1. Where were you born and where are you from ?

I was born in Luxembourg from and Italian father and German mother. I took the Luxembourg  citizenship when I left the country and gave up my Italian and German passports to avoid military  service in both countries. I did my studies in London and lived there for over ten years. I never lived  in the country that I hold a passport of so have always been a stranger of sorts. 

2. What is your first memory connected to the art world ?

I started working in experimental sound in the avant-garde scene of London in the late 1990s. It was a mix of old free jazz musicians and artists working in sound. Working with abstract sound was a great introduction to working in sculpture and design, being comfortable to improvise and play in an abstract medium. 

3. Have you always worked in the art/design field ?

I initially studied social anthropology and philosophy after which I worked in human rights, I was even offered a contract with the UN in Africa, which I gave up to go back to study architecture in a very experimental school, the Architectural Association in London, that led me to a road of experimentation in design and sculpture. 

4. What led you to the design creation ?

My interest in objects essentially came from exploring how we are confronted as subjects with objects and how we playfully interact with objects and the impact they have on of us. Like creating a set for a theater play, my studio became a very immersive environment of my own world.

5. How would you describe your creative process and it influences ?

I had a very influential Japanese professor that once told me ‘your way of sketching is making  models’. I like thinking in 1:1 and often make life size models, very rough and fast, so that you can  get to an idea and test it fast, and even fail fast rather than procrastinate. I can then iterate to very  precise models and 1:1 prototypes. 

6. Could you describe a typical day of your work ?

I go to my studio everyday and I have barely missed a day for sickness or one or two for the birth of  my child, it’s been very intense. In the studio, the aim is always to try to find the time to experiment  and work on new pieces, but we also have to produce and fabricate for all of the existing projects  we work on, and it is sometimes hard to balance. My studio is a very important place for me, it is  where I spend most of my time, it is almost like a place of contemplation. Every new idea starts with rearranging the space and objects within. This is a routine for me that puts me in a different  mindset, a place from where I am opening myself up for new ideas and work. 

7. Why did you choose the specific materials you work with ?

The environment and accessibility have a lot to do with it. When I lived in Mexico City before New  York City I worked mainly in concrete and complex mold making. When I moved to New York City  I almost entirely moved to folded metal, as the city is essentially made of that, I beams and folded metal, so it made sense to start exploring these.

8. What are the technical particularities of your creations ?

My pieces started almost as readymades, stacked upholstered pieces on industrial steel bases, there is always a contrast of hard and soft, humble and precious. A dialogue between contrasting surfaces,  materials or shapes is somehow always present in my work.

9. What advices could you give to beginning artists who would like to create sculptural design works ?

Brancusi’s motto was ‘Create like a god, command like a king, work like a slave.’ I think that’s still valid somehow even if extreme, but self-discipline and persistence are very important, work hard and don’t give up until you get where you need to be. 

10. If your works had to belong to a design movement, in which one would you define it ?

Hopefully to one that’s not there yet and about to start, the world has been waiting for one for a long  time. Otherwise for me certainly modernism, definitely not Post-Modern. 

11. What designers and artists have influenced you ?

Carlo Scarpa and Matthias Goeritz.

12. What contemporary designers do you appreciate ?

I just saw a young British designer that was melting metal into wooden furniture, I thought that was very interesting. I am not very good in keeping up with contemporary design however.

13. What contemporary artists (in any kind of art) have you been inspired by ?

I dont know if they would still be considered contemporary but Michael Heizer, James Turrel, Sol  Lewitt and Donald Judd were very influential to me. 

14. If you had to summarize your creations in one word or sentence, what would it be ?

Investigating the playfulness and the contrast of humble and precious matters and objects, hard and  soft surfaces and materials, minimal invasion yet maximal repercussion.

15. Is there anything you would like to add ?

As a trained architect I often respond to a brief or an environment, so I am still very excited about  what’s coming as I still feel early on in my design work and practice.

Proust Questionnaire with very short answers (one or a few words) :
(The Proust Questionnaire is a set of questions answered by the French writer Marcel Proust. Other historical figures who have answered confession albums are Oscar Wilde, Karl Marx, Arthur Conan Doyle, Stéphane Mallarmé, Paul Cézanne…)