Cristina Celestino , Milanese architect and designer in continuous growth in recent years, works as creative director for exclusive brands and as interior architect for private customers and important companies. Originally from Pordenone and graduated from the School of Architecture at IUAV University of Venice, Cristina has received many international prizes and honours, including the Special Jury Prize in the “Salone del Mobile Milano Awards” in 2016 and the Elle Deco International Design Award in the Wallcovering category in 2017 and in 2019. On the cover: portrait of Cristina Celestino (photo credits CEDIT Ceramiche dItalia made in Florim).

What were the three most important stages of your career?

I can summarize the most important passages of my professional life in these three events, intertwined with my private life, which however had a very important working aspect. My move to Milan in 2010 (I went from working on urban-scale architectural projects to collaborating with the Sawaya & Moroni studio, with which I began to try my hand at interiors; from design collecting to designing products for my interior projects). The birth of my daughter in 2013 (from that moment I decided to work on my projects full time and immediately afterwards my office was born). The 2016 Fendi design Miami project that gave me international visibility (as well as being a wonderful design opportunity).

Sergio-Rossi-collection-Cristina-Celestino-credits-Mattia-Balsamini

You designed so many different types of objects, from design to fashion, is there a common thread between all of them?

My work is based on continuous observation. The references for all my projects play with my design imagination drawing on the history of architecture, fashion, art without forgetting the suggestions that come from nature, which I consider an infinite reservoir from which to draw. I am interested in Milan with its silent and elegant architecture, the small towns rich in history and architecture with which Italy is full, I am intrigued by the objects of daily use and those that I discover in exhibitions and museums. Everything contributes to creating my aesthetic archive that is enriched day by day and becomes the creative basis for my projects. Then the meeting with the customer (his briefing and its history), the specificity of the materials and processes are fundamental. In the interior design I feel free to express my planning to the fullest (I am an architect by training). I really like playing with textures, colors and different finishes. When I think of a product, I always start from a story and a space in which I think of the placed object.

Cristina Celestino for 28POSTI photo credits Delfino Sisto Legnani e Agnese Bedini

What do you think determines the success of a project?

So many factors that in the case of a product very often do not depend only on the designer. Each product is the son of the designer, but also of the company: both from a purely technical and product development point of view but also for a series of choices and decisions that arise from the dialogue between the designer and the company. The commercial success? The right project at the right time for the right company ... it's not easy. Just think of how many beautiful projects are born and immediately forgotten, born for companies that are short-lived or not prepared to manage them.

GTV CARYLLON DINING TABLE ROUND by Cristina Celestino

Sustainability is one of the big issues of the moment, do you do something to make your projects sustainable?

One cannot simply think that a material or product is sustainable. A project to respond to the principles of sustainability must also be beautiful and successful. It is not certain that by creating a piece of furniture with ecological materials the final product is itself sustainable. Sustainability is the result of a good project as well as the use of sustainable materials; the production chain must also be attentive to environmental problems. We must also take into consideration the durability of the product; if a design product is to be iconic and functional it must, at the same time, be long-lasting. For me, this already means being sustainable. What I try to do in my works is to choose suppliers who are attentive to these problems and who treat the materials (especially local) with respect by processing them correctly. I always try to create products that I hope will last both material and conceptual over time.

What is your relationship with social media and how does it manage this aspect of your work?

I directly follow the social networks related to my work (I speak of Instagram above all). I opened my profile in 2013 and it grew up with me; I like to follow it personally and I would never entrust it to professionals in the sector. It doesn't bother me to post the images and I do it spontaneously and never before. I think this "spontaneity" is rewarded. What emerges is not my private life but a picture of what my inspirations, tastes and aesthetics are, as well as being a showcase for my projects.

Envolée for CC-Tapis

Can you tell us how some of your projects were born: the Caryllon  tables for Gebrüder Thonet Vienna  and the Envolée  carpet for CC-Tapis ?

When I design, I often start from a very clear idea of the result I want to achieve, and of the story I would like to be conveyed to the public, and I try to dialogue as much as possible with my client. This also happened for the Envolée project for CC-tapis. My goal was to work on a texture, a repeatable pattern. I always look for motifs that are not purely geometric but forms referable to more or less emotional and recognizable themes. This is why nature is always a great source of inspiration. The Envolée carpet takes up the wings of butterflies, which when viewed under a microscope present beautiful colors and designs, as well as unique geometries, characterized by iridescent, hypnotic scales that look like brush strokes. The elegance of the composition almost takes on the consistency of a fabric. I have translated in macro scale what is not visible to the naked eye: the decorative motif is thus revealed by the alternation of chromatic compositions declined on different material densities, from wool to linen. As for the Caryllon tables, these are characterized by inlaid tops with different essences that re-read the aesthetics of the small boxes of wonders that were the old music boxes, often made of wood, very common in the past in bourgeois environments. I chose the curved wood with a square section for the structure (which refers to the collections of furniture by O. Wagner of the Postparkasse series created by Gebrüder Thonet) which dialogues in contrast with the richness of the decorative treatment of the floors inspired by straw marquetry, (sophisticated technique inlaid craft made with strips of straw dyed in the color, typical of Art Deco). Caryllon pays homage to the expressive power of inlay with a contemporary appeal, emphasizing the perfect alchemy between the company's savoir faire, research on materials and my personal design vision.

When you work with companies, do they try to channel your talent or leave you carte blanche?

Usually when companies come to me it is because they have appreciated the consistency of my work and therefore want me to express myself with my language. Fornace Brioni, a company specializing in the processing of terracotta for floors and walls, gave me carte blanche in my artistic direction work that began 3 years ago. I also trusted the fashion companies, such as Sergio Rossi and Fendi: they identified an affinity between my language, their stylistic codes with my projects and left me free to interpret their world through my vision.

Experimental Cocktail Club Palazzo Experimental Venice Cristina Celestino photo credits Karel Balas

Can you give us any anticipation on what you are working on now?

We are working on new interpretations of the Plissé carpet, presented by CC tapis at M&O in January; I am engaged in the artistic direction of Billiani, a leading company in the production of wooden seats, which has always been linked to design; we are about to conclude a beautiful interior project on the Amalfi Coast.

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