Andrea Capellino and his son Lorenzo, 4 years old, are climbing over 2000 meters, at Lake Muffé, Champorcher area (Valle d’Aosta). “I’m Spider-Man, but don’t write it in the interview,” says a little voice in the background. It is the day of the mountains, one of the passions of the architect from Asti. At the age of 47, a studio in Piazza Medici in Asti and a base in California, he is the creator of “Italia Bellissima”, a network of artisans who share values and small “made in Italy” products. Among the latest projects, the Capellino studio has signed Wine Experience, an interactive museum hosted at the World of Wine in Priocca.
From Asti to design villas on the Californian coast: how did it happen?
“Thanks to Italian friends who live there. I was renovating the Murisengo Castle and they brought me the entrepreneur Brooke Morris who was immediately convinced. So I built my first house in Newport Beach. I have done other interior design jobs with local architects. With the arrival of Covid everything came to a standstill. As soon as the new pandemic wave ends, we should start designing a villa in Manhattan Beach, near Los Angeles ».
You have launched the “Italia Bellissima” project. How is it going?
«Thanks to this idea, over a hundred small Italian artisans have seen their brand and their productions exported to America, Northern Europe, Great Britain and Australia. The pandemic has slowed down Italia Bellissima abroad, but it is a philosophy that we pursue every day. We have renovated the house of a German-Danish family who fell in love with Calamandrana. We only involved small artisans: the floors are made of hand-made cement tiles; the carpenter made the furniture with the old beams of the roof. We had also started a project with school children on materials, but with Covid everything is at a standstill. We will take it back. The concept of craftsmanship must already pass at school. We need artisans but today we need masons, plumbers, graduate carpenters ».
The project that gave you the most satisfaction?
“The villa in California has certainly opened up a world for me. I was able to see other working methods, an experience that today allows me to work well with foreigners and with an important multinational. Another great satisfaction is having created the “Back” vase: it is my good luck charm. It means “back or back” because I have summarized the ideas of Italia Bellisima in a design object. I involved artisans and artists from all over Italy: everyone interpreted the vase according to the culture of the place. I exhibited them in Los Angeles in 2018 with the works of the Albese artist Valerio Berruti ».
Which colleague would you like to work with?
«When I was 10, I read Renzo Piano’s“ Dialoghi di yard ”. I would like to work with him. But I love working with my colleagues so much ».
Which architect of the past are you inspired by?
“The German Walter Gropius, founder of the Bauhaus.”
Speaking of architecture, what do you like about Asti and what don’t?
«Asti is a real city, it hasn’t become fake. I always tell my clients that it has great potential. On the other hand, I don’t like shopping centers that are born like mushrooms ».
If he could change the city, where would he intervene?
«I would like to see Piazza del Palio with an underground car park. Don’t see all those cars downtown anymore. Fewer cars, more greenery and space for pedestrians ».
What is missing in Asti?
«A wine museum designed with a modern concept of an interactive place, where I don’t go to see but to do things».
Unesco: opportunity or brake for architecture?
«Unesco is very popular with foreigners, who decide to invest in the certainty that the landscape will not be touched. Architecture combines well: there are rules, few, simple and correct. Certainly being Unesco enhances a territory ».
If you didn’t live in Asti, where would you like to live?
«In Pietrabruna, in the hinterland of Imperia. I renovated a small stone house, I have an olive grove and a Vermentino vineyard that I cultivate with my mother Maria Grazia and my family. An enchanted place ».
Does the genius loci exist?
«The god of the Place is fundamental. These are the things you don’t see, but hear. They are the energies of the earth. When it is not there, architecture is soulless. It is like the models without humanity that Guccini sings ».
What do you do now?
«We are renovating stone houses in the Langa Astigiana: it is mainly foreigners who invest here. Dutch, Danes, Norwegians. We also have a new project linked to wine and the design of cellars for individuals ».
The next trip?
“I’d like to go to Chile, a country where, before starting a project, you write a poem.”
What is never missing in your suitcase?
«A notebook where I take notes and a bottle of Asti wine to give as a gift. If I arrive without wine, my customers won’t even open it! ».
His dream?
«To create a workshop similar to the Bauhaus in Asti, where you can meet carpenters, restorers, artisans, philosophers, thinkers, artists. And at the same time create design, urban and social guidelines ».