Milan-based product designer and art director Chiara Andreatti takes note of art and architecture when she travels, often snapping photos or making sketches that she can refer to when she begins her creative process. Yet it is the work of Carlo Scarpa that provides continual inspiration for Andreatti no matter where she happens to be in the world. She feels an intrinsic connection to the Venetian visionary, who for many years lived in her hometown of Asolo, Italy. The architect’s renowned attention to craftsmanship and research is similar to her own approach, embodied in one particular piece that’s an ideal blend of form and materials. “The Doge table is one of Scarpa’s first exercises in transferring architectural detail into design,” Andreatti says. “Its sculptural structure makes it unique, with various dimensions that can be adapted to every need.”
Chiara Andreatti
Andreatti’s schedule is always full, with a range of projects on tap for her eponymous studio, from art direction to designing objects for the home. She not only looks at interiors, but also the lush outdoors to spark her imagination. Her color studies, for example, are often linked to nature, like the endless varieties of flowers in an English garden.
Andreatti brings many influences together in artful ways, always seeking out the unexpected to apply to each new endeavor. “I am attracted to the union of diversity, and mixing two different ways of working, such as artisanal and industrial,” she adds.
Today, Chiara Andreatti joins us for Friday Five!
1. Exotic travels
Travel to pure and pristine environments is full of stimulation and inspiration. Everything from the vegetation to the typical workings of these places can direct my personal research.
2. Tapestries by Ettore Sottsass
I’ve always had a huge passion for tapestries and carpets, and my attention was recently drawn to a tapestry made by Ettore Sottsass. It was presented at a solo show of his work at the Triennale Design Museum in Milan. Merging into the plot and the interactions of colors allows you to immerse yourself in abstract and eclectic worlds.
3. Sicily
During my travels in Sicily, I was fascinated by the beautiful panorama of protected natural areas, with rare geological sites and uncontaminated landscapes. There are still wild horses among fields of golden spikes and abandoned medieval villages.
4. Palazzo Abatellis
Palazzo Abatellis in Palermo was completed at the end of the fifteenth century, and had profound changes over the years. Carlo Scarpa was entrusted with the employment of musealisation in 1953. The project contains several characteristic themes of Scarpa’s work: volumes, glimpses, stratagems, perspective solutions, with the interplay of light and shadow and colors. They all define a true poetic based on the accumulation of signs on the multiplication of formal suggestions.
5. Ancient Japan
A trip away from tourist routes tells about the Japanese rural cultures of the early 800s, between typical workings, ancient homes, and unspoiled landscapes.
Works by Chiara Andreatti:
Ancas designed for Pretziada \ Ancas is a sideboard inspired by the traditional Sardinian chest, one of the oldest furniture on the island. Made of solid chestnut wood and assembled completely by hand in Mandis’s workshop, Ancas is a substantial sculptural reinterpretation of an important piece of Sardinian history. It retains some traditional mechanisms, such as the lid that lifts on the top section and the inclusion of intaglio wood carving and the massive, block-like center. \\\ Photo: Studio Bulbo
Omamori designed for PaolaC \ Inspired by Japanese lucky bags, the Omamori collection consists of three vases of different heights and proportions made in two versions: matt and glossy ceramic with warm nuances. A mix of contrasting materials linked by the same shapes and lines. \\\ Photo: Sara Magni
Tama designed for Radici \ Tama, a textile flooring made with the Wilton technique with 100% New Zealand wool with the Cut&Loop technique. \\\ Photo: Francesca Ferrari
Elodie armchair designed for Potocco \ The Elodie lounge chair retrieves the essential visible structure of the homonymous two-seater sofa. Large cushions, made with materials suitable for both indoor and outdoor use, rest on a flat metal blade that runs all around the cushions supporting it. The peculiarity of this model lies in the seat’s upholstery, which thanks to particular supports, detaches itself from the structure appearing suspended. Elodie has a structure in anthracite, white or Aval embossed painted metal tube. The padding is in fire-retardant polyurethane foam. \\\ Photo: Giulio Ghirardi
Photography by Chiara Andreatti unless otherwise noted.
