Here, we ask designers to take a selfie and give us an inside look at their life.
Age: 44
Occupation: Designer, with a passion for work done by hand.
Instagram: @david_dolcini
Hometown: I was born in Codogno, a small town in the countryside not far from Milan.
Studio location: The same small town where I was born.
Describe what you make: I’ve faced many very different projects from lamps to chairs, from sofas to suitcases, from retail spaces to board games, from exhibition stands to bathroom fixtures. It’s never a question of the theme (which are all equally important), but of the methodology, which allows me to face any type of design challenge.
The most important thing you’ve designed to date: TIMEMADE, even though it can’t really be defined as “product design” but a collection of unique pieces. It was born spontaneously after various trips in the mountains, and then followed by many hours of research and manual work. Brought to life through my dedication of grasping time, I created circa 30 pieces that make up the collection. And there’s still a lot of work ahead.
Describe the problem your work solves: I don’t claim that my design solves major problems in people’s everyday lives, but design is a cultural expression and therefore I try to inject simple and strong ideas into my products so that people can discover them by living with the objects day after day. I strongly believe it’s a duty to show respect for the materials and their proper use, and as a designer I must concretize these concepts into reality. For example, when I designed the Lizzy chair, I focused on sustainability by using very few pieces of solid wood as possible and steam bending them to reduce the waste.
Describe the project you are working on now: Being unable to work for months due to an injury gave me the possibility to step back and deeply reconnect with my personal project TIMEMADE. Since the idea behind this project is the proper timing of things and the experience of a slow step in design, being injured there was no other way but to step back and embrace time. I’m now more than ready to return to working with wood and using the sensibility I gained in the past few recovery months to practice new creative pathways and create the next series, which will be a consequential evolution of the Conversi series.
A new or forthcoming project we should know about: Last year, I designed a board game for Porada called CHIAROSCURO. I had so much fun creating the object based off the original game (Connect Four) as it brought me back to my childhood memories and now having a beautiful family with young children, it’s an absolute dream to design for them. When your personal and professional lives mix, it brings an exciting result. It surprised both me and the client. So, why not repeat the experience with a new game?
What you absolutely must have in your studio: A welcoming natural light that enters through large windows. Light is the most important aspect of a space for me, and natural light has a strong energizing and relaxing effect on me.
What you do when you’re not working: I’m a very curious person with many passions, including art and craftsmanship, wine, cooking, and local folk cultures. But most of all, I love spending time in nature, in the mountains and woods, with my family and closest friends.
Sources of creative envy: I wish during my career I’d be able to design a lamp like Costanza by Paolo Rizzatto for Luceplan. A project that manages to translate extremely complex concepts into apparently a simple but very elegant product.
The distraction you want to eliminate: Ideally, I’d love to have a few days without any distractions to dedicate to a specific project because a good project requires a lot of time and concentration. But work also includes phone calls, meetings, coordinating assistants, and emails. It’s almost a utopia for me now.
Concrete or marble? Marble.
High-rise or townhouse? Townhouse.
Remember or forget? Remember.
Aliens or ghosts? Ghosts.
Dark or light? Light.
