issue #52: Intangible value
Where does the value of objects lie—in their function or in the symbolic meaning they evoke? We explore this question with designer Roberto Sironi, whose approach weaves together anthropology, archaeology, and technology. Enjoy the journey!
Welcome to Caleido, a diary on extraordinary people curated by MM Company. / Read the Editor’s letter here.
CALEIDO
In Issue 50 of Caleido Diary dedicated to Design Week, we selected you as an extraordinary person, for the powerful symbolic value of your projects (including Hypercode for cc-tapis). In what way do you consider yourself “extraordinary,” meaning outside the ordinary?
ROBERTO
My research journey leads me to explore the complexity of things from multiple perspectives. To do so, I need to study other disciplines, such as anthropology, archaeology, or alchemy. I firmly believe in the role of the designer as a medium between different fields of knowledge, with the responsibility of translating their small or great discoveries into design.
CALEIDO
In your manifesto, you write that “matter is investigated and manipulated through an anthropological approach.” How does this study of human beings, cultures, and traditions manifest in your work?
ROBERTO
My approach to design is always anthropological: there is always a reflection on the potential meaning of the project in relation to human beings, considering the multiple historical, cultural, and social aspects connected to anthropology.
This does not mean being anthropocentric,
it means contemplating the project from a “human” perspective, with the responsibility and awareness of living in a multispecies world.
CALEIDO
You are a keen observer of human behavior, daily habits, and rituals. What do you see as the most significant changes we are currently experiencing? How is the relationship between human beings and objects evolving? And speaking of yourself: what is your personal relationship with objects?
ROBERTO
I believe in the symbolic power of objects—their functional aspect is only of relative interest to me. What truly matters is the emotional relationship between the object and the human being, where my goal is to create artifacts capable of sparking this exchange. The most powerful objects are those that consistently evoke emotions, reflections, and sensations—whereas, for example, I consider the smartphone to be an energy-draining object, even though of course no one can live without it.
CALEIDO
Ruins (Carwan Gallery, in collaboration with IN Residence and Fonderia Artistica Battaglia) is a series that blends classical ruins with contemporary fragments. What is the relationship between archaeology and the future? What role does history and classicism play in shaping the society of tomorrow—especially in a time when education seems increasingly focused on providing only “useful tools”?
ROBERTO
I believe the present and the future are forms of metabolizing the past, and that historical events follow a cyclical nature. For this reason, history remains, to me, an inexhaustible source of information and learning. This doesn’t mean looking to the past with nostalgia, but rather selecting and drawing from it what is needed to shape the future.
CALEIDO
These ruins—or monuments in a broader sense—are unique pieces and, as such, embody symbolic and cultural meanings. What is your relationship with symbols and symbolism? How does the symbolic dimension come into play in your work?
ROBERTO
I believe that in my projects, symbolic value prevails over functional value. I’m drawn to symbols because they condense and embody a set of values and systems. That’s why I’m so deeply engaged with signs—with leaving a mark, with creating ultra-signs. Whether it’s a tag on concrete or a prehistoric cave painting, what interests me is the inherent power of the sign as a statement, as a presence, as a cathartic form of expression.
CALEIDO
Within such a deep relationship with the conceptual meaning of things, what role do matter and physicality play?
ROBERTO
The two are deeply interconnected. We can see this clearly in Arte Povera, for example, where the concept is expressed through matter. Or in the words of Pinuccio Sciola, who described marble as the “memory of the universe”—a material that holds geological, and thus temporal, information beyond its physical characteristics.
Matter is presence;
it is essential to the dialogue between
human beings and objects.
For better or worse,
it is always a legacy we leave
behind in the world.
CALEIDO
If you weren’t a designer, what profession would you pursue—and why?
ROBERTO
I would still be a designer—I couldn’t be anything else.
CALEIDO
If you had to make a quick escape with one object in hand, what would it be? Would you share a photo of it, taken by you?
ROBERTO
I would choose an animal bone I found in a forest years ago—a vertebra. It’s incredible: through the bone—which in some parts is just 1 mm thick—you can glimpse millions of years of evolution and technical refinement.
Roberto Sironi: my suggestions
*An abandoned factory, possibly in ruins.
