I still have a copy of the first project I carried out, its hung up on the oak panel wall next to my desk …I certainly don’t look at it admiringly ….but I do look at it with pride! Two changing rooms in a dress shop, made with tubular steel structures , curtains with rings and a two sided mirror used as a dividing structure…the piece of paper is still dirty with the ironsmiths fingerprints and on the top left hand corner there is April 1985 written in pen. Well considering that I have a diploma as “Maestro D’Arte “ ( not a degree) and 12 collaborators , technical staff and consultants ,… I am still proud.
Function and design are not two separate concepts that exclude one another ..and this is my philosophy ..
During the years I have drawn a bit of everything : interior design objects , house interiors , shops, restaurants , coffee bars , discos , offices , banks …….in Italy and abroad , choosing materials and colours , designing furniture in wood , steel , glass, laying out supply systems , moving walls, floors and the interaction and dialogue with different people has been fundamental.
Of course finding the client, preparing a general project , estimating the expense , guaranteeing project feasibility from an urban and administrative point of view …( there are those that rent or buy a venue , house or set up a company, on the basis of what I say ) overcoming the …………….competition, signing a contract guaranteeing a delivery date and setting up the payments , preparing all the executive projects for each craftsman, printing an illustrated brochure with photos of the supplies , ordering all the materials , contracting all the craftsmen , managing the deliveries , purchases, coordinating it all and arriving precise and punctual to the date that has been set is not easy but ………….now after just 23 years of doing this job I feel fairly confident that I can do it !
During the course of the years I have also set up other services ( I thought these were not enough ) …like financing , leases , mortgages, finalized towards the business activity , assistance on obtaining commercial licences, setting up companies …collecting a whole series of documents to insure the permit requests are presented correctly.
Actually this is beyond my realm of competence but once I have the clients trust, I am happy to be able to follow him in all his steps….and it is also a large responsibility that is nearly always appreciated.
There is no precise style …its is not all steel and glass…not all cherry tree and natural leather, not all stone and beams….it is not minimalist , bio ,oriental , baroque ………..its everything and a bit of everything with a common denominator……….all the environments I create have a soul ……..and you can sense it when you walk in!
I can’t design an environment without defining a cost and having set up various companies that purchase and directly deal with companies and craftsmen I have no limits in realizing the projects , I don’t have a project manager that tries to make cuts or tries to change the project or the materials ..using all know methods of persuasion…I decide the price with the client and I decide the price with the craftsman, I decide what has to be done and how the project is to be carried out …there are no compromises , strange agreements ecc.. ecc ..all the work carried out as has been decided in the project, guaranteeing the use of all the material agreed with the client.
My vast experience in all the various types of materials used in designs , restructuring and restyling avoids the client the anguish of having to sit through or try and understand the explanations of plumbers ,electricians , carpenters , builders , painters and not having to give them the responsibility of deciding how the house , office or restaurant should look.
No ….. each to his own job !!!!!
The craftsman must carry out a job on the basis of an executive project , analytical in all its lines , if in the electrician’s project there is a socket that is placed at a certain distance from a point this means that a certain object will be installed there and the socket has to be placed exactly in that point!!!! And this is not something that has to be discussed on the work site !! I have already decided this before starting to work with the client , to change this would mean changing delivery times , costs …..what happens on 90% of the building sites ( mine are form part of the remaining 10%)
Of course the problems linked to carrying out the restructuring of a farm house or an apartment are not the same as those encountered in a restaurant , bar or disco and show rooms and offices are entirely different. To be able to solve them all , you just need experience and this experience goes towards avoiding they occur .
It is rare that problems are attributed to the craftsmen’s incompetence….it is unusual that if you turn on the tap the light goes on ..on the other hand there is frequently a lack of organization on the building site creating confusion , never ending execution times , surprise costs and irate tempers .
The client that chooses to use my services and that doesn’t call in his friends who make him save money, will never encounter these problems, he will have a precise delivery date and short delivery times all of which will be respected.
The relationship with the client is fundamental, interesting projects such as the first restaurants or “theme” Pubs were made possible only thanks to the good relationship that was built up.
Creating within a venue the same identical paving as that present along the sea front in Rio de Janeiro , with exactly the same cast iron man holes, was accomplished thanks to years of experience, an in depth knowledge of the materials used , a good team of craftsmen but also thanks to having built up a relationship with the client, based on great reciprocal trust.
The project concept in itself may be simple and may not be very creative ….but the ability to make it happen at a reasonable price is what makes all the difference !!!
If my execution times are short, the initial preparation set up is not !! Of course making decision on site makes deliveries times even longer !!!!! It is for this reason that we don’t start until everything has been entirely defined.
It is here that my added value comes in, designing and carrying out special environments , unique , made to measure …………..but at a reasonable cost, the cost of a craftsmen’s day is always the same…but you need to know what he does! Creating something beautiful, warm, relaxing ..takes the same amount of time as doing the exact opposite !!! The difference is made by the person who conceives it ………….. thus me!
Making a hot or cold system within an environment seem artistic is a constant ambition , creating a counter ceiling , finding floors that differ from all others , lighting an ambiance , always inventing something new and different… this is what I do .
To do this I risk , if I didn’t I would be monotonous ………. and in this business it is not well accepted.
The last but not least important aspect is the design project based on the legal norms , and here again experience is a determinant factor , designing a restaurant without taking into account all the hygienic rules and the fire regulations, designing a house , re-dividing the internal partitions without knowing which authorizations you need from the comune or the condominium ..is very risky.
I have been collaborating for many years with technicians that work specifically in these sectors , but who limit themselves to evaluating the strictly technical aspects : an air conditioning project becomes necessary if certain pre-set values are overstepped , in this case my technician calculates the air volume , the necessary air changes , the central control systems that guarantee their activation , but does not intervene in relation to the visible parts. A beach resort project , where structural calculations are needed requires the technician to carry out sections of reinforced cement parts but he does not intervene on parts of the building that are “visible” and this applies to any project that by law has to be supported by a qualified technician.
The most determinant and important factor is that all my technicians , consultants , collaborators , artisans and suppliers have the necessary means to carry out the idea I have conceived that the client has approved and it is my duty to ensure this !
Now to my latest project , creating an Atélier …selecting woods , ceramics , cottos , marbles, floors, tiles and furniture , objects , lamps …a bit of everything without a precise style , things I like, chosen by me.
I hope to transmit the passion that I have in all I do …….creating a beautiful environment is difficult but I am often able to achieve it !
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