Postcard from Milan: The Monk Returns

TRANSCRIPT

Giulia Molteni: If you think about all the fashion brands and the automotive one, so it’s not involving furniture only anymore. So it’s a big festival of creativity, of trends, that you can find only in Milano. So if you miss Milan, I think you miss a view on what’s going on next.

Dan Rubinstein: Hi. I’m Dan Rubinstein, and this is The Grand Tourist. I’ve been a design journalist for more than 20 years, and this is my personalized guided tour through the worlds of fashion, art, architecture, food, and travel: all the elements of a well-lived life.

And hello once again from Italy where I am for Milan Design Week and the famed Salone del Mobile trade fair that happens each year in April. By the time I return home at the end of the week, I will have seen approximately 500 sofas, 1000 lamps, and digested 5000 kilos of pasta, and a few Negronis.

While we take a little break before Season 13 starts next month, I thought I would share a little postcard of sorts from Milan, sponsored by one of my favorite names in Italian design and a dear collaborator of The Grand Tourist: Molteni&C. For those of you who might not be familiar, the Molteni name is a hallowed one in Italian design circles, founded by the Molteni family in the 1930s and still family-owned and run, which is becoming more and more of a rare thing in the 21st century.

Today, as it has been for decades, the brand is known for its luxurious but always chic and understated designs by some of the most revered names such as Gio Ponti, Jean Nouvel, Herzog & de Meuron, Rodolfo Dordoni, Norman Foster, and many, many more. Today, the brand is creatively directed by designer Vincent Van Duysen, and one of their latest triumphs is the just-opened Palazzo Molteni here in the heart of the city designed by Van Duysen.

On today’s episode, I’ll be speaking with Marco Maturo, one of the principals of Studio Klass, a young but influential firm here in the city who is known especially for their work for the office and furniture systems company, Unifor, one of the sister brands of Molteni&C, and they’re the creator of a special installation at the Museo Poldi Pezzoli, which we’ll get into.

But first, I say hello to Giulia Molteni, the head of communications for Molteni, to talk about their massive new flagship, the Palazzo Molteni, the evolution of Milan Design Week, and the Salone del Mobile that her family was so influential in starting, and their latest historic re-edition: a classic 1970s chair called the Monk, first created by the legendary designer, Tobia Scarpa.

Ciao, Giulia. Well, thank you so much for having me, and it’s amazing to be here at the incredible Palazzo Molteni. Tell me about this incredible space. Congratulations, first of all, but it’s this incredible new headquarters for you here in Milan, so tell me about it.

GM: Thank you, Dan. It’s great to have you here today. Palazzo Molteni is an historic residence that now tell the story of Molteni&C, and another step forward for the group growth internationalization strategy. Designed by Vincent Van Duysen, it’s like a house of an art collector, and historical architecture with strong, monumental character.

And it is an intimate character typical of many buildings in Milan, and want to be like a rotational exhibition center of art, design, architecture, photography, in order to build new dialogues with different disciplines, a part of design.

And as the head of communications for Molteni and its sister brands, tell us a little bit about the new designs that we’re going to see this year from the house, you could say?

GM: Yeah. The 2025 collection under the direction of Vincent Van Duysen is inspired by our research into our archive, especially the ’70s and the ’80s. And the new design is also a reinterpretation with modern touch of that time, for the reason the mood plays with the relationship between historical architecture and contemporary cosmopolitan.

In addition, to create in the 2025 collection, also Van Duysen designed two pieces: Aria Desk and Linear Armchair. But this year is very important for us because we also start a new collaboration, two new designers, Christophe Delcourt and the GamFratesi.

So Christophe Delcourt, a French designer. Tell me a little bit about what did he, Christophe, do for you guys?

GM: I did a lot of pieces of the same collection, the Emile Sofa and the Odile Coffee Tables, as well as an arm armchair and different living tools that goes right inside the day area.

So basically, the inspiration is to the hexagonal shape with the very kind of natural material as marble and aluminum, as well as the main finishing, in a very, let’s say, modern reinterpretation of the ’70s, especially on the sofa, is part to Lucio Fontana as well through to these kind of cut in the back, very modern, and the same way, very harmonic in the shape.

And aside from all the new designs, I just noticed that the room that we’re in is called the Monk Room, which I’m sure it might be related to the Monk Chair, which you’re reintroducing.

GM: Definitely.

A legendary design from the ’70s from Scarpa. And I was wondering if you could tell, this chair actually has a connection to you and to your family when it was first commissioned back in the ’70s. Tell us a little about that story.

