Robert Volhard: Are the rumours true that you have a thing for nice cars and fast motorcycles?

Roberto Gavazzi Yes, you’re in fact right. I am particularly fond of my Ducati. The freedom you experience and the power you feel when riding a motorcycle is simply unparalleled.

I heard that you own a Zagato too?

Gavazzi No, unfortunately I don’t. But I am friends with Andrea Zagato and really like his cars.

When it comes to design and quality, are there parallels to be drawn between cars, motorcycles and a Boffi kitchen?

Gavazzi Producing a kitchen is an industrial process. You have to bring together the best materials and production techniques and organize the entire production process in such a way that after taking it from the initial idea to a finished kitchen you are left with a product that can still be offered on the market at a reasonable price. There is also the fact that it is more difficult to communicate with a customer about an all-in kitchen than a chair, for instance. The consulting service that Boffi offers its customers can be quite complex, depending on the circumstances and extent of planning. In this respect you can certainly draw parallels between buying a kitchen and buying a particular car because customers have almost infinite possibilities to customize their new car, or kitchen, to suit their taste.

When it comes to cars, in addition to environmental-friendliness, quality of materials and surface finish, design plays also an increasingly important role. What is the situation at Boffi?

Gavazzi Materials, surfaces and design form a unit at Boffi. Over the past few years we have worked together with innovative manufacturers to advance the development of materials and in doing so were often the first to employ certain new materials, e.g., Corian. The material defines the surface you touch, the surface you work on. And it underlines our design.

What would you like the most about your own kitchen?

Gavazzi (laughs) First of all, that it is a Boffi kitchen. Secondly, that even after 15 years, it is still perfect. Boffi kitchens are particularly durable. And thirdly, that it is the place where we come together as a family. This is where I talk to my children; this is where we live as a family. We spend more time in the kitchen than in the lounge. The kitchen as a social place is enriched by a Boffi kitchen.

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