Cristián, how are you – but more importantly, where are you? We always meet a little everywhere, in Paris, in Milan (where you lived for a while)…
I’m in Buenos Aires, where I returned after the pandemic. I had a big exhibition in the works and I came to work on the project; then I decided to stay, reopen the studio, etc. Everything in my life always changes rapidly.
How did you become a designer?
I studied industrial design by accident: my first option was chemical engineering. Then I realized it wasn’t for me, did some work with my family, and ended up enrolling in architecture, which I had always been interested in. I was attracted to the artistic aspect of the discipline, I had been drawing since I was a kid, landscapes, portraits, etc. When I started industrial design, it was of course very different: the first two years didn’t go very well and I was a bit worried about my future. So I took another year off.
What changed your mind?
It happened when I realized that design is not only about functionality, but also about concept. Thinking only about the functional aspect made me feel like I was locked in a box. Then, in my third year, one of my professors, José Maria Aguirre, was the first to understand me. He provoked me, stimulated me, made me see that there were other faces to design. Suddenly everything became more interesting, I started to participate in competitions and to come up with new ideas. The first award I received was the Magistretti Prize in Milan in 2007. The jury included Norman Foster, Patricia Urquiola, Marva Griffin and Maddalena De Padova. The object was a cardboard stool and the theme was simplicity. I won second prize and they invited me to Milan for the award ceremony. It was a thunderbolt. I was 20 years old and suddenly my work was visible. It was amazing.
How would you define your approach to design?
For me, design is a game. A different way of looking at everyday things. I like to observe everything, I take pictures. And I try to find something more in simple things. I was once told, “You have the ability to transform the ordinary into something beautiful,” which was a wonderful compliment. I think every object is the result of a design process, I try to see a new version of it. To see the soul of it.
What was your first project?
A stool made of different woods, in 2005, as a student, for a competition in Brazil. The first object I made with my own hands. The name is Bois, which means ‘wood’ in French.
Do you feel a strong attachment to Argentina?
When I arrived in Milan, I pretended to be an Italian designer, or at least a European one. Then a colleague said to me, “Compared to us, your way of seeing is totally different. And you have to respect that”. The more honest you are with yourself, the more honest you are with the people you want to work with. When I started to see and to show my work in a different way, my way, going back to my roots, so many doors opened: I had my own vision. Not necessarily more original, but definitely more authentic. Closer to my values that I wanted to convey in the things I was doing.
You have lived in Europe and in Argentina. What did these two very different places give you?
Europe gave me a more professional perspective, with companies where you don’t have to fight to make people understand the value of design. Here, everything is different: neither the market nor the industrial and commercial capacity is strong. But Argentina has given me the freedom to do what I want. When you are at home, it is like swimming in transparent water, you see everything. Here I am more relaxed. And I am one of the few Argentine designers who can work with local and foreign companies.
What are your plans for the future?
I’m working with the Colombian company Verdi, which is presenting at the Salone; with cc-tapis; I’m also one of the designers chosen by Louis Vuitton for their first Home Collection. Then I’m working with Ethel, a Brazilian company, and with many Argentinean companies. I also started working as an interior designer, for houses and especially for hotels, which is a nice challenge. But I like to think about all the details of a project, like Apacheta for Loro Piana in 2023: they gave me carte blanche, I even chose the color of the skin in the press kit. Maybe there were too many decisions to make, but the opportunity was unique and that was the great stimulus.
Now I am working on a book about my first 20 years as a designer. It will be published in 2027 and will talk about many things: objects that moved me, processes, techniques, textures. I always say that I am an artisan in the body of an industrial designer. I have always tried to combine these two dimensions. The artisan dimension is like a signature, each piece is unique. It bears the mark of the person who made it, his DNA. Unrepeatable. And I really like that.
