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F5: Stefano Giussani Shares a Love of Silent Details, His Commute + More

10.07.22 | By
F5: Stefano Giussani Shares a Love of Silent Details, His Commute + More

Architect Stefano Giussani joined Lissoni Milan in 2004, becoming part of the design team for projects both in Italy and abroad. In 2013, he was made partner, leading the firm’s interior design department for international projects, including Asia and the Middle East.

In 2015, Lissoni New York was founded to serve as an extension of the Milan‐based interdisciplinary studio and to bring the interior design expertise of Piero Lissoni and his practice to the Americas. Stefano was appointed CEO, and now oversees projects spanning the Americas from Canada and the United States to Brazil. He defines business development strategies, is responsible for client acquisition, and develops and oversees projects for the American market, hiring and managing the firm’s international design team in New York.

Stefano also delivers lectures and talks, bringing the Lissoni design philosophy to hospitality, commercial, and residential projects, and a wider audience. This year, he’s teaching at Parsons, The New School of Design on Principles of Interior Design Studio 3.

Today, Stefano Giussani joins us for Friday Five!

bald light-skinned man with dark facial wearing round glasses, a striped shirt, and a dark cardigan

Stefano Giussani

view of Manhattan taken from a plane

Photo: Stefano Guissani

1. Travel + Discovering New Cultures

In any travel done, I’m always visiting a street market, learning traditions, food, smells, tastes. That’s a really big part of enriching my eyes every time.

detail of wood joinery

2. Silent Details

Silent details are the one I like the most. I “felt” them the first time while in Japan, and since then both my love for Japanese simplicity, and at the same time dense complexity, became the way I design every project. With silent details in it, details that you feel and experience but are not visible.

cement steps covered in colorful autumn leaves

3. My Morning Commute

My morning commute across Central Park is my secret shelter in the Apple. It’s rewarding any time and in the fall, which is my favorite season, is a boost to face the city that never sleeps. Photographing around New York is like being on a movie set!

vintage circus memorabilia featuring a dancing woman standing on top of a red box

4. Collecting Circus Memorabilia

Collecting circus memorabilia is my passion. I dig into flea markets or antique stores while I’m selecting vintage furniture for my projects, and is what I like the most wherever I go.

interior of small, intimate, dark restaurant

Photo courtesy Chambers

5. Dinner in a Cozy Restaurant

Dinner in a cozy restaurant with moonlight and letting the chef decide the menu is really the cherry on top of the cake. My favorite place in New York, and where to find all of this, is Chambers in Tribeca.

 

Work by Stefano Giussani:

exterior facade of boxy building at dusk

Mitsui Garden Hotel, Ginza, Tokyo, Japan \\\ This is the first hospitality project I did at Lissoni, and where I learned so much about the “real world” – not as a student – of Hotel interior design. Still today, after 19 years, I go back to my notebook and refer to sketches I did at that time, finding answers for the projects I’m developing today.\\\ Photo: Hideki Kokubun

exterior facade of large building in shadows

Mamilla Hotel, Jerusalem, Israel \\\ Having the chance to work with local people in a such tight relationship, surrounded by history and cultures, and translate them into a contemporary design was a really unique experience in my life. Sharing cultures and traditional colors and textures was a continuous evolution for the one-of-kind project we delivered in this ancient city. \\\ Photo: Amit Geron

large entry with walls of windows, sofas, and two large glass chandeliers

Al Zorah Resort, Ajman, UEA \\\ This project is the last one I worked on before I moved to New York. The first time we visited the site it was only sand and sea. Now, there is a city and we worked for years designing every single aspect of it. From the master planning, the architecture, the interior, the product design, the styling, and branding. It was like a complete book of all the fields I dealt with for over 15 years. \\\ Photo: Simone Bossi

Kelly Beall is Director of Branded Content at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based writer and designer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, from Fashion Plates to MoMA and far beyond. When not searching out the visual arts, she's likely sharing her favorite finds with others. Kelly can also be found tracking down new music, teaching herself to play the ukulele, or on the couch with her three pets – Bebe, Rainey, and Remy. Find her @designcrush on social.