• What first inspired you to bring together film, design, and architecture within a single creative practice?

Design is in my DNA, but I studied Philosophy and Film Production. When I started my own production company, I realized that design and architecture were more told through pictures, beautiful but static photos. I felt the need to start telling stories about objects, buildings and creators with moving images. My mission today is to reach a wide audience with the power of moviemaking.

• When developing a project, how do you decide which stories, figures, or design narratives are most compelling to explore?

The needs of society are always driving me and I often choose to explore stories about what is relevant today, as green architecture, or great protagonists of design and architecture that are also humanistic and poetic figures.

• You have worked closely with iconic figures such as Renzo Piano and Gio Ponti archives. Which collaboration has been most memorable, and why?

Renzo Piano is a great master and having the opportunity to work very close to him is a gift, I’m learning a lot about the art of building – which is his mantra. On the other side, digging into the Gio Ponti archives was a fantastic discovery. Ponti is a giant that designed everything and wrote amazing words about the human perspective on design.

• How have these collaborations shaped your perspective on storytelling within architecture and design?

I learned how to communicate design and architecture in a more fascinating way, with simplicity but universality. Speaking to the new generations is the goal.

• As both a creative director and the founder of a production company, how do you balance artistic vision with the practical demands of running a business?

Quality is the red thread, the fil rouge. I’m like a tightrope walker, trying to balance the creative and the business aspects. It’s challenging but in this way I’m free to choose the stories I want to tell.

• In what ways does producing your own work allow you to push creative boundaries?

I’m free to experiment by myself but also to choose the best team for each project. Team working is very important in filmmaking.

• Molteni&C embodies a philosophy where architecture, furniture, and lifestyle converge into a “total living environment.” Why do you believe this approach is particularly relevant to contemporary design discourse?

Coherency and consistency are very important today. Molteni&C can deliver both, with an obsession for quality, providing that “feeling at home” design which is comfortable and contemporary at the same time.

• The opening of the Molteni&C store at Msheireb Downtown Doha places Italian design heritage within a distinctly Qatari urban context. How do you interpret this dialogue between Italian modernism and Msheireb’s vision of culturally rooted contemporary urbanism?

In Doha I felt a great energy and enthusiasm for tradition, contemporary living and hospitality. We share similar attitudes. The dialogue is open between the two cultures.

• As Doha continues to position itself as a regional design and cultural capital, what role can spaces like the Molteni&C store in Msheireb play in cultivating a more design-aware and design-curious public in the Middle East?

A space like the Molteni&C store is a platform for sharing quality living and heritage. This is a starting point for new collaborations with the community and the Middle East public.