I am an Italian ( since 1969) architect and graphic designer (since 1994) that live and work in Barcelona (since 2007), but mostly I’m a curious person (since ever). Every day I try to rediscover a way to observe the world as through the eyes of a child.
Children are able to have a vision of things totally uninhibited and without the conditioning of the experience. The children’s drawings are always amazing and beautiful in their spontaneous simplicity and clarity. I like trying to explain the world I see through different techniques of expression. I like the richness of the language and the diversity of its forms. I do not want to confine me in a prison of a style or shape. Drawing and illustration are for me one of the ways to recount and photograph the thoughts, feelings and emotions. Every picture has a story and every picture is a witness of a story.

Federico Babina on ARCHILOVERS

federicobabina.com

Born in Albino (Bergamo – Italy) on February 3, 1942. He studied architecture at the Milan Polytechnic. While still a student, in 1965, he was invited by Dino Gavina to open a furnishing center in Bergamo. In 1968 he founded a research group in Milan. He has designed collections and furniture for Gavina, Flos, Knoll International and Alias, a firm he founded in 1979.

He was art director of Alias until 1983. In 1984 he founded with his wife, Marilisa Baleri Decimo, Baleri Italia, collaborating with Hollein, Mendini and other emerging designers such as Starck, Dalisi and Wettstein for the creation of a unified collection. Since 1986, he has been active in the fields of architecture, image and communication, promotional graphics and industrial design.

Enrico Baleri on ARCHILOVERS

www.ebricerche.it

Born in France in 1976, Sam Baron has a degree in Design from the Fine Arts School of Saint Etienne and a post-graduate degree from the National Decorative Arts School of Paris. Baron loves to reinterpret traditional methods of construction, raising questions about the utility of today’s material productions.

He is an independent designer and consultant for international companies such as Benetton, Louis Vuitton, L’Oréal, Vista Alegre and the French jewellery designer Dinh Van; he creates exhibition and interior design projects, giving life to cross-over works mixing art and design. In January 2009, Baron received the “Grand Prix de la Creation de la Ville de Paris” in the design category and during the 2010 edition of Maison & Objet, Philippe Starck selected him as one of the ten important designers of the next decade.

Sam Baron currently lives and works between France, Portugal and Italy where, since 2006, he directs Fabrica’s Design Studio.

Sam Baron on ARCHILOVERS

www.sambaron.fr

www.fabrica.it

Director Architecture and Contemporary Design @ MAXXI – IT

Born in France, Sam Baron is consultant as creative director. He has a degree in Design from the Fine Arts School of Saint Etienne and a post-graduate degree from the National Decorative Arts School of Paris. Baron loves to reinterpret traditional methods of construction, raising questions about the utility of today’s material productions.
He is an independent designer and consultant for international companies such as Louis Vuitton, La Redoute, Vista Alegre and the French liquor brand Hennessy; he creates products, exhibition and interior design projects, giving life to cross-over works mixing art and design. Beside his own practice, Sam Baron has been for more than a decade, the design director at Fabrica – the Benetton group communication research center.
In 2009 Baron received the “Grand Prix de la Creation de la Ville de Paris” in the design category and in 2010 Philippe Starck selected him as one of the ten important designers of the next decade. Sam Baron currently lives and works between Portugal and France where he recently took part of the think tank platform Thinkers&Doers.

