The Italian Job

In Conversation

I arrive for lunch at a buzzing restaurant in Melbourne’s Flinders Lane and spot my date who is simultaneously on the phone, ordering a drink and writing notes.

Simone Pittella is the fast-talking, agile-minded Managing Director of the business that was founded by his Italian-born parents over 40 years ago, on the premise of beautifully designed products that remain true to their cultural heritage and the iconic Italian style that has influenced designers around the globe for decades.

It’s this inherent Italian DNA that Simone has, not just in his manner and style but in his product design and vision for the business.

For him, it’s a way of life; names like Ponti, Boeri, Becheroni, Sottsass and Pomodoro are used freely as inspiration and it’s this enduring design integrity that influences every product Pittella creates, with his latest tapware range ‘Tura’ testament to this. Pittella’s ranges are a seamless fusion of traditional craftsmanship combining the work of generational Italian ‘artigini’ (artisans) and leading-edge technology, resulting in a sublime mix of form and function.

Tura was designed with the same architectural ‘knurling’ detail used in Pittella’s door hardware ranges that are produced in Como, northern Italy. More recently, Simone has established a relationship with an artisanal foundry in Florence that works exclusively in brass and has been producing tapware since the 1930s.

It’s this natural alignment of philosophies, that not only ensures a continuously high standard of product, but that the brand’s door ware, tapware and bathroom accessories are specified in projects designed by some of Australia’s most high-profile architects, and increasingly, by architects offshore, with a fast-growing market in the US and Europe.

It’s not surprising that Pittella’s Melbourne headquarters and showroom were designed by Paul Hecker and Hamish Guthrie of renowned design practice Hecker Guthrie, with whom Simone has a close relationship. “We were a natural fit for each other, having worked together on projects, I knew they were right for Pittella,” says Simone. The result is a beautifully resolved yet functional space that houses product designed by some of the world’s most prolific designers including Cini Boeri, Castiglioni, Citterio and Chipperfield that sit alongside Pittella’s own product.

The moving parts of this picture painted by Simone, just like one of the Italian masters, serves to remind us that Italians do it better.

Words Yvette Caprioglio

Photography Mark Roper