GM: Yes. The Monk chair was designed in 1973 by our friend Tobia Scarpa, and was actually designed for our family country house, my grandfather country house, in a grass-green fabric. And I have memories from when I was a child of this chair that looked to me very big, as for the brutalist design probably, but now, it’s still perfectly in the Vincent Van Duysen mood.

I mean, it was made for the house, right? Sort of in a green fabric. But today, they’re in leather, correct?

GM: Exactly. In [inaudible 00:07:11].

And there’s how many different colors? And-

GM: You have seven different colors and two different colors for the structure that can be in black oak or coffee oak. And the ’70s in general are making a new comeback because of the bold, expressive style and the sense of warmth and optimism that characterize that area.

So we really think that the chair is still very modern even today because that time was a time of innovation with a mix of rich material, vibrant color, and feel fresh and nostalgic today. So I think that the ’70s are really the inspiration of this year collection.

And how would you describe the mood this year in terms of just design, just in general, here for Milan Design Week? What would you say?

You have such a different view of design than maybe someone like me might have. What would you say is just the most important feeling that design needs to move in for 2025?

GM: I think there is a great exposure of the old masters, even more than before, like Gio Ponti. If you look, Prada and many other companies are looking into the great master of the ’60s, probably because there is this kind of nostalgic sense of quality of the past that’s still such an inspiration for today.

So more and more this year, I see re-editions around the Milan, as well as probably the end, the final end of minimalism, because more and more, the rooms are warm. There is, for example, boiserie and different fabrics on the wall, and many carpets. Everything that really make something completely domestic for interior spaces.

Yeah. So it’s kind of like maybe that’s why the ’70s are kind of in right now is because it’s the very end of, or after the end of modernism in the late ’60s, and then now, before post-modernism in the ’80s, so it’s kind of a transition from one-

GM: Yeah.

… to the next.

GM: A transition period that becomes, again, very, very popular. Especially if you look at the colors, for example, there are very bright colors everywhere: yellow, green, a very strong color that was typical at that age, and maybe for some years, we forgot the power of color.

I’ll try to stump you with a surprise question. If I wanted to get gelato, where would I go? Where would you like to go for gelato in Milan?

GM: I’m in love with Venchi, for example, one of a fantastic Italian brand that you can find everywhere, or even in Piazzale Cadorna, close to the train station, for example, and where you can buy also fantastic presents to bring away-

Like candies and-

GM: … at home-

… like chocolates and-

GM: Yeah.

… stuff? Yes. Okay, perfect. And for dinner, maybe your favorite place to go for dinner?

GM: If you like pizza, I’m in love with Le Specialità, for example, one of my favorites. But I also love this new club just open in Milan called The Wilde, where there is a Peruvian restaurant, so now I’m crazy about Peruvian-

Peruvian food? Okay.

GM: Yes.

Amazing.

GM: Food. It’s called NINA.

NINA? Okay. Wow.

GM: Yes. Place to go.

And a place for aperitivo? For a cocktail?

GM: Ah. I love LùBar at the GAM-

LùBar?

GM: … where there is a beautiful exhibition curated by my friend, Caroline Corbetta, about Ugo Rondinone that is a very-

Of course.

GM: … important Italian sculptor.

Known for his sort of totems, his giant sort of, yes.

GM: Yes. So the trees, but also inside, you can find some ballet ladies and mans. Fantastic. Very poetic.

Amazing. Well, thank you so much for joining me.

GM: Thank you, Dan.

Congratulations-

GM: Thank you very much.

… on this big palazzo. We’re going to do a little tour after this. I’m so excited.

GM: Of course. We will. Thank you, Dan.

Thank you. Thank you.

Next up, I speak with Marco Maturo, one of the founders of Studio Klass. While there’s a lot of talk about all of the legends of Italian design, there’s new blood to be found in the country as well. It’s one of the reasons I find the work of Studio Klass so interesting. Both their products and installation combine that Italian flair for minimalism with a real understanding of technology and the shifting needs of design today.

Marco, thank you so much for joining us here for the Salone here in beautiful Milan at the Palazzo Molteni. Your studio is called Studio Klass. You’ve worked with Unifor, which is one of the amazing brands that’s part of the Molteni&C family for quite a while now. But tell me a little bit about your studio and how it first started?

Marco Maturo: Studio Klass has been founded by Alessio and I already in 2009. This is the first day at the university. I mean, we started to work together in the same group. At university, you work in group project, and we were three, it was Alessio, me, and Benedetta. And Benedetta now is running Laboratorio Paravicini, and I’m still-

Oh. The very well-known ceramics brand-

MM: Yes.

… that people will know? Yes.

MM: Definitely that one. And so I mean, we are still in touch. And she was the first real Milanese woman and family, because I also met her family, that I met when I arrived in Milano.

