Piero Alessandrini is one of Italy’s best known contemporary architects and designers. In a career spanning six decades, he has worked on many prestigious projects. These range from designing homes for the Agnelli family (owners of Fiat) and the Sultan of Brunei and refurbishing Saudi businessman Adnan Khashoggi’s famous yacht, “Nabila”, to designing public buildings such as the Italian Embassy in Riyadh and the Interior Ministry Academy in Rome. Alessandrini is particularly known for his innovative solutions to complex architectural problems, which even won him praise from Queen Elizabeth II. Since 2007, his focus has been on developing innovative ideas for social housing.
Although he is now 86, Alessandrini is full of energy and enthusiasm for his work. When Guillaume Cuiry, director of La Galerie Nationale, Dubai, invited him to exhibit his furniture designs in the city, he readily accepted, offering people in the UAE the unique opportunity to visit his first ever public exhibition and own furniture created by him. Titled “Colourless”, Alessandrini’s collection of transparent methacrylate chairs and tables is modern, minimalist and chic. And the architect is also displaying a model of his innovative design for a new kind of “Green Skyscraper”.
Alessandrini was in Dubai for the opening of the exhibition and spoke passionately about his ideas. “Although I have always designed interiors for my clients, this is the first time I am showcasing my designs to the public. I am excited about my first ever show being in Dubai because with its multinational community, the city is like a showcase for the whole world,” he said. “Dubai is the perfect city to build my ‘Green Skyscraper’,” he added.
In an interview with Weekend Review, Alessandrini talked about memorable moments in his career and his ongoing projects. Excerpts:
What is your design philosophy?
I have always kept in mind the words of my professor and mentor, famous architect Pier Luigi Nervi, that “an architect is a bricklayer who studied Latin”. It is important to know the basics well before you try to create new ideas. I have been inspired by Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd Wright, but have tried to create my own identity and philosophy by combining minimalism and elegance, without excess of any kind. And I have always worked with full freedom. Even at the beginning of my career, when I desperately needed a job, I preferred to say no to some projects rather than compromising on my ideas.
Did you have to change your approach when working on the Sultan of Brunei’s homes and Khasshogi’s yacht?
Not at all. I worked with respect for their culture and they in turn respected my ideas. Even though the interiors I designed for them were rich and luxurious, nothing was over the top, and I maintained a human touch. Everything was designed to create a comfortable, cosy environment and they were happy with the results. In fact, the housemaster of the Sultan’s palace told me that I was the first architect he had seen who truly followed his own heart.
You are known for your innovative solutions to complex architectural problems. Which was the earliest such project?
It was a project to add a storey to a single-storey mall near Rome. The catch was that I had to do it without disturbing the functioning of the mall. The solution I found was to create trusses over the existing structure to make a kind of floating floor above the old building on which the new shops were built. The shops opened on to a wide promenade, which was directly connected to the ground by stairways and escalators. People loved the idea and all the shops were sold out quickly.
Another such project led to your meeting with Queen Elizabeth II. What was the impact of this meeting on your attitude and work?
It was in 1961, and it was her first official visit to Italy after being crowned. She inaugurated the Red Cross Boarding School for Nurses that I had been commissioned to renovate. I had been asked to change the hospital-like environment, which I did by creating several recreation areas and a multifunctional folding platform that could be used for lectures as well as for performances. After a tour of the building, the Queen asked to meet me because she wanted to personally congratulate me for the innovations I had introduced. I was in my thirties and this overwhelming experience made me feel stronger and more confident in following my own ideas.
After designing homes for the rich and famous, why did you switch to designing social housing?
It has always been my dream to build affordable mini-apartments for young people, low-income families and senior citizens. I wanted to re-imagine the concept of the 30-square-metre studio apartment, which is usually rectangular and with just one window. My solution was to make it triangular, thus increasing the number of windows and improving the light, ventilation and visual aesthetics, and providing a long diagonal wall.
Tell us about your design for a new type of skyscraper.
The “Green Skyscraper” is also based on a triangular design. Vertically, it consists of blocks, set one upon another and tapering towards the top. A four-metre furrow between the two layers of glass on the outer walls provides an open channel to the outside and its staircase-like structure adds a strong graphic dimension to the design. The “staircase to the sky” is lined by terrace gardens full of greenery, beautifully integrating nature into the urban environment.
What is the concept behind this collection of furniture, titled “Colourless”?
I have used methacrylate because it can be moulded into diverse shapes and its transparency gives a lightness of touch that allows the idea inspiring the table, chair or bookcase to shine through. My main aim was to create furniture that is elegant, comfortable and functional but does not take the attention away from the décor and people. So, you can see the carpet below the transparent coffee table and the porcelain cups on it, and because the chair is transparent, the focus can be on the colourful cushion and on the person sitting on it. Similarly, my dining tables are more functional because there are drawers and cabinets of different sizes built into them. I have specially created for this show a transparent golden table with real gold leaf. However, my favourite piece is a table called “Men at Work”, where I have used old construction beams as the base — a perfect example of the bricklayer who studied Latin being able to create something simple and beautiful from mundane materials.
Jyoti Kalsi is an arts enthusiast based in Dubai.
Piero Alessandrini’s collection of furniture is available at La Galerie Nationale in Al Serkal Avenue.
