Massimo Iosa Ghini: The Speed of Design

It’s a balmy October afternoon in Bologna, Italy. Massimo Iosa Ghini’s office is in the old city center, on the second floor of a Renaissance palazzo that now houses grand high-ceilinged offices around a central courtyard. Iosa Ghini, born in 1959, was a formative member of Italy’s Bolidism and Memphis movements. Today he practices both architecture and design for clients including—but not limited to—Ferrari, Snaidero, Listone Giordano, Moroso, Poltrona Frau, Zumtobel Staff, Dornbracht, and Duravit.

In a mostly white room spotted with models of racecars, buildings, and other things bearing a streamlined, frozen movement, Iosa Ghini seats himself on one of his office chairs. Several books of his drawings and designs are on the table. After an espresso-fueled greeting, I fumble with my tape recorder. "I’ve never met a journalist who’s comfortable operating one of those things," Iosa Ghini says. "Not even the tech-savvy ones I met in Japan."