So we worked together since the first exam at university ’til the last one, the thesis one. And the thesis one was a vending machine for Persol. It was a collaboration between our university and Persol, the Luxottica sunglasses brand. And this vending machine allow people in the train station or the airport to try on sunglasses without wearing them. Right now, it’s something pretty common that you can try in the website with your camera on your laptop, but in 2008, it was not so obvious.

It was a new idea. Yeah.

MM: And I like to tell you, I mean, I usually don’t speak about my thesis project, but in this case, I like it because I think it’s maybe the first example of how we tried to humanize technology, because there was a 3D scan camera, there was a video.

But at the same time, we designed this piece. It was a sort of a helmet, like a piece of furniture. So it was like a luxury piece of furniture, let me say. It was in [inaudible 00:14:16] walnut, for example. So this was a first example where we tried to make technology a little bit warmer.

Because a lot of your work has to do with sort of, I would say, a kind of very Italian sensibility on design and industrial design and environments and installations, but also married with technology, correct?

MM: Yes, definitely correct. I mean, we like to describe ourselves like men of our time, and I think if you want to be a man of his time, you have to deal with technology. And I mean, both Alessio and I, we are coming from two areas in the country, so Marche region and Umbria region, and there were these sort of masters from the Renaissance, I like to say, Piero della Francesca or Giotto or masters like them.

I also like to say that they were obsessed about technology in their way. The technology was different of course compared to ours. Maybe it was more mechanics or engineer or mathematics, but they did their best because they find a way to use technology, not just to use technology, but just to push their ability and their art and to push their boundaries.

Right now, if talking about technology, you have to consider something like AI, of course also so CGI, like computer-generating imagery. And we as a designers or art director, we have to deal with these kind of two aspects.

I mean, AI, I like to consider AI not as a designer of our studio, but more like a collaborator who is great for brainstorming and maybe is not able to design, you know? Because if you ask and if you work with AI for brainstorming, maybe you can open new kind of direction, new kind of possibilities, that otherwise maybe just you and yourself, you wouldn’t discover. At the same time, if you ask AI to design the new chair, probably, I mean, it’s a stupid question, you know?

Yeah. Well, in the ’60s, Italian design really embraced new materials and things like plastic, and then later on, there was the technology of CNC and people doing 3D modeling. And now, your generation is now dealing with digital technology and AI, and that’s your kind of way of putting a stamp on history, I guess you could say?

MM: Yeah, it is.

And so when was your first collaboration with Unifor?

MM: 2017. I mean, we met in that year. Carlo Molteni became general manager at Unifor. After his death, Piero Molteni. And as soon as he became general manager, he decided to call me through some friend in common, and he said, “I like your design, I like your approach to design. We would like to meet you.”

And there is a funny story. I mean, right now, it’s funny. At the time, it wasn’t. I mean, the meeting was the 5th of April at the Rho Fair, because Unifor at that time was exhibiting their product at the fair, and it was the 5th of April, the meeting. And the day before, I had an accident with my motorbike. And I mean, I was pretty good, but I went to the hospital, and I arrived at the Rho Fair to the meeting with the neck brace and a lot of injuries on my face.

Okay. You’re bruised up.

MM: Yes. And now I can say it was, I mean, an icebreaker with Unifor and with Carlo Molteni. And at the time, they asked us if we wanted to start a conversation with them about the office. We never work about the office since that time, I mean, until that time.

And after this, it was not a brief, it was just a conversation, we went back to our studio, and after a few months, I called back Carlo Molteni without a design. I was just saying, “I have research,” okay? It was sort of a book. It was an analysis about the situation of the office at the time. We were before COVID. This sort of research ended without a product, without a design, but just with an idea.

And so I told Carlo the idea is to work on a product which could be a compact workstation designed for all the consultant, freelance, and managers who goes to the company, to the office, but they don’t need a fixed desk. They just need something like sort of a nest for one day, but they also want to feel part of the office, so they need a place for, I don’t know, the backpack or the helmet or a place to charge the device, for example.

And this is also as an psychological aspect, an impact on collaborators, because otherwise, they never feel part of a corporate, of a company. And in this case, with this sort of small compact workstation, they feel a little bit part of this group.

And it was sort of fortuitous in a strange way, or because that was before the pandemic, right? And then so that happened only a few years later, so it sounds like everything that you had planned came true?

MM: This was crazy also for us, I have to admit. I mean, we presented the workstation in 2009 at the Pinacoteca di Brera. One year later, everyone knows what happened, and it was perfect for the home office.

And Molteni, since the beginning, asked us to develop a version for the residential field, and so it was available, I mean, a few months after the COVID. But I would like to describe myself like a visionary, but we were kind of a bit lucky too.

