In the DNA: the design language of Piergiorgio Cazzaniga

We meet the famed Italian designer Piergiorgio Cazzaniga during his first trip to Dubai.

The Couve sofa for Andreu World, by Piergiorgio Cazzaniga. It highlights the Italian designer’s signature streamlined aesthetic, inspired by his love of mid-century Scandinavian design. Courtesy AndreShow more

Given that Piergiorgio Cazzaniga bears more than a passing resemblance to Father Christmas, and doesn't speak a word of English, interviewing him is a slightly surreal experience. Our translator is making a valiant stab at bridging the language gap, although I suspect that plenty is being lost in the process. But whenever we reach an impasse, the 69-year-old Cazzaniga picks up a pen and piece of paper and conjures up a sketch to illustrate his point.

The renowned Italian designer launched his eponymous studio in Lentate sul Seveso, a municipality in the Lombardy region, in 1991, and has since collaborated with some of the world’s best-known design companies – creating the Slider shelving system, Scent bed and Steady chair for Porro; the Bloom armchair and Reader lounge chair for Living Divani; the Bongo stool for La Palma; the Bird collection of outdoor furniture for Tribù; the Soap and Nara chairs for Desalto; and the Bora Bora and Bay chairs for MDF Italia, to name but a few.

But it’s Cazzaniga’s work for the Spanish furniture company Andreu World that has earned him the most accolades, including Red Dot Design Awards and NeoCon Gold Awards, for his Flex family of chairs, Reverse table range and Raglan sofa system. It’s these pieces that surround us as we chat – or sketch – in the Four Frontiers showroom in JBC3 in Dubai’s Jumeirah Lakes Towers, which is the exclusive supplier of Andreu World furniture in the UAE. “I have been lucky, because I have always worked with companies that I really like and that really understand my designs,” says Cazzaniga. “They know my style and they come to me.”

While my Italian is close to nonexistent, over the course of my conversation with Cazzaniga, a few key words begin to emerge: bella, funzionale, semplicita. Beauty, functionality, simplicity. These are the cornerstones of the designer’s work, and stem from his own appreciation of mid-century Scandinavian and American design.

“My reference is Scandinavian and American design from the 1950s and 60s,” he explains. “This is just a starting point – I always try to find ways of expressing my own personality and point of view. In my opinion, particularly when it comes to Scandinavian design, at that time, designers were developing beautiful designs that were also functional and comfortable. It was not overdone; it was simple; not too complicated, easy to understand; democratic.”

Cazzaniga’s signature streamlined aesthetic was compounded when he started becoming familiar with Japanese design in the 1970s. “An important point in my career was in 1973, when I came into contact with the Japanese style of life. It opened my mind to another way of doing things. I think from that point, the Japanese style has had a lot of influence on my work.”

The Flex chair, for example, was inspired by the most simple of experiences. “I was in a restaurant in Japan, sitting by the window, next to a small lake, and the way the water was rippling across the lake inspired me to create the Flex chair.” As a result, the back of the ultra-simple, award-winning plastic chair features a lightly rippled effect, which creates flexibility and movement, as well as ventilation, says Cazzaniga.

The Sail chair is another case in point. Lightweight but structurally strong, the chair is comfortable, functional and easily stackable. A subtly curving back combines with a staunchly streamlined seat and legs to create a barely there seating option. The chair, which is another Andreu World classic, comes in three different versions: thermo-polymer, solid oak and upholstered in leather, with 11 different leather options.

Cazzaniga draws another sketch as he explains. “My original idea was to develop a very light chair in plastic, trying to use as little material as possible, but at the same time, creating something strong and long-lasting, particularly when it comes to commercial use. I paid a lot of attention to the different components.”

Cazzaniga is entirely old-school in his approach. Every design still starts with a sketch, and he has the technical know-how, developed during the early part of his career, to back up his ideas. A two-year interior-design course at the start of his career involved certificates in woodwork, gluing and drying. From 1964, he spent two years working as a technical department manager at Besana Mobili, where he mastered furniture production cycles and techniques, and in 1966, he was appointed as a research and development department manager at Boffi Cucine.

“My experience is that of an artisan. During the Italian Renaissance, the artisan was in charge of the whole process, from the idea to the design to the production. That was my experience.”

The youngest of six children, Cazzaniga began his design training at home. “My father was a carpenter and made furniture,” he explains. “So from when I was child, design was a way of life. I was lucky enough from a young age to see the whole process – how to design and how to produce. And since then it’s been a pleasure for me to design. It’s my life. Part of my DNA.”

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