Denis Santachiara, the most atypical amongst the great Italian designers. A renowned artist, his works are exhibited in the largest venues of contemporary art, from the MoMA in New York to the Pompidou in Paris. In every project he always combines the technology with an oneiric component that characterizes all of his creations. He does not want to be called an architect. “I’m not, even if I work in design people often call me that…”. In the trade he is known as the theoretician of “neomerce” “new merchandise”. He was one of the first to design useful and technological items that were, at the same time, ironic and poetic. Santachiara, as a true outsider, defines himself as a student, a worker and a creator of prototypes: “I am not a designer, I’m a magician. In my work I search for dreams and magic, because for me dreams have to have a technical cause”.
Santachiara works in an essential and rigorous studio, tucked away in a courtyard of old Milan, on the Naviglio Pavese. Those who are familiar with his projects would expect to see some signs of most of the works that are exhibited in the greatest museums in the world, but here only the future is to be found, because he is always projected ahead.