Sam Baron on ARCHILOVERS

sambaron.fr

Founder @ Designheroes – CH

Brenda Bellei Bizzi is the CEO – Chief Excecutive Officer of WHITE, the international contemporary fashion tradeshow established in Milan since 2000. Born in Bologna, after the Classic High School, she got the degree in Economics cum laude in 1994. She has developed a long experience in business working several years in Arthur Andersen International office in the Tax and Legal Dept. In 2000 she started working with Massimiliano Bizzi launching WHITE show and strenghten the company behind the brand. In 2007 she become CEO of WHITE and M.Seventy, too, the consultancy company owner of WHITE trademark. In 2008 Brenda launched The White Club – a non profit association, that promoted the most interesting international fashion designers with dedicated events in Milan. With this innovative tradeshow format WHITE has been the first to put the attention on the upcoming talents in fashion, inviting them to join the show to make them meet with the Italian manufacturers. Today the White Club works together with institutions, like the City of Milan, the Lombardy Region or national associations, to promote cultural project about the contemporary fashion scene. Nowadays Brenda Bellei is in charge of the business area of the group, following all the institutional and international relationships to develop WHITE brand worldwide, thanks to a strategic vision that has turned WHITE into a company with 3 headquarters based in Milan, Bologna and Shanghai. Thanks to her strong will to expand the tradeshow both on Italian and international level, Brenda succeeded in reaching important agreements with the City of Milan, which is a key institutional partner of the show, and Confartigianato Imprese Moda, one of the most important industrial organization, in order to promote artisanship and contemporary fashion designers internationally. In Brenda’s vision great importance has been given to buyers and to implement this buyer oriented strategy she built a long lasting relationship with The Italian Buyers Association, that collects the top Italian retailers. Among the other partners of WHITE is also the Russian Chambers of Buyers managed by Elena Bugranova, that gathers 50 retailers and showrooms spread in 15 Russian cities. With the support of MISE Ministry of Economic Development and ICE – Italian Trade Agency, WHITE is also promoting the Italian companies abroad, WHITE MILANO – sede uffici via Tortona 27 – 20144 Milano – press@whiteshow.it – www.whiteshow.com – tel. 02/34 59 27 85 inviting buyers from Far East and north European markets to visit Milan attending the show. Brenda Bellei is the strategic financial mind of the company which now showcases more than 1.200 brands for the women’s collections. Over the last few years M.Seventy managed by Brenda Bellei has invested on growth by widening its scope and mode of action well beyond the traditional and merely trade-fair mindset, namely by developing an investment plan to boost WHITE as a brand through communication projects with a cultural connotation, aiming to make the tradeshow increasingly international. Strategically important is also the cooperation with Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, the National Chamber for the Italian Fashion and Cavalier Mario Boselli, Onorary President of the National Chamber, who worked jointly with WHITE to support new projects for promoting less known countries hosted at WHITE. Recognized by the international press as an influential person in the fashion business, who has been able to create a winning formula of a tradeshow rooted in a capital city as Milan, which is considered a leader and a success case study in the industry.

www.whiteshow.com

Mario Bellini is an architect and designer internationally renowned. He received the Golden Compass Award eight times and 25 of his works are in the permanent design collection of the New York MoMA, which dedicated to him a personal retrospective in 1987. He was editor of Domus magazine (1985-1991). He has designed countless art, design and architecture exhibitions over the years, both in Italy and abroad. The last one is the first ever Giotto complete exhibition in the Royal Palace of Milan. In 2015 he received the Golden Medal for his professional career, an honor bestowed by Triennale di Milano, that from January to March 2017 has devoted to him a personal exhibition. Since 1991 he is Royal Honorary Designer of RDI. Since the 1980’s, dedicating himself almost entirely to architecture, the manifold kinds of buildings he has designed include the Portello Trade Fair district in Milan, the Villa Erba Exhibition and Convention Centre in Cernobbio (Como), the Tokyo Design Centre in Japan, the Natuzzi America Headquarters in the United States, the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, the Deutsche Bank Headquartes in Frankfurt, the City History Museum of Bologna, the Department of Islamic Art at the Louvre in Paris, and the new Milan Convention Centre, the largest in Europe. Projects currently underway are the refurbishing of the International Air terminal of Roma-Fiumicino (2014-2017), the Erzelli Science and Technology Park in Genoa (2006- 2017), the “Generali Academy“ in Trieste (2015-2017), and the new museum “Antiquarium” at the Roman Forum in Rome (2014-2017). He has various projects at the design stage, among which, the “New Eco-City” of Zhenjiang in China (2013-2018) and a large Residential, Cultural and Sports Complex in Gulf Area (2014-2022).

Mario Bellini on ARCHILOVERS

www.bellini.it

Bobby Berk is best known as the design guru on Netflix’s Emmy Award-winning series Queer Eye, but has been immersed in the designer business for over a decade. After years in the creative and design field, he took the leap to start his own brand, Bobby Berk. Epitomizing hip, urban luxury, Berk’s designs reflect a stylish and youthful spirit that perfectly fits any lifestyle. In 2006, Berk started his own company and opened his first showroom in lower Manhattan the following year. Years later, in 2015, he launched his full-service bespoke interior design practice for residential, commercial and hospitality clientele.

bobbyberk.com

Photo credit: Luke Fontana