thoughts and suggestions by Matteo Thun
We need less weight and more light. We need products that tell ideas without words. Products that are mobile because contemporary lives are nomadic. Products that tell stories of sustainability because environmental necessities ask for it. We need less needs and more essential, economical, transparent answers. Our product design is an architecture of simple but necessary gestures to serve a daily life that goes well beyond our present life.
area: When you design an item for the kitchen, what is the predominant aspect? A pursuit of functionality, or vice versa an attention to the aesthetic character? In other words, is your creativity aimed mainly at meeting the functional requirements, or do the sensorial suggestions of pleasure and taste prevail?
Matteo Thun: Functionality and an attention for the aesthetic character always go hand in hand, something functional does not have to be ugly and something beautiful can also be functional!
area: Do you think it is possible to overturn the relationship, consolidated over time, between kitchen objects and the materials they are made in (as a glass in glass, a plate in porcelain, cutlery in metal...)? And how do this relation influence the design production?
M.T.: The icon in any case remains, even if one may experiment with other materials for an object. But, in my opinion, there is a reason why the glass is made of that material, for instance: it is clean, it does not give off any odour and it is therefore perfect in its simplicity. It is possible to change as to the other requirements (as for instance cutlery in plastic) but the icon remains.
area: What companies are most appreciative of research, and which are most willing to invest in design?
M.T.: I believe that by now all companies have become more sensible to research, and also to invest in design.
area: What are the objects which have inspired you? What designers have set an example in the food sector? And what are the emblematic pieces?
M.T.: Above all, the family kitchen, my grandmother’s kitchen where everyone united at the table, to be together and relax. That image has remained as the most beautiful inspiration, both for kitchen instruments and the kitchen itself. As to emblematic products, what comes to my mind is the pot by Sarpaneva.
area: What are your latest designs in the kitchen sector?
M.T.: We have developed cutlery for Zwilling, the “Soho”, “Twin 1731” knives, pots for TVS which have also received the renowned Wallpaper*-Award.
area: What are the characteristics of a kitchen designed by you, in terms of spatial planning?
M.T.: The kitchen must be functional, in every case, and therefore also the space must be fully exploited in a positive way, to create a relaxing atmosphere, a place where feels at home, where the family can get together, a livable place.
