Hurricane dame

Urquiola has designed a collection that is practical and accessible.
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Is there a type of product that you haven’t designed yet but would like to?
Obviously – but I don’t work with goals. I think perhaps, in this way, I am very feminine.

An important characteristic of women is flexibility, the ability to move from one thing to the next. Working without goals is very feminine.

If you want to dance with someone, you are better off standing as far away from them as possible and then, if they ask you, that is the best dance. But once I get into a relationship with anything, I am extremely passionate. I am very much a creative like that.

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The Axor Urquiola collection is very accessible. Is this is a common feature in your work?
Designers have to be concerned about how people use things. When you create a tool you have to understand what it will be used for.

If you don’t know how the product will be used, even if it is very nice, you are creating art, not design. My idea of luxury is that you can buy a bag that is very well done, a Ferragamo for example, but you can match it with any old jeans.

You can have furniture from Ikea and then have an incredible, expensive painting on the wall. This melting point is important. People can’t always have everything of the highest quality.

It really depends what you are interested in. You might prefer to have that quality in the glasses that you use and are not bothered about what shoes you are wearing.

You might be more concerned with seating than lighting. It is all about being yourself in this very complicated world. Try to have your own style. I don’t like it when they use the word to define design, but style is important when it comes to personality, your aura, how you live and work.

Do you think modern designers have lost sight of the fact that design needs to be practical?
I think design is a discipline that is growing very quickly. Design is heavily linked to society because you are creating tools for living. You must be practical. After all, you are creating things that need to be used.

But the comfort that you give through a new tool is not only through the ergonomic relationship; it is through the eye, the mental comfort, the emotional response. It’s the link that you create. That’s where the comfort comes from.

What’s your favourite interior space? Your home, perhaps?
No, not my home. I’m in a period of my life where I am working a lot, I’m busy looking after my daughters, and the dog might be peeing on the carpet. My home is comfortable, but nothing more than that.

For me, the best scenario is when I arrive in a new city or a new place. The first time you are in a new place you become like a child, and you are far more sensitive to your surroundings.

You are feeling new things and smelling new things, and that appeals to the emotional side of your personality.