Founder & CEO @ X+Living – CN
Founder & CEO @ X+Living – CN
Nina Yashar was born in Theran in 1957, she left the country when she was six years old as her father, a carpet dealer, moved the family to Milano: “a city that has a very similar culture to the one of our home and shares warmth and Mediterranean aspects”. She went to Jewish school there and during her young years she was active within the Feminist movement and very curious for art and creativity. She studied art in Venice during university and then she returned to her beloved Milano. She has always had a passion for design and art but she new that, in order to be able to work on her own, she had to start off with the family business. So she worked for her father in the carpets industry for a little less than a year. After that, in 1979, she opened her own gallery space in via Bigli, the pieces she was selling were a selection of carpet staken from her father’s archive: “I wanted to select something that you wouldn’t see in traditional shops, so I selected all the carpets that had flower motifs, different from the traditional Persian ones”. In the late 70s, after a trip to New York City she had stumbled upon Scandinavian carpets and she thought it was something very different and original from her current possessions. She organised a trip to Stockholm to buy more rugs and, once there, she also bought a collection of design furniture from that country. Once back in Milano she exhibited all the pieces in her space and from there on she started incorporating furniture inher sets. From there on she encountered many different artists and creative and she was able to launch some of the mand be part of their long term carrier, like Martino Gamper, Bethan Laura Wood, Osanna Visconti, Massimiliano Locatelli and many more. Interested in the past creations but with an eye that looks over to the future, Yashar neverstops to look for new talents but also researches in the past. She is well known for owning one of the largest collections of Lina Bo Bardi and Gio Ponti. In 2015 she inaugurated the Depot, a small, living museum, where she selects historical and contemporary pieces, designed by Massimiliano Locatelli. For Nina, curation is innate – something that runs in her blood. It’s also entwined with how she buys – a key aspect of her business. “I would say that 85 percent of my choices are not connected to my business plan,” she says resolutely. “I’ve never bought anything just because I thought it would be easy to sell.” At Nilufar, it’s not so much that budgets are thrown out the window, it’s more that they never existed to begin with. Nina’s business strategy – based on gut feeling – yielded her little profit for a long time, but she explains: “I want people tofollow me. I don’t want to follow them.”
Montse Zamorano is an architect who uses her specialisation in architecture photography and communication to weave better narratives around architecture and design projects. She has worked internationally as a freelance architecture photographer and video maker for studios such as Foster and Partners, Álvaro Siza or Héctor Fernández Elorza and published in architecture media such as TASCHEN, Casabella, Architectural Record, Arquitectura Viva, Detail or C3.
Her visual work has been finalist and selected in international awards and festivals, her pictures showcased in exhibitions in Madrid, Valencia, Milan and Shanghai and has conducted lectures and workshops in Harvard, Keio, Pratt, ETSA-Madrid and NJIT. She graduated from the ETS Architecture Madrid (UPM) and completed a Master in Advanced Architecture Projects in the same school. Currently based in New York, she combines her professional practice as photographer and brand consultant with her studies in the Master in Branding at SVA and Master in Integrated Marketing at NYU thanks to a Fulbright and LaCaixa scholarships.
Montse Zamorano on ARCHILOVERS
Alberto was born in 1977 in Cernusco Sul Naviglio in conjunction with a Juventus Uefa cup match, even though he is a die-hard AC Milan fan, and on the same day as Chris Martin, so to speak because it’s cool.
It grows in Milan between school and swimming pool chlorine.
During his university studies in Economics, he is kidnapped by the world of photography due to a fortuitous New York meeting with Pierpaolo Ferrari, who offers him to follow him as an assistant, despite not knowing anything about photography.
The Sliding Doors effect makes you unexpectedly and without a reason abandon your studies to get closer to this unknown but fascinating world.
After a long apprenticeship as an assistant alongside Pierpaolo, he begins to photograph.
Passionate about the film, he prefers fashion but also winks at the world of art and portraits.
He has been part of the ToiletPaper Magazine team since its foundation, and has collaborated with various magazines such as L’Uomo Vogue, Wallpaper, Vogue Italia, Vanity Fair, Vogue Mexico, … and with various fashion brands.
Founded by Enrica Cavarzan and Marco Zavagno, Zaven is a multidisciplinary creative studio which focuses its research on the interaction between communications, design and art. Zaven is based in Venezia, Italy, and works internationally, offering creative direction, product, graphic and installation design, focusing on research, concept development, and collaboration among professionals from different fields.
Fondato da Enrica Cavarzan e Marco Zavagno, Zaven è uno studio multidisciplinare che concentra la sua ricerca nell’interazione tra comunicazione, design e arte. Lo studio è basato a Venezia, ma lavora su scala internazionale, offrendo direzione creativa, sviluppo di concept e progettazione, collaborando con esperti di diversi discipline.
Multimedia artist – MX
Tao is a principal and serves as Chair of Design Culture on Sasaki’s Board of Directors and a board trustee on the firm’s non-profit arm — Sasaki Foundation. He is a leader of Sasaki’s strong global practice, and his work has been recognized by over 45 national and international awards, including ASLA, APA, SCUP, The Plan, WLA, and IFLA awards.
Trained as an ecologist and landscape architect, Tao is active in ecological design, striving to bridge the gap between practice and science. As well as being mindful and invested in creative expression, he seeks inspiration from science and always roots his design in a deep understanding of the socio-ecological context.
Tao is a strong advocate for critical thinking and independent research. He oversees Sasaki’s research initiatives and has led research and collaborations with academic institutes. He is well-published in peer-reviewed journals and design magazines and frequently speaks at conferences worldwide. Besides practice, he has taught landscape architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design and has been a regular lecturer and studio critic at Harvard University Graduate School of Design and various universities in the US and abroad.
About Sasaki:
Sasaki is headquartered in Boston, USA, with offices in New York, Denver, and Shanghai.
At Sasaki, we believe defining the future of place must be a collective, contextual, and values-driven exercise. Through our 70 years of practice, we have affirmed that diverse perspectives, blended disciplines, open exchange, deep engagement with clients and communities, commitment to history and context, curiosity about new ways of thinking and making, and expert facility with data and emerging technologies, together, will always unearth stronger design than one vision hewn by one author ever could.
Our practice was founded on the power and purpose of interdisciplinary design. Together, we are defining the future of place through Architecture, Interior Design, Planning & Urban Design, Space Planning, Landscape Architecture, Civil Engineering, Graphic Design, and Interdisciplinary Expertise. We are intentionally structured across a broad spectrum of services and expertise to address the complex problem sets our clients face. Each of our professional practice areas is recognized for design excellence at the international level. Together, we transcend the boundaries of singular disciplines to create integrated design solutions across scales, project typologies, and global contexts.
