Studio Paolo Ferrari is a Toronto-based multidisciplinary design studio specializing in interior design and objects. The founder Paolo Ferrari was the design director of the famous design firm Yabu Pushellberg, and maintained close cooperation with top luxury brands such as Ferrari, Four Seasons and LVMH. Paolo was invited by Yinji to share the first online sharing in China at 21:30 pm on 3.12 (Saturday) with the theme of "experiment and refinement", and the Canadian architect Tingyu served as the translator throughout the process!

Paolo opened the lecture with Prada founder Miuccia's famous quote "People want excitement, maybe because they are dying of boredom", which coincides with their philosophy. His working method is more related to art and emotion. Through the combination of mutually opposing elements, he explores in the dynamic process, finds the origin of creativity, and guides a creative path. Ultimately, the design story is told in a sensual and experiential way. He believes that design needs to be supported by a strong philosophical system. It is not straightforward, direct or obvious. Excavating unexpected and poetic things behind it can give design a strong resonance.

Yinji：Can you elaborate on more understanding of "experiment and refinement"?
Paolo：For us, it is very proud to be able to complete a complex concept, because many times when the project starts, the project team has not figured out how to implement it, so we will guide this process to ensure that our design can support this process, working together on some of the finest projects in the world, delivering high quality and high levels of delivery.

Yinji：When designing space, you will take feelings and emotions as the starting point, and then organize and express their materials and shapes? How to do this expression well?
Paolo：Yes, I think that's a good summary of how we work. In the past, the concept of luxury is usually the rarest, premium thing, the most expensive thing, and in a way, we think this is an outdated idea. Instead, our approach to work is more about art. Rather, as I said earlier in relation to emotion, we try to create a sense of awe, an experience, which for us is often a combination of opposing elements. Because that's where the idea starts, it's exciting that the intent is actually unobvious, atypical, or even unexpected.

Because it leads you down a more creative path, the sense of experience is very important to us. We often try to strike a balance between familiar and new territory or familiar and creative, experimental territory. Often, I believe that if something is too experimental, it can feel foreign. So for us, what we're after is a sense of awe or we use the word sublime, and there's a philosophical saying that's very similar to the concept of awe, which is a wonderful emotion, an indescribable beauty. For us, it's somewhere between the familiar and the new, it's here somewhere, and that's how we approach things.

Yinji：How did you think of the stair shape in the work? Is this a kind of deconstruction? What material is used? What are the technical problems encountered in the implementation process?
Paolo：The idea of it came from local carving techniques and stone carving techniques, which is our inspiration, the shape of the stairs is made of limestone, and the railings below and outside are made of limestone, so, in essence it has some structural The constraints involved a lot of steel and related designs, but actually the whole idea came from that we wanted to create an iconic symbol for the hotel that echoes the local culture and craftsmanship to really create something iconic, creative and new . Sure, there are some things that feel a little familiar to you, but, it's a balance that we're always looking for in the design.

Yinji：Your real estate project perfectly expresses the nature of being on the ground, using the space to experience smell, experience hearing, experience honey taste and a tree. How do you think?
Paolo:We will have a lot of ideas in the design process, so when we start, we hope to start with the idea that the customer is eager to create an experience, which causes a lot of discussions within our team, such as what does this mean, is Regarding the food supply, or the gallery. But in the course of the discussion we found that these were not true and it seemed to wake us up, I think creativity is something that is hard to pin down, but I would say it comes from a lot of discussion. Along the way, someone suggested something about smell, which is one of the five senses, and that's where we cut in. Because, I think it is a very simple and very open space.

So in a way, it's the best concept, it's a concept that allows for a lot of openness and experimentation. But it also creates a set of constraints, so we start with the concept of the five senses and then start thinking. If that worked out, we started thinking about how to use the five senses separately for this project, and in the end, we didn't reveal the location of the project in the demo, but it's an observation tower, you can take the elevator, it gives you a bird's-eye view This location, where you can overlook the whole environment, so we started with the concept and then verified that the concept was feasible, and the whole idea unfolded like this.

Yinji：Each of your projects has its own innovation and uniqueness. Does your project have anything or experience that has been handed down?
Paolo:I think all the work we do is connected in some way, maybe not at a glance. But I think it depends on how we approach projects, and I think generally these projects are all about the collision of ideas, the collision of two different viewpoints. So I think, we all have an exploration part in our projects, no matter what project we're doing, this idea of exploration is really important, and I would say one of the important aspects is being open to the project and the technology , so we always go into a project with an open mind and have the confidence to discover what kind of design is the best to meet the client's requirements and fit the project, we like to accept the challenge that the client brings, so to a certain extent, This is the thread that connects all the works, and I would say that what we are after is not a dogmatic, fixed idea, we are more concerned with the idea and the process.