DeSigNer
paolo Ulian was born in Massa
Simplicity, irony and poetry seem to be key elements in your work?
in 1961. he studied Fine art
These are three crucial aspects I use to express myself. I would also add invention
that is part of every project. To have a concept that appears to be solvable from
at accademia di Belle arti di the start means having a big part of the final project under control. The building
carrara and then a Diploma
process and form are a subsequent, almost natural evolution. Simplicity is
in Industrial design at Isia di
the result of this process aimed at finding the essence of things. Irony appears
spontaneously in many of my objects. One reason might be that they originated
Firenze. From 1990 to 1992 he from observations of people’s quotidian behaviour. Recognizing your own habits
worked with enzo Mari in Milan.
in an object can make you smile and this seems a good thing to me. A project is
poetic when it expresses a deep meaning and provokes an emotion.
he won the Design for europe
award and Design Report award
Bruno Munari and Enzo Mari are two Masters who had a great influence on you…
and has collaborated with Driade,
Bruno Munari gave us plenty of delicate and intelligent ideas, his lessons are
timeless, he was an absolute master for our generation. I can say the same of
Fontana arte, luminara, zani &
Enzo Mari but with him I had a direct relationship, he was my tutor and then
zani and Droog Design among
I collaborated with him in his studio in Milan and this experience formed my
others.
personal vision and approach to design. With at times rough ways, he made
me understand the importance of the ethical sense in a project, that design is
not only about inventions and aesthetics but is about transmitting a thought, a
political position. Few of his objects are true manifests like the series of containers
“Putrella” or the “Ricerca sulla lavorazione a mano della porcellana” or again the
container “Java”. In these pieces, there is a clear attempt to act on reality with
a project. His are imperceptible revolutions masked by common objects, small
stones thrown into stagnant water. These are recurrent thoughts for me and it’s
not by chance.
What is the importance of ethical-environmental design in your approach?
It has always been one of my priorities. I graduated with a project of a corrugated
cardboard screen and immediately after dedicated myself to researching
semifinished rejects produced by marble companies. I wanted to create a catalogue
of objects derived exclusively from rejects of actual cost next to zero. I didn't
succeed in putting together a full catalogue and sold only a small edition. I
conserved some pieces of reject which now have higher value than those which
were finished. It was an attempt to demonstrate to those who work with this
precious material that with a bit of care, it is possible to waste less. It was almost
a didactic action. Later I did the same thing with wood and focused on creative
recycling of waste products.
What are the reasons behind creating a new object?
I think that there are many incentives. It could be the wish to communicate a
thought, a personal opinion on a certain argument, the attempt to modify people's
attitudes, to reveal the potential of some material not yet developed... Everything
that tends to improve the present has the right to be pursued even if the object
might not always reach the expectations.
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