Cini Boeri

Maria Cristina Mariani Dameno—better known as Cini Boeri—is a leading Italian architect and designer, the mother of the internationally renowned architect Stefano Boeri. She graduated in architecture in 1951 from the Politecnico University in Milan. After a short experience with Gio Ponti—a famous master of Italian design and architecture—she started to collaborate with Marco Zanuso, another acclaimed architect and designer. In 1963 she opened her own studio in Milan focusing on architecture, interior, and exhibit design both in Italy and abroad. She always gave a great care to the psychological relation between human being and environment developing uncommon and innovative design solutions. During her career, she designed some furniture pieces that became world classics such as the charming Ghost Chair (Fiam Italia, 1987), made of a single glass sheet, cut and bent to form simultaneously the seat, the armrests, and the backrest. From 1981 to 1983 she taught architectural planning and industrial design at the Politecnico University in Milan. She gave conferences and lectures in Brazil, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and the U.S.A. Honorary Member of ADI (Industrial Design Association) since 2012. Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic—the highest ranking honor in Italy—since 2011. She received major recognitions including the Compasso d’Oro award for Strips upholstered series in 1979, and the Compasso d’Oro Lifetime Achievement award in 2011. Her work has been exhibited in some of the most important museums in the world including the Louvre in Paris, MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) in New York, and Triennale in Milan. What is your definition of design? And what are its purposes? I have inherited this word, design, that wants to define the planning of elements which through their image indicate not only their function but how they should be used. Then, the word design should be used only in relation to the planning of useful and functional elements. What are the qualities of good design? The products of good design must be easily understandable from their function. Should design produce things which are necessarily useful? Yes. The products of good design require both to be useful and to be functional. Should the products of design be beautiful? Hopefully, they should be easily understandable, useful, and then beautiful. What are the key features of your design? I try to propose the qualities mentioned above. Does design is one or there are many different ones? Design should have only these qualities: it should be functional, useful, intelligibile, and economic. What are the difference between art and design? Could design be art? Yes, if a product of design respects all these qualities it could be considered as art. Should the products of design be cheap or expensive? They should be economic because mass produced, useful, and functional. Are there still schools and orientations in design? I don’t know any specific orientations. Maybe it would be important to teach and clarify the difference between functionality and decoration, and to understand that decoration is not design. An elegant and extremely functional ABS suitcase. Manufactured by Franzi. Photo by Aldo Ballo. Table lamp made with PVC industrial tubes. The quintessence of industrial aesthetics and functional design. A kind of ready-made lamp. “House located in a birch forest near the Lake Maggiore. The plan was designed to avoid the felling of trees. The house features a concrete wall with many windows. Inside, there are very few walls. Separation of rooms is obtained with sliding doors.” A house designed for a big family: grandparents, children, and grandchildren. The horizontal profile, emphasized by the low pitched roof, elegantly integrates the house into the landscape. A traditional but modern building, that seems but is not a contradiction. Photo by Studio Casali. A series of elegant tables with glass or stone tops. The leg has