German Tobias Nitsche, Italian Cesare Bizzotto and Portuguese Manuel Amaral Netto together go to make up From. The three met in 2011 at the Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne, or ECAL for short. Since then they’ve worked as a team, although not in one and the same place. But thanks to digitally networked working methods that is hardly an obstacle today. Netto works from his base in Lisbon, while Bizzotto and Nitsche are both in Padua. Their products are plain, and yet also contemplative in thrust. In fact, you often only notice how precise their work is at second glance, when you spot the careful details. A good example is their pendant luminaire with its LED strip rod called “Volta”, which can be dimmed by touch and swivels on its cables. In 2014, From won 1st Prize at the Salone Satellite for this simple and yet ingenious product.
From
Whowhatwherewhenhow?
Where would you like to live?
At the moment we are having a good base in the north of Italy where we get the feeling that what we are doing is needed. There are a lot of companies around here that are well experienced in working with designers. We also love to travel through Europe and meet people from different countries.
Your favorite character in the history of design?
Ettore Sottsass.
Which qualities do you admire in a designer?
Being excited and not bored of the world.
What do you enjoy doing most?
Having a break to look at something we are working on. In each project there is a different way of working, but always a rhythm between work and observation. These moments in which you look in silence at a prototype or a mockup we enjoy a lot.
Your main personality trait?
Motivation.
Your biggest mistake?
… was caused by inexperience. But this is also part of the game.
Your idea of happiness?
Always being driven by desire. Speaking about our work this could lead to an attitude of doing our job everyday with enthusiasm. We are still young so some of the things we say here are ideas and thoughts that are under development. This at least would be a nice goal to reach.
What do you find really annoying?
Superficiality.
Your favorite material?
One of the very beautiful things of our job is that we are able to work with different materials. By that we meet different people from who we always learn. We recently worked with wood, Aluminum and also with porcelain. Porcelain for example is very beautiful and challenging material because it requires experience and planning. At the same time there always remains a part of the process which is difficult to predict: When a piece goes through the oven for the first time, the output is a surprise because it shrinks and deforms.
Your favorite flower?
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What kind of music do you listen to when you work?
Very different things, we actually often have a different taste here. So if there is music, it comes out of our headphones. Imagine a mixtape with music from Italian songwriters and Hip Hop.
Which design achievement do you most detest?
The ones which are done mainly for the sake of being visible in the internet. Today we see a lot of design which you end up meeting only in blogs. Of course it is sad when good ideas end here. But here it also becomes visible that in our time we produce too much of too little quality.
Which talent would you like to have?
Being as patient as we have to be.
Can you describe your present state of mind?
Being as patient as we have to be.
Your motto?
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