After an apprenticeship in the technical field, Marco Dessí (born 1976 in Merano, Italy) found his own design studio and since then realizes projects with renowned manufacturers like Lobmeyr, Augarten or Richard Lampert. For Augarten Vienna, second-oldest porcelain manufacturer in Europe, he recently designed their first dinner service in forty years, guiding the company a considerable step further into the present. Marco’s approach of tinkering with shapes and possibilities until they “fit”and feel light and intuitive again, his close reading of the production process, be it crafted or industrial, and the sparse but effective use of fine detail leads to products that suggest both the radically contemporary and aesthetic longevity. After a first collabortation for our first FoodMarketo in Milan with his Alphablast, it was great to have Marco create some Bar Alto 8/Duralex glasses or our second Bar Alto 2012 edition during the London Design Festival 2012.
Marco, what do you think about these three words?
Transparency
I want to create objects that make sense. Some say my pieces often give the impression as if they could easily be disassembled, they have an aura of logical consistency. This evokes trust in an object. And it’s where function and emotion are really close together.
Surprise
When you tinker and experiment a lot, things also just happen! Be it that a fleeting thought ends up altering a project completely or a random change turns a design it into just what you wanted. Often it’s these surprises that make being a designer fun and nourish the passion.
Process
How a thing is made is crucial to its aesthetic appearance and to the story it tells. Design process and production process interlink strongly in my work – I often willingly adapt designs according to the possibilities (or not) of production and I do get a lot out of collaborating with good technicians and craftspeople.