il piano di un tavolo: considerando che
in un 1 metro quadro di pavimento entrano
fino a 100 elementi, nella superfice media di
un’abitazione (100 mq) gli elementi possono
arrivare a 10.000. Risulta quindi centrata
l’idea di un prodotto di serialità diversificata,
dove i quantitativi giustificano la cura che
viene dedicata al dettaglio e allo stesso
tempo motivano lo sviluppo di un’attrezzatura
sofisticata anche per una produzione robotizzata.
Margaritelli riconosce alla progettista la capacità
di convincimento necessaria a un importante
passo avanti dell’azienda sul terreno della
tecnologia, un avanzamento che altrimenti
non ci sarebbe stato o avrebbe richiesto
forse molto più tempo per avverarsi: del resto
Patricia Urquiola è nota proprio per aver saputo
introdurre nelle logiche trasformistiche del
design in Italia uno “spirito allegro” fortemente
legato al suo forte carattere espansivo, al suo
finishing. It wasn’t the designer who
adapted to the technique and machines, but
rather the other way round. Instead of mass-
production machining, where the material
emerges from the manufacturing chain
standardised by a single robotised procedure,
the product’s manipulation is closer to that of a
one-off piece or small-run edition. Numerical-
control processes are applied all around the
edges of the wooden boards, and each
component is reworked several times – as can
happen for the legs of a chair or tabletop.
Considering that
1 square metre of flooring comprises up to
100 elements, the average surface of a house
(100 square metres) can include up to 10,000
elements. This highlighted the suitability of
employing a diversified mass-production
process, where the quantities justify the great
attention to detail, while also motivating the
Biscuit n.05 large,
Civita 1695, Rovere di Fontaines /
DESIGN: Patricia Urquiola
Biscuit n.05 large,
Civita 1695, Rovere di Fontaines /
conceptual sketch /
DESIGN: Patricia Urquiola
LUOGO: Fundació Kālida - Barcelona
PROGETTO: Miralles Tagliabue EMBT /
Biscuit,
DESIGN: Patricia Urquiola
PLACE: Fundació Kālida - Barcelona
PROJECT: Miralles Tagliabue EMBT /
Biscuit,
DESIGN: Patricia Urquiola
Biscuit n.05 large,
DESIGN: Patricia Urquiola
Biscuit n.05 large,
DESIGN: Patricia Urquiola
— Biscuit
Patricia Urquiola
06
07
that it is always possible to invent something...“
When finally Patricia decided to open the volume, the engineer was
amazed by the incredible amount of drawings: from studies of leaves,
flowers and branches to entire landscapes, small furniture, surfaces,
buildings. Sometimes the drawings completely filled the pages, others
remained isolated: as if to distinguish a thought, a better idea, or only
a more precise one, from the others.
That was when the unexpected happened.
As soon as Patricia touched the drawings Aureliano was interested
in with her fingers, these came to life, as if they were real: or better,
they appeared on the ceiling, that had turned opaque, and on the
walls in a kind of hyper-realistic diorama, or a multi-projection film.
Staring at the walls, the engineer’s gaze was lost among shady groves
and large lawns that flourished as if in stop-motion, with gurgling
flowing springs and streams: unknown scents floating in the air
which seemed to transform the sounds of creation into a supernatu-
ral music.
Marvelled by the fantastic realism of the situation, Aureliano first
thought was made by brand new, unknown digitalization techniques:
then he preferred to let himself be carried away by the illusion.
So every time a drawing “came back”into the book, he immediately
became curious to see another materialize. The illusion continued for
quite a while, and Patricia grew more and more amused at every new
project that unfolded inside the room, which for the engineer was
now definitely the result of magic.
But time ran faster than usual.
When the images disappeared and the room returned to being illumi-
nated only from above, the light was always softer and fainter, until it
was finally dark.
It was not very late, but the month of October did not have very long
light days: so they continued for a while to “play”with those
representations that were really impressive for how well they repre-
sented the sense, the functioning and the perception of the projects.
They had leafed through almost the entire volume when they agreed
on the idea of a modular solution, which Patricia began to sketch
under the eyes of the engineer, directly in the still white pages of the
volume, which were not a few: and which seemed to increase, as they
were filled with other drawings and notes...
Aureliano realized that it was really late, he looked at his watch and
asked if that was enough for that day.
“If that’s enough for you, engineer, of course, we’ll stop here,” said
Patricia with a new smile. “But I want to leave at least a copy of the
drawings and studies on which we based ourselves.”
“But there is no need, you can send me scans, with ease. I don’t want
them to get ruined, they’re so beautiful...”
“No, come on, I’ll make colour photocopies, so as a souvenir. Okay?
Well, I’ll give you one of them!”and in a moment Patricia removed
the most beautiful one from the volume, a watercolour full of colours
and grace, with a path that forked between the fields, paved with
a system of wooden elements that curiously resembled the shape
of certain biscuits.
…
Now Camelia was on his way to the taxi that Patricia had called.
She had handed him a beautiful envelope with the drawings, said
good bye with a last hug, in her warm way, and remained for
a moment at the door of the studio, waving to him.
Still a little confused, as he was leaving the door, Aureliano switched
on the phone he had switched off: out of politeness but also so as not
to be disturbed and distracted.
He almost dropped it out of his hand when he saw at least a dozen
text messages from the Urquiola’s cabinet on the display. Everyone
asked him if he had received the phone calls and the previous warn-
ing. Aureliano dialled back the number from which the messages
arrived and a high-pitched but gentle voice answered already after
Natural Genius
A DESIGN STORY - Patricia Urquiola
