Interviewed in Zagreb, June 14th 2008
The field of activities of Claudio Bellini, Milan designer, architect and professor, is quite wide. Apart from product design, he is also involved in installations, interior design, and architecture in a restricted sense. As a professor at the University of Genoa he is very much devoted to his work with students and furthermore, his studio is open for students’ practice. As designer who cooperates with the best Italian and international companies he always takes material, technology and function as starting points in order to create added value in terms of emotional perception by the user.
ORIS: Mr. Bellini, you are an architect, you are a designer, you are a professor... the range of your activities is very wide. You create door handles, like your beautiful ‘Sky’, you do big architectural projects like competitions for Dublin Docklands or the huge cultural and administrative complex in Montreal. Is there something that you prefer, in your mind, in your heart; do you prefer to make architecture, to do design, to be a professor, or would you say all of these combined make you as a person, as a creator?
Bellini: To be honest, at this moment, I am mainly involved in design projects, and less in architecture. But anyway, I believe that a creative person, when you are in this mood, you are open, you are always open, so I am really still interested in developing, if there is an opportunity, an architectural project or a new product. At the same time, I like to teach a lot, because although this is something that takes lots of time, in some way it is a way to enrich myself. It gives me a lot, because of the possibility to exchange, to make contact with students, to follow students during their evolution period – it is something that I really like a lot. You get some energy from these people, you are giving something, but there is this kind of exchange of experiences. But, mainly, today I am working on design projects. It is a very wide range of products, as you can see, from office furniture, to domestic lighting, and real products, so it is very wide. I never developed or specialized in something. My clients are sometimes afraid because I am not specialized in something. On the contrary I believe that this is a point of strength, because entering a completely new project gives you a lot of fresh energy, improving your creativity.