Just a pencil

A natural talent for drawing, a sensitive, inclusive spirit, a pleasant shyness that becomes creative energy, and simple solutions made for the real world: Massimo Roj, founder of Progetto CMR

If we had to choose a sport as an effective metaphor that represents Massimo Roj’s journey, this sport would be skiing and the discipline would certainly be the slalom. A slalom that begins at a very young age, with already a clear goal in mind – to become an architect – but a path that, apart from the canonical university, presented itself with ever closer and angled poles. The poles of experience, of the unknown aspects of an activity that Roj tackles as a profession and not as a job. Moments in which it is necessary to trust even without fully understanding, with the strength of a latent competitiveness that has always transformed the incoming obstacle into energy, without ever taking on a dominant role because domesticated in social relations by a natural inwardness. In life, as well as – still metaphorically – in his profession, Massimo Roj is also a ski instructor.

author: Matteo De Bartolomeis portrait photo: courtesy Progetto CMR projects photo: Andrea Martiradonna (DHL Hub, The Sign Milan),

courtesy Progetto CMR

“An idea that works has to have a soul and has to combine architecture, engineering and design”: in a nutshell, this is the concept one gleans from the presentation of Progetto CMR. Can we start here? I’ve always though making architecture was something special. If I look back on the past, I return to the intense relationship I have always had with pencils: at the age of 3 I was making difficult drawings, at 6 I made my first newspaper, which I sold to my relatives. I enjoyed copying the images I saw, Mickey Mouse, Jacovitti, Tex comics. At university, already in my sophomore year I began working, first with the architect Spinelli, then for three years with Moretti and Morisi. Already, at the time, I believed in the interaction of different kinds of expertise, and I thought architects should not only make “artistic gestures.” Architecture is a passion that began long ago.

What do you come away with, after this decade full of many activities? My family was not wealthy, I lost my father when I was still a child, so as soon as I could I had to make a contribution. I don’t come from a linear background. Besides drawing, I was always interested in selling things (encyclopedias door to door, newspapers in the street), and this helped me to develop a sense of what people want, to absorb their desires, to understand the necessities of others in advance. Today, in my professional practice, this things are helpful. The interaction of skills is a central theme in my story. I went to London to work for Luigi Giffone, who taught me about office space planning, which at first didn’t interest me at all; but then a whole world opened up, and that was the start of a way of working that continues today with Progetto CMR: from the inside out, starting with the needs of people. I felt like an artist, someone who could make his mark, and I am very competitive – I’m never satisfied with second place. Work experiences have channeled my competitive drive towards concrete things.

A holistic, sustainable approach seems like an important parameter. Is that so? I’m a dreamer, a visionary, I’ve always had this characteristic and I have always “seen” things, which I want to achieve due to my concrete nature. The method comes from experience, from the orientation towards others you carry inside of you. Holism is my way of being, it’s spontaneous. Sustainability is very important for me, and the title of one of my books is the motto “Less Ego, More Eco.” All our projects have to be oriented towards the people who will spend time in the spaces, large or small. Holism and sustainability meet, and the goal is to keep them together. Duration in time is another important concept linked to sustainability: the French call it “durabilité,” underlining the link between quality in the choice of materials, their potential for reuse and a vision connected with the life of the building – which should be as long as possible.

In recent years the projects associated with so-called “headquarters” have grown significantly in number, and styles of furnishings and interior design have changed: what were the initial influences? I think both aspects work in tandem: today we are living through three types of change. Changes that come from technologies, from organizational models, and then social change, which has a greater impact on us than the first two, and has altered the lives of many people over the last year and a half. One of the theories we apply most often in our design work is “nudging,” which means “a gentle push,” delicately prompting people to behave in certain ways, which

The Sign, Milan Garibaldi Towers, Milan

in our case implies design choices. When the social conditions change, it becomes necessary to change our way of thinking about and organizing spaces. A few years ago, offices suddenly became colorful instead of being in black and white. I’ve always been an advocate of color, which is indispensable for the artistic part involved in architecture. The human eye is drawn by color, and the offices we design always have an important chromatic aspect. When we designed the headquarters of the Lombardy Region, the colors guided the logistics and the indications for movements, inside a large, complex facility. When we were commissioned to refurbish the Garibaldi Towers, we were told that “Milan is a gray city.” We had made a project with a red dominant, and after lengthy negotiation we made the towers white. Of course today they are gray.

What has been the most thrilling project on which you have worked, and which one brought the most surprises? Usually the project you remember most is the first one, and the most thrilling is the latest one. The first major project I grew fond of was that the Olivetti Research Center at Bitritto: I was 27, I had gone to London to work with Luigi Giffone, and he took me and sent me off to Bari. My interface on the project was Michele De Lucchi, and it was a fantastic proving ground. I went back to see it a few years ago, and it is still gorgeous. That work was the result of a pencil (mine) in the hand of a master (Giffone), who with his suggestions prompted me to do what I did. Pure nudging, interaction of forms of expertise – there was everything that was to become Progetto CMR. Another outstanding project is definitely that of the Garibaldi Towers, which enabled us to take a step forward, in the awareness of being able to do something concrete for the city.

Observing the new DHL hub at Malpensa Airport, one spontaneously perceives it as a work of architectural engineering: machines, automation, logistics. Every project is the result of combined action, with the client on one side, the designer on the other. The latter has to interpret the dreams of the former, making them become a concrete reality. At the time, the clients explained that it was fundamental to consider the existence of two DHL worlds: one inside the airport (operations and logistics), and one outside (administration). The first one was inevitably unknown. We wanted to unite these two worlds, creating a connector and representing the work with color, leading to large yellow and red bands (the corporate colors) that have contributed to reinforce brand identity, and have granted remarkable recognizability, also with respect to competitors: when you take off or land at Malpensa you cannot help but see those colors. The solution has been applied by DHL Corporate all over the world. All this has been done on small budgets. Extensive work with the producer of the prefabricated parts, in-depth study on the materials conducted by our R+D division: the outcome has been the cladding of the building in polycarbonate, transforming the block into a lantern that absorbs light during the day and spreads it (-70% electrical energy consumption), while at night the light is emitted and multiplied.

DHL Express Hub, Malpensa, Milan