Ert Chair

studioutte is a Milan-based multidisciplinary practice for architecture, interior design, and art objects created in 2020 by Patrizio Gola and Guglielmo Giagnotti.

Their Italian heritage, along with influences from various regional practices, has resulted in a particular sensibility that can be sensed in their furniture pieces as well as interior designs.

Patrizio studied interior design at Politecnico in Milan. Throughout his upbringing, he grew close to his aunt, an established interior decorator, who first introduced him to design catalogues, objects, and furniture pieces. Later he joined the Milan-based practice DIMORESTUDIO, where he spent 4 years as a designer.

Guglielmo is from a family of architects based in southern Italy. He studied architecture in Bari before relocating to Antwerp to work with the Vincent Van Duysen team.

Ert Chair

How did you get your start as a designer, and what drew you to creating functional design pieces?

The role of objects in a box, room, or space is critical. For example, the chair (ert 001) that we designed for a project in Munich is part of the overall experience of the room. We have an animistic attachment to objects. Later on, the chair begins its own story.

What does your design process entail?

The process entails a lengthy, spontaneous preparation: it is about curiosity, in-depth observations of our surroundings, reference collections, confrontations, notes, and sketches. In general, we would say that the process is about the accumulation of layers.

Nastro Chair

Could you tell us more about the creative process behind your work?

It is the result of a synthesis of intuitions and technical expertise. There is always a deep confrontation among us.

We don't play a specific role in the production of a project. Rather, it is a lengthy process of simplifying a shape or space. The approach is minimalist in nature. It is all about perfecting simplicity. It's about the complexity of creating something simple and devoid of noise. We are looking for silence.

Nastro Chair

What impact did your cultural background have on your work?

We think about our cultural traditions and backgrounds when making objects. For us, it is not about being conservative, it’s being consistent in terms of evolution responsible for styles and traditions. Our background arrives naturally into the projects like memories.

Ert Chair

What are some things that inspire you?

We are image collectors and selectors: frames of old movies, analog pictures found in markets, old fashioned places, vintage catalogues.

3 Words that describe your work

archetypical – analog – radical

Ert Chair

Who are some of the most important influences in your work?

There are some influences from Dutch [De Stijl] Neoplasticism. Still, as well from certain forgotten mid-20th-Century design in Italy linked to Giuseppe Pagano and fascist-style furniture that was dry yet extremely balanced in proportions and selection of materials. The far eastern roots of anonymous simplicity is also important for us. It is fascinating to find the same languages of styles from West to East. Our influences are consistent in terms of style, without geographical boundaries.

Malta Stool

What is the most important tool when creating your work?

Charcoal pencils, a lot of paper, and a ruler.

Where do you go for inspiration?

References are everywhere. At an art exhibition, in an old abandoned house, a hotel room, antique cafes, or the city itself. This inspiration is then absorbed in an unconscious way and remerges naturally when needed.

Ert Chair

Could you tell us more about your upcoming collections?

We would speak more about upcoming pieces rather than collections. Our furniture are the synthesis of how we interpret not only an object but also a space. It’s a kind of purity and simplicity led by a vernacular inspiration or an archetype of inspiration. We are currently working on some new designs, keeping the same purity of the drawing: two new chairs, a table lamp and tables, using both metal and wood.