Lissoni & Partners has a thirty-year history in developing international projects in the fields of architecture, landscape, interior, product and graphic design with offices in Milan and New York, in addition to being the driving force behind the art direction for some of the most influential design companies.
Led by Piero Lissoni, the practice combines a range of expertise with a tailored approach that sets it apart, establishing a stylistic code and a visual identity that are clearly and instantly recognizable. The practice’s work is inspired by a sense of rigor and simplicity and is characterized by a regard to detail, coherence and elegance with particular attention to proportion and harmony.
Piero Lissoni is creative director for Alpi, Boffi, Living Divani, Lema, Lualdi, Porro and Sanlorenzo for whom he also designs an extensive range of products. Recognized as one of the masters of contemporary design, he has worked with many international brands including Alessi, Antrax, Atlas Concorde, B&B, Bonacina1889, Cappellini, Cassina, Cotto, De Padova, Fantini, Flos, Glas Italia, Golran, Illy, Janus et Cie, Kartell, Kerakoll, KN Industrie, Knoll, Nerosicilia, Olivari, Salvatori, Tecno, Viccarbe.
Organized around different fields of intervention, the practice comprises Lissoni Casal Ribeiro for masterplans, landscape design, architecture, Lissoni Associati for interior design, product design, art direction and fit-outs and Lissoni Graphx for graphic design, visual communication and brand identity, while Lissoni New York develops interior design projects for the American market.
Completed architectural projects include the Grand Park Hotel in Croatia (2019), the restyling of the historic Camparino bar in the Galleria of Milano (2019), The Middle House for the Swire Hotels Group in Shanghai (2018), The Oberoi Al Zorah Beach Resort Ajman in the UAE (2017), the 240-unit condominium Oceana Bal Harbour in Miami (2017), the Casa Fantini hotel on the shores of Lake Orta (2017), the Sanlorenzo yachts SX88 (2017) and SX76 (2018), the Conservatorium Hotel in Amsterdam (2012), the renovation of the historic Teatro Nazionale in Milan (2009) in addition to the corporate headquarters of Boffi, Cassina, Fantini, Glas Italia, Living Divani and the Sanlorenzo shipyards in La Spezia and Ameglia.
Lissoni’s interest in the art world has brought him to design a range of temporary exhibitions such as the retrospective of photographer Giovanni Gastel at Palazzo della Ragione in Milan and curated by Germano Celant, and the anthology dedicated to the Renaissance painter “Bernardino Luini e i suoi Figli” at Palazzo Reale, also in Milan.
Piero Lissoni has received a series of international awards, including the Good Design Award, the Red Dot Award and the Compasso d’Oro ADI. He is Board Member of the MAXXI National Museum for the Arts in Rome and is visiting professor and part of the Advisory Board at the Politecnico di Milano. He also serves as an Honorary Member of the Altagamma International Council. On the occasion of another Good Design Award for 2021, Global Design News has reached out to its founder.
A good design for me is the combination of innovation, beauty and exploration, together with a studied analysis of the best and most fitting material for the project
GDN: You are an esteemed architect and designer with a vast range of remarkable projects in your record. What do you consider as the moment when your passion for architecture and design started growing?
Piero: Architecture has always been a passion of mine. Ever since I was a child, I have always felt a part of this world. And just like any child, I experimented with building so many things, and at the same time I really loved to draw. I wanted to be an architect!
GDN: What have the challenges entering and making it to the top in the design world been?
Piero: Talent alone is not enough. You always need a great deal of luck too, and what the English call “synchronicity,” in that you must be tuned into what’s happening around you. There’s no formula… or you could say it’s like a cocktail: you have to combine different measures of self-discipline, risk, research, responsibility, a pinch of craziness and a lot of curiosity. And then top it off with plenty of luck.
Talent alone is not enough. You always need a great deal of luck too, and what the English call ‘synchronicity.’ There’s no formula… or you could say it’s like a cocktail
GDN: You have received a series of international awards through the years and recently the Good Design Award 2021 by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies for the furniture design project LEVANTE. So, what is it that makes a design “good”?
Piero: A good design for me is the combination of innovation, beauty and exploration, together with a studied analysis of the best and most fitting material for the project.
GDN: Your design practice focuses its attention on the details, coherence, elegance, and simplicity. Would you say that “less is more” in design and architectural practice?
Piero: Yes, we can say that I am bound to an idea of overall simplicity and purity that revolves around just a few elements.
Design is a constant search for change
GDN: How do you imagine the future of design with regard to social and technological changes? Do these changes influence your design practice?
Piero: Absolutely. Design is a constant search for change by the designer but also by the companies. Design is an extraordinary discipline. In order to be able to look to the future, it must be a perfect equilibrium between rational models and an almost anarchic ability to shift languages.
GDN: Discourse on sustainability has entered the public domain in all aspects. Is sustainability going to play an important role in the future of design?
Piero: I think it’s become rather fashionable to speak of sustainability, a way of talking grandly but with the risk of it just becoming a process of greenwashing. For me, sustainability lies in choosing the right materials. But generally, I think that the best way to be sustainable is to realize objects and products that can last as long as possible and which maybe can be transformed into something else when they are past their prime, and this is precisely what I have always done and will continue to do.
For me, sustainability lies in choosing the right materials
GDN: What advice would an architect and designer of your calibre give to young professionals entering the field?
Piero: It’s important that young designers understand that designing is a job, a profession, a work that requires strong discipline and an insatiable curiosity, in addition to carrying a lot of responsibility. I also think it’s important to have an appreciation and knowledge of your heritage, otherwise you can’t access the future.
Without a sophisticated and in-depth knowledge of your history and culture, it’s impossible to understand how the future will be. You will be able to access new technologies, new materials…but without culture, ideas will not be successful.
It’s important to have an appreciation and knowledge of your heritage, otherwise you can’t access the future
GDN: Are there any new and upcoming or ongoing projects you would like to reveal to us?
Piero: Lissoni and Partners are working with many companies like B&B Italia, Living Divani, Boffi, Porro, Knoll and Kartell to present new products at this year’s Salone del Mobile.
Architectural and interior design projects by Lissoni & Partners are in the works around the world, including new-build hotels in Budapest, as well as the expansion of several luxury resorts in the UAE. Projects in the Americas include hotels and residences in Vancouver, Canada; Sao Paolo, Brazil; New York City, NY, and Washington DC.
Current projects include Hotel and Residences Dorottya in Budapest, SLS Lux Hotels & Residences in Washington D.C., the Miami Beach Ritz-Carlton Residences, apartments at 45 Park Place in New York, the Hilton Tbilisi hotel in Georgia and private villas in Amsterdam, New York and Mumbai.
- All images & video courtesy of Lissoni & Partners