And for those who don’t know Unifor and its history and design, how do you describe the company’s sort of legacy and design? Because it does have a really rich history. Even though people may be in New York or the US, more in the interior design part of the business, may not know it as well because it’s not residential, obviously.

MM: Yeah, it’s not residential, as you say. I like to describe Unifor as something pretty unique compared to all the companies that we are used to deal with, because it’s not a catalog company. It’s not a company who work in the B2C, but as you say, it’s more like B2B, as people of the marketing says. And I like to say that it’s considered more like a partner for the architects and not like a supplier for the architects.

This is not possible. It’s an answer that we will never receive from Unifor, never, as an architect or as a designer. And this is the perfect formula to allow architects to fall in love with a company like Unifor because you arrive with something, with an idea, and then Unifor always helps you to do even better, okay? So they develop the product with a better material, better solution, better joint, and they really do their best to support the architect, and this is something pretty unique.

I have to say that we, as our director of Unifor and also as a designer, we are still doing a lot, so we daily work together with them, but I also have to say that we learn a lot from this company, you know? We visit the company, the office, and then also we talk with the workers, woodworkers, metal workers. And every time, I mean, it’s a continuous exchange of idea and of know-how, and so we learn a lot from them.

And also the passion to the detail, which sometimes becomes a sort of a pathology, because I mean, most of the time, there are some workers that kind of lose the focus because the idea is always to find the best solution ever, and that this is something that all the architects that I know and that I work with of course love.

And you have an installation this year right across the street from where we are now. We’re pretty nearby, correct? And a museum, so in a beautiful courtyard. Can you tell me, first of all, tell us about the museum, where it is, and the installation that you have there?

MM: The museum is the Poldi Pezzoli Museum, which is one of probably the most important museums in the city, but also in Italy and in Europe. And there is this strange connection between our roots, because inside this museum, the museum hosts masterpiece from Antonello da Messina, Piero della Francesca, and Pollaiuolo, all of these kind of masters from the Italian Renaissance. Most of them are from the same area where Alessio and I come from, so the center of this country of Italy.

And so last year, Molteni invited us to design this installation for the Salone, and since the beginning, we decide to wear white gloves because, of course, you are arriving in a museum which is so important, in a courtyard which is already beautiful, like amazing, you know? Designed kind of arcs. It’s already enough.

And then you have to try to enter to this museum and to solve the question that Molteni asked you to solve with an installation. And the idea was since the beginning not to work on blind panels, so painted panels, but to work and to use a metal wire. So we decide to design an environment, which is a sort of conceptual apartment, but with this wire which allow people to see through, okay? So people can see through, they can see this sort of area, domestic area, but at the same time, they can see also the courtyard, which is amazing too.

And there is something that I like to say about this installation. I really like to work in the street, especially in the center of the city, and look around me, so around the buildings and around the apartment, and see what happen inside the windows. Especially the first and the second floor, you can see inside. And then you can see just a few details, like the ceiling, and then you see if the ceiling is decorated or not, you know? You see part of the doors, you see the books.

It’s very Milan because-

MM: It’s very.

… you have this idea of Milan being called the Hidden City, where everything good and amazing, especially in design, is everything’s behind private doors, everything is a private space. They’re all based on historic homes, and it’s very much sort of a still business city, not necessarily a museum city.

MM: Even the installation, I mean, it’s exactly like you said. So it’s the idea was to design an installation which is a sort of thin line between the private and the public. So there is this conceptual apartment with the inside showing the new collection by Molteni, and then you see sort of several windows who allow people to look, you know? To have a look.

It’s like a diorama, we would say-

MM: Yeah. It’s a diorama.

… if that makes sense. Yeah.

MM: There is a sort of voyeuristic aspect, which I like to say. And at the same time, you have this platform, and in the middle, you find a totem, a big totem, covered with four screens. And these screens show images, I mean, video and images of the most important buildings of the city, designed by the architects who collaborate in the history with Molteni, like Gio Ponti, or Angelo Mangiarotti, Aldo Rossi, and so on.

And so that’s why I like to say that it’s like a sort of a homage from Molteni to the city of Milano. That’s why we call it Letters to Milano.

Thank you to my guests, Giulia and Marco, and to everyone at Molteni&C for making this episode happen. The editor of The Grand Tourist is Stan Hall. To keep this going, don’t forget to visit our website and sign up for our newsletter, The Grand Tourist Curator, at thegrandtourist.net. And follow me on Instagram @danrubinstein. And don’t forget to follow The Grand Tourist on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you like to listen, and leave us a rating or comment. Every little bit helps. Til next time!

(END OF TRANSCRIPT)