Materials, and what technology makes of them: Pinuccio Borgonovo

Some designers start from a shape; Pinuccio Borgonovo starts from what a material can technologically become. That discipline was forged over ten years at the Molteni Research Centre — materials, their technological applications, product engineering — working beside international names, before he opened his independent practice in 1987 as consultant to leading Italian home and office furniture companies, art direction included. Born in Giussano in 1956, trained at the Cantù Art Institute, he turns material research into products with a strong identity.

For Citterio, the Molteni Group's partition specialist, that means the C_SS acoustic box, W_SS and Wood Wall — wall systems La Mercanti configures for Indian headquarters and campuses where acoustics and finish must both perform. Material first, form after: it shows in every panel.