WHY DID YOU BECOME
AN ARCHITECT?
When I was a kid, I made a sofa-exercise-
bike for my grandmother from a bicycle
wheel. She told me I was a genius like
Leonardo; it’s a memory I cherish.
I suppose I was pushed in my decision to
become an architect from my creative mind
mixed with very strong rational approach. I
have always been fascinated by the idea of
channelling my creativity into creating
something concrete and useful.
WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT IT MOST?
Many phases of my work are stimulating.
The creative phase is the most beautiful; the
first moment when I start a new project, the
sheet is white, everything is possible, and
my mind starts to fill with stimuli and I try
to connect ideas and imagines to create the
pictures. The design phase is fun too; when
I look for the best technical solutions to
carry out the work with the owners of the
companies, and the builders. The most
amazing thing though is the moment when
you see the work you had imagined finally
made, and above all to see it after a few
years – if it is ‘ageing’ well.
WHAT IS THE HARDEST PART OF
YOUR JOB RUNNING A PRACTICE?
It’s really hard to find the balance between
a variety of things: the idea, the project, the
costs, the timing, the customer’s
expectations, the user’s expectations, the
market’s expectations, my expectations, etc.
Sometimes I feel frustrated if I struggle to
find a solution. Finding the right balance
is the essence of my job; beauty is balance.
When everything comes together, it’s a
beautiful feeling.HOW IMPORTANT IS SUSTAINABILITY
FOR YOU CURRENTLY VERSUS OTHER
PRIORITIES, AND HOW ARE YOU
PROMOTING IT IN YOUR WORK?
It is useless to deny that every human
activity is against sustainability, and even
more so the industrial production that I
deal with in design and architecture.
We as designers have the responsibility to
think of solutions that make architecture
and products sustainable in relation to the
environment, but also economically – to
replace consumer products that are not.
Recently my studio designed the new
headquarters for furniture maker Filippi- Alongside the client, we decided to
create it inside an existing building instead of
creating a new building occupying a green
site. For another furniture firm, Diemmebi,
we designed a chair for the community
sector that has the CAM (Minimum
Environmental Criteria) certification,
affordable and consumer-friendly.
For five years we have also been
collaborating with Wood From Nature To
Things – a group of 50 companies
specialising in the use of wood, which
promotes the use of the sustainable material.
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR PROUDEST
ACHIEVEMENT SO FAR?
My studio has received some awards, but
what makes me most proud is to see that
my design or architectural works areappreciated. In the coming months, a
soccer table that I designed will be
included in a prize catalogue of a well-
known supermarket operating in northern
Italy. It is fantastic because this catalogue
always features Italian design icons, and it
means that your work is appreciated on a
large scale.
Once, during the inauguration of a
building that we designed in a consolidated
urban context, a man who lived there
told me that he had the feeling that the
building had always been there. This is
something that made me proud because
the building is typologically and
semantically different from the context, but
at the same time it compares it in a natural
way and it is a design intention that was
immediately understood.Alberto Basaglia,
co-founder of Italian firm
Basaglia + Rota Nodari
Studio, answers ADF’s
questions on what
influences his designs,
the importance of balance,
and sustainability
Alberto BasagliaEvery material influences
my design; they all have
their own characteristics,
and that is a source of
inspirationASK THE
ARCHITECT
Filippi 1971 headquarters building, Berbenno, Italy26VIEWSWWW.ARCHITECTSDATAFILE.CO.UK ADF FEBRUARY 2020
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