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Piero Lissoni is reluctant to share his thoughts on Dubai. “I am a guest,” he said. “It is not correct.” But, after some gentle persuasion, he conceded: “It is like a big accident between New York and Singapore”.
By his own admission, Lissoni, founder of Lissoni Associati, is somewhat schizophrenic. From watches to buildings and interiors to graphics, he works across the whole spectrum of design – and cites Leonardo, the Bauhaus and Donald Duck as sources of inspiration. “My work as a product designer is like driving a car for Formula 1. You have to be fast, and you have to control the car like a surgeon. When it comes to architecture, it is like you are in a rally. For various reasons, it is more complicated. And around every curve is a surprise,” he said.
Lissoni’s client list reads like a who’s who of contemporary design: Boffi, Living Divani, Porro, Alessi, Cassina, Flos, Kartell, Fritz Hansen, to name but a few.
When asked what he would like to work on next, Lissoni’s stock answer (particularly if the person doing the asking is female) is ‘a beautiful daughter’. “I am totally convinced that the future is in the hands of the female. They are more stable, and more intelligent.”
Unfortunately, the fairer race has yet to fully make its mark on the world of product design, he admitted. The number of truly successful female designers remains remarkably low. “One was my assistant for five years, Patricia Urquiola,” Lissoni said. “Fortunately, some females have started coming through now. But it’s not easy to survive in this industry.”
And yet, in some cases, critical acclaim has come far too easily, Lissoni continued, blaming the media for being too quick to herald emerging talent. “Somebody designs one nice – not incredible, but nice – piece and everybody talks about this new genius at work. You have to wait. You have to go through the first piece, the second, the third, the fifth, before you can be judged,” he said.
Those worth celebrating? “The old Japanese architects”, Philippe Starck “because he is an iconic, rock and roll type star, but also very professional”, Antonio Citterio and, “for beautiful organic forms”, Ross Lovegrove.
“There are so many of them. I like people who are not superficial. Because, unfortunately, this industry is more superficial than ever.”
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