Visions and Projects

Architect and designer, artist and sculptor. Michele De Lucchi’s work on creating and transforming the environment embraces many forms of expression, all sharing an emphasis on the central role played by nature

by Marta Bernasconi - ph. courtesy by AMDL CIRCLE

Nothing can be taken for granted when interviewing illustrious architects who are also great thinkers. Their soaring vision makes it impossible to remain tied to the classic question-response format. The dialectic flow of Michele De Lucchi, architect and founder of AMDL CIRCLE, is an example of this. It starts from the original question and takes

flight, leading the interviewer on a journey of discovery, revealing unexpected aspects of architecture and design, beginning with the role of the architect and his or her responsibilities. “Being an architect doesn’t simply mean constructing large buildings, imposing edifices – it’s about inspiring a type of behaviour, a lifestyle, positing an idea of existence that is most in harmony

Above: the Fornetta, a house on Lake Maggiore that seems to be in an ideal symbiosis with its surroundings. Designed by AMDL CIRCLE and Michele De Lucchi, it is built entirely in wood using ancient techniques, without the use of glues or chemical substances. It uses solar and geo-thermal power. Right: Michele De Lucchi, architect and founder of AMDL CIRCLE. The distinctive beard is his “first design”, inspired many years ago by his desire to distinguish himself from his brother

Giovanni Gastel

Above and left: the Nordic Pavilion for Expo 2025 in Osaka. Above: the circular Novartis Pavilion in Basle. Below, left, the Towers on the OpenZone scientific campus near Milan’s Parco Nord. Page to side, clockwise: the Portrait Hotel in Milan; the San Barbato Pavilion in Basilicata, a structure intended for fairs and events; the Teseo collection designed for Roda comprises table and chairs in teak slats sewn together with cord; the Pulcina cafetiere, designed for Alessi; Lana by Antrax, a modular radiator in 100% recyclable aluminium (with Tolomeo lamp in the foreground)

with the context it exists in. In my professional life, as well as building houses, office blocks, hotels and many other things, I try to organise visions that are the most attractive and seductive, ones that inspire new behaviours and a new idea of humankind’s artificial life”. This human-centred approach has always been a constant in Michele De Lucchi’s work. When he was one of the figures involved in Alchimia and Memphis, when he was head of Design Olivetti between 1988 and 2002, when he created the world’s best-selling lamp, the Tolomeo by Artemide, which was awarded the Compasso d’Oro prize in 1987, and now, too, with his inter-disciplinary AMDL CIRCLE studio, he operates in architecture, interior design, design and graphics, on

the basis that the new projects must interpret change and, when possible, inspire them. The Circle carries out projects for public and private bodies and collaborates with large companies like Intesa Sanpaolo, Deutsche Bank, Novartis and UniCredit, designs buildings and display systems for institutions like Berlin’s Neues Museum, the Milan Triennale and the Gallerie d’Italia in Milan, Turin and Naples. It also works in the hotel sector – a recent example of this is the Portrait Milano hotel, the result of the restoration of an episcopal seminary in the heart of the city. In the context of product design the Milanese studio has designed lamps, products and furnishings for Alessi, Artemide, Cassina, Hermès, Poltrona Frau and UniFor.

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Rasmus

Hjortshoj

However, for the moment we focus on the subject of changes and the work of the designer. The architect thinks that creatives should not simply latch onto changes but also become a promoter of virtuous evolution. “Change is unstoppable, it’s a certainty. The point is, how should it evolve? We’re all seeking an orientation and when it seems we’ve found it something happens and we have to change again. Knowing that everything changes, that we are living in an exponential age when everything is changing at a dizzying rate, we have to find an orientation while remaining aware that we also need to adapt constantly”. De Lucchi describes himself as an adaptation specialist, a term that for a creative involves the

possibility of reinvention and renewal. He has studied architecture and worked as a designer, artist and finally as a sculptor. In 2003 he began designing and carving, decorating objects in wood in his studios in Milan and Angera, a way of seeking out the existentiality of the architectural form. Seeing him at work makes us think he experiences a special pleasure in establishing a direct link with natural materials. “I realised that this nature, which is so dear to us, is now rooted in our emotions, and from being a simple element of our surroundings and decorating our homes and other buildings it has been transformed into a central element, one with strong appeal. That’s an epochal change”.

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Rasmus

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Santi Caleca

Omar Sartor

AMDL CIRCLE and Michele De Lucchi also have considerable experience in “working with water” – take, for example, the collaboration with the Azimut|Benetti yards or the renovation initiative for the Rapallo waterfront. For Michele De Lucchi, water is a surface that can host new residential construction possibilities.

“I think there’s a serious opportunity to build homes and urban centres on water, as we’ve already seen in places like the Philippines and Paris. I think the idea of not always using the land to solve housing problems but rather thinking about small floating towns is eminently sensible”.

De Lucchi maintains that contemporary problems can only be solved by looking forward – nowadays it’s all about finding a formula that that creates possible solutions that are financially feasible and environmentally sustainable. The architect tends to emphasis a very important idea that is still linked to the constant change we experience as our lives unfold. “I ask everyone to move forward with a very clear concept in mind – if we think pessimistically about a future world that’s worse than the one we live in, it’s not worth living and it’s not worth contributing to that world. But I want always to be more beautiful, so we have to believe in it and work towards it”. Enthusiasm and hope for the future – two key concepts with a constant presence in the life of Michele De Lucchi.

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Above: Michele De Lucchi between Davide Angeli, Deputy Managing Director of AMDL CIRCLE and Angelo Micheli, Managing Director. Right: the installation The Sea Deck, made for Azimut in Darsena at Milan in 2023. Below: the new look Azimut stand, designed as a welcoming lounges connected to the external setting

the water stage in the

hosted

installation

at the Milan Design Week 2024. The year 2025 will also see the completion of the architectural redevelopment by AMDL CIRCLE and Michele De Lucchi of the Azimut|Benetti Group’s historic base in Piedmont (below a render). The work aims to give new life to the spaces enriching them through the creation of new areas and a design that highlights the project’s visual relationship with its environment, enhancing the surrounding landscape

Above:

Bagni Misteriosi, which

Mooring by the Moon, the

by AMDL CIRCLE and Michele De Lucchi for Azimut Yachts