Here, we ask designers to take a selfie and give us an inside look at their life.
Age: 34
Occupation: Furniture, interior, and product designer. Founder of Ilaria Bianchi Studio and Temperanza, a small brand of handmade ceramics.
Instagram: @ila.bianchi
Hometown: Pisa.
Studio location: Milan.
Describe what you make: I always start researching with the aim of building strong narratives. It’s impossible to work without a good story. These tales are shaped into tangible projects of various genres, mainly interiors, furniture, and products. My work, which uses a multidisciplinary approach, ranges from industrial design to unique pieces to installations. It molds artisanal and technical techniques, studying design solutions with an analytical and critical perspective, and a strong focus on sustainability. I work closely with my faithful network of Italian master artisans, who take care of creating my projects following my and my client’s directions.
The most important thing you’ve designed to date: I feel like it’s still to come! I’ve explored several materials and production methods in my career (I work a lot with marble, wood, glass, metal, ceramics) and have also collaborated with many awesome people who have elevated my work to higher levels. My Duo shelf (a collection of shelves made in Carrara using leftover marble from manufacturing production) and Blueprint, the unique table I designed for Dimore Gallery, which was also featured in Woman Made: Great Women Designers by Jane Hall (Phaidon), were very important steps for my career.
Describe the problem your work solves: Humans have always been obsessed with the idea of solving, but complexity only sometimes needs to be embraced, finding a delicate way to work around it. I see design not only as a means to solve problems but also as a tool that can help visualize the issues around us. To design, we need to listen: to what the client wants, to what the planet needs, to the beliefs I want to share, to the sound of that material when it breaks or when it’s correctly molded.
Describe the project you are working on now: A very special interior and furniture design project for Mini Spazio, a new Milanese gallery that will also host a site-specific exhibition of a curated selection of my artworks during Milan Design Week. The project began with a thorough observation of the neighborhood: the streets, buildings, and courtyards. These elements found their way into the interiors, their colors and shapes symbolically reinterpreted. Architectural and urban elements transcended their traditional functional and structural roles, morphing into archetypal forms. Custom tables and seating were also designed as symbolic and monolithic totems, blending diverse chromes and shapes, and serving as a platform for conveying narratives and messages.
A new or forthcoming project we should know about: A new collection of experimental and sculptural ceramic objects for a gallery in Rome, which will further embody the essence of my ceramics brand, Temperanza, a new industrial design product for a South African company, and a new course for a design university.
A very important project that will launch during Milan Design Week is the Tatreez Collective Collection, a collective project and a collection of objects born from the collaboration between a selection of international artists and designers curated by SO and the Palestinian artisans of Tatreez Design. The project is the result of a fruitful experiment of synergistic relationships between different sociocultural contexts. A collective collection that includes customized work uniforms, design objects, and accessories.
What you absolutely must have in your studio: A sometimes messy, sometimes tidy, and happy vibe that flows through music, material experimentations, coffee, and useless prototypes.
What you do when you’re not working: I enjoy spending time discovering new music and recording sets for my DJ sets. I escape the city to immerse myself in nature and disconnect from everything. I spend time with friends and family, and I also try to relax and do nothing, although I’m not very good at it.
Sources of creative envy: I try not to be envious but to be inspired. I’m especially inspired by women’s work in art and design, as their recognition is still hard to come by, and those who have achieved it are to be considered heroines. Some of my favorites are Carla Accardi, Nathalie Du Pasquier, Egg Collective, and Faye Toogood.
The distraction you want to eliminate: Useless scrolling and social media in general.
Concrete or marble? Marble.
High-rise or townhouse? Townhouse.
Remember or forget? Forget.
Aliens or ghosts? Ghosts.
Dark or light? Light.
Portrait by Stefania Zanetti.
