Over the period of this study abroad, my favourite trips were the ones where we visited designers’ workshops like Castiglioni, Magistretti, Studio MF, and a couple more. It’s a more intimate and in depth than a factory tour (although Alessi was just the very best), and it’s quite fascinating to see how the studio is maintained. In cases like Magistretti and Castiglioni who have passed, the maintenance of the studio is a little different. Castiglioni’s studio, by the looks of it, hasn’t changed much since the last time he used it. The organized clutter, reams of used paper, photographs, books, all looked mostly intact, except for those left out for visitors to look through. Magistretti’s studio on the other hand, was also made into a studio. Our guide, who also pleasantly turned out to be his granddaughter, mentioned that she and a few other helpers sorted through all of Vico Magistretti’s sketches and writings and catalogued them so that they could be put on display in the studio turned mini museum. The change in purpose of the space didn’t really ruin the vibe though. I think the energy and genuine love that our guide had in talking about Vico Magistretti allowed for the mini museum to have a more warm atmosphere than a more formal museum would. Also Magistretti’s little office in the back was pretty much left the same.
On another note, one thing I realized with all these studio visits is that chairs are honestly the pinnacle of new design. It seems like every designer in his or her early days managed to find a new way of letting people sit, and each designer had a real, genuine idea on how to make the simple chair a better sitting experience. Magistrate added an s-curve to the legs so that they were sturdy but not bulky, Kartell created chairs that were easy to play with and durable in harsh weather, Castiglioni created an uncomfortable bicycle seat chair that kept phone conversations short, so on so forth.
