The Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna is one of the oldest institutions of its kind in Italy. Founded in 1706 to promote the arts and handicrafts in Emilia Romagna, in 1711 it was moved to the fifteenth-century convent of Sant’Ignazio, in the heart of the university district (Bologna has the world’s oldest recorded university) and was later exten...
In Italy and the rest of the Mediterranean, the expression “fatto in casa” is paying the price of a very recent history that the older generations have not forgotten: the post-war economic hardship that continued up until the 1960s, which dictated that “home made” equated to not being able to buy the product ready-made elsewhere.
“Home...
Your work shows your clear preference for the “manual” dimension, which we could express with the term “home made” – is this the result of a strong desire to rediscover your roots?
It is part of our background, connected to the place where we were born. We have never abandoned our roots. Although we work in São Paulo, Humberto and I ha...
In front a cup of coffee.
Home-made: where did your creative career start, and how much has it been influenced by your roots?
I was born on an island, somewhere between here and elsewhere, between solid ground and the infinite horizons that stretch beyond the seas.
When you grow up on an island, you learn to discover the world around you, pa...
Cogito ergo sum, it reads on what is probably the most famous work by German artist Rosemarie Trockel. In actual fact, it is not a painting but a frame containing a piece of knitting like Grandma used to do. The insight of Descartes meets feminine handiwork, through a subtly sophisticated critique of Cartesian dualism, which will not leave us alone...
Can you tell us how your blook was created?
The process was different from the traditional route followed by Italian publishing and media. In 2005, we read an inquiry in El País entitled La Generación De Los Mil Euros: young people aged 25-35 forced into temporary jobs with a salary of 1000 euros a month. It was a similar situation to what we h...
In front a cup of coffee.
Google is perhaps one of the best examples of how an idea can create a successful project. The engine behind a great many innovations and new attitudes, it has even altered the English language (the verb “to google” for example, now used by web users as a synonym for “search”).
But what is the story behind Goog...
In his essay "How to write a dissertation", Umberto Eco recommends that students avoid playing the part of the solitary genius holed up in their room, writing. He suggests that we should always discuss things with others, so our work can be read and criticised.
Over the years, this warning has been a constant thorn in my side. I always try to work...
In front a cup of coffee.
For a company, the past is never just the past. It is an opportunity for growth, driving it to explore new directions. Ducati, one of the most famous motorbike manufacturers in the world, has opened a museum at its premises in Borgo Panigale (BO), to utilise its own “home made” resources. Motorbikes, engines, photog...
When it comes to the business world, I am absolutely convinced that the kind of creativity that leads to real innovation can only develop “in house” – in other words the place where all the input from day-to-day relations with clients and products is received and digested. To paraphrase the Chinese saying ”Listen and forget, see and remembe...
The meaning of colour evolves in parallel with culture.