Friday Five with Maurizio Manzoni

Sardinia-born, Florence-based Maurizio Manzoni shares five sources of inspiration.

Although born in Nuoro, Sardinia, Maurizio Manzoni now calls Florence home after moving there for school, where he graduated with a degree in architecture in 1994. Not long after, he was appointed to become an adjunct professor at the University of Florence, where he taught the Course of Design and Survey and Fabric Diagnostics. In 2001, he co-founded StudioMEMO with Roberto Tapinassi focusing on a variety of genres, like interior architecture, graphic design, stand exhibitions, fabric design, as well as interior and exterior design of boats and yachts, for a multitude of renowned brands, including Roche Bobois, Natuzzi Italia, Mercedes Benz Style, Arketipo, Cattelan Italia, Ligne Roset, and Fendi Casa. With a focus on research and collaboration, the studio brings their own signature style of Italian design to every aspect of their work. In this Friday Five, the designer and architect shares five sources of inspiration. Take a look.
Arcipelago di La Maddalena \ Photo source
1. Sardinia is my native land, an island. It?s a place with fantastic landscapes, with white sandy coastlines and granite rocks, polished by the wind. A land that has given me so much, creatively, and has inspired me for so many reasons ? but paradoxically, was unable to give me a future for my profession. It generated enormous expectations for my future, that could only be realized outside of Sardinia, because we did not have the architecture schools, it lead me to the search for other sites on the mainland. The last few years before I turned 18 in Sardinia, I lived as if it were a cage which I needed to be released from as soon as possible, just because it was isolated, far from everything, far from my goals which were already clearly defined in me. Little Nemo 1905/10/22 \ Photo source
2. From the time I was little, my father gave me a collection of comic books called Little Nemo (Little One), a series from the early 1900s by the American illustrator, Winsor McCay. Little Nemo was an American kid who dreamed of fantastic adventures every night. The last frame of the comic always showed him waking up: either classically falling out of bed because his parents were calling for him, from the morning light, or because he had a strong emotion that frightened him, or because of Flip (a cartoon character) that appeared with a hat which read, “Wake up”. The illustrator gave an almost manic attention to the details of each drawing, which is also evident in the choice of colors used in the frames, which had great liveliness and beauty. All of these things influenced my training; research and attention to detail, first in the representation of various design techniques and then in the planning. Among other things, I remember very well the dreams, which were also inspirational. It is through my designs that I try to give concreteness to my vision of a dreamer who looks at the futur...