a bed Dune for my American Akita.
DI: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
PB : It is important to know the potential and constructive limits that each material offers, only in this way you have no limits of thinking.
DI: When do you feel the most creative?
PB : After a journey, I return always to the studio full of new ideas ... certainly in the morning with my rested head .
DI: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
PB : I constantly ask myself how many lines can I remove, how to make an essential project, where nothing can be added and nothing can be removed.
DI: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
PB : I always live different emotions, from those sad emotions for the fear of not being able to develop a project well, to those emotions, that lead me to be happy, enthusiastic for the result achieved.
DI: What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
PB : Emotions of happiness, and at the same time of responsibility, because of the awareness that my design must satisfy the functional aspects for which it was conceived.
DI: What makes a design successful?
PB : I believe the ability to combine the three key adjectives: duration, function and beauty, makes a design successful.
DI: When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?
PB : The aspects that I always consider as priorities are those related to the function. Every project borns to satisfy specific functions.
DI: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
PB : The designer offers society sometimes new and sometimes revisited tools. Then, if society appreciates them, it takes them as its’ own.
DI: How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?
PB : Design is at the center of every social interest. It will always take more social attention, because a winning idea is able to move the world's largest economies.
DI: When was your last exhibition and where was it? And when do you want to hold your next exhibition?
PB : My last exhibition was in spring 2018, "Salone Internazionale del Mobile", an international event in Milan.
DI: Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?
PB : My inspiration can come from a fishing day in the lagoon, a boat ride, a walk in the mountains, from a city observing, from anything surrounds us. Curiosity is the first source of inspiration. Therefore, our context and places of interest are always influential. It is like a choice of a book.
DI: How would you describe your design style? What made you explore more this style and what are the main characteristics of your style? What's your approach to design?
PB : It is difficult to describe yourself, however I look for the essentiality and the purity of the compositional lines. During any design process I ask myself what to remove and what not to add.
DI: Where do you live? Do you feel the cultural heritage of your country affects your designs? What are the pros and cons during designing as a result of living in your country?
PB : I live in a small town on the edge of the city, with the advantage of being surrounded by many companies and master craftsmen, and with the limits of being distant from the great cultural centers such as Milan or London.
DI: How do you work with companies?
PB : I work with companies listening to their needs and proposing them various projects to discuss, thus moving to an executive phase.
DI: What are your suggestions to companies for working with a designer? How can companies select a good designer?
PB : Companies often are bound to their technological production processes and do not wonder about alternative solutions. A good designer must have cultural and technical knowledge, must know the materials and the techniques used.
DI: Can you talk a little about your design process?
PB : From the first preparatory sketches that identify an idea, we move on to the 3D model, and to 2D drawings with many comparative tests. Having defined this path, we build the first prototype in order to review a whole series of reflections.
DI: What are 5 of your favorite design items at home?
PB : My favorite design items at home are: Sofa, TV, stools, dog bed and lights.
DI: Can you describe a day in your life?
PB : I am a dynamic person with many interests. I move between studio and construction site. At the same time I use to spend time with my dog in the garden.
DI: Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?
PB : For young designers I would advise always to pursue their ideas. We must not change course even if encountering great difficulties in the work pursuing. The solution to great difficulties often renders the work more original.
DI: From your perspective, what would you say are some positives and negatives of being a designer?
PB : The positive site of being a designer is the opportunity to experiment, and to propose alternative things for society. The negative one is to be ready for criticism.
DI: What is your "golden rule" in design?
PB : My “golden rule” in design is “the research for balance between form and function”.
DI: What skills are most important for a designer?
PB : The most important skills for a designer are: the advanced cultural knowledge, techniques and work methods, as well as the knowledge of materials and the ability to experiment with the different finishes each material offers. Good dexterity gives a further help.
DI: Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?
PB : During design at the same time I use many different tools, and from each of them I try to capture something useful.
DI: Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?
PB : Time is one of the most precious assets, so I try not to spend it in vain.
DI: How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?
PB : I can never quantify time, sometimes i need a few minutes, sometimes a good idea takes a month of hard work, because I don't find satisfactory solutions right away.
DI: What is the most frequently asked question to you, as a designer?
PB : The most frequently asked question is: “Where did the idea of Brando come from and why?”
DI: What was your most important job experience?
PB : Due to the complexity and diversity of the themes dealt with, I believe that my most important job experience was the functional recovery of the Castle ”Ceconi" in Pielungo in Friuli.
DI: Who are some of your clients?
PB : Usually my clients are industrial and private companies, who expect from me something alternative and new.
DI: What type of design work do you enjoy the most and why?
PB : Every demand I consider to be interesting, because it gives me an opportunity to express my vision and my thought.
DI: What are your future plans? What is next for you?
PB : I have new ideas I’d like to propose to society, but for the moment I prefer not to tell them.
DI: Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?
PB : Alone you could do nothing. I always work in team, made up of people never satisfied with the first result.
DI: Do you have any works-in-progress being designed that you would like to talk about?
PB : I am realizing the first important Italian and European experimental center in viticulture for a world leading company in Friuli Venezia Giulia.
DI: How can people contact you?
PB : People can contact me via telephone o via email.
DI: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?
PB : No, your interview is very complete.