Raised in the countryside, “none of my relatives or friends had anything to do with design,” recalls Milan-based architect and designer Cristina Celestino. It wasn’t until high school when her art teacher, who was also an architect, “gave us some wonderful lessons on the masters” that her career plans became clear.
Celestino has worked on plenty of spaces post-architecture studies, like the revamp of the suites at the Palazzo Avino on the Amalfi Coast and the Experimental Cocktail Club outpost at Il Palazzo Experimental hotel in Venice. But she is also known for Attico Design, the products atelier she first launched during the 2012 edition of SaloneSatellite, Salone del Mobile Milano’s event dedicated to designers under the age of 35. It was here that Celestino publicly unveiled several products she had designed. There was the Florian table display, as well as her Veneer vases crafted from layers of wood, carbon, glass fiber, and adhesive film. The vintage-inspired Atomizer borosilicate glass perfume bottles she presented were produced by Seletti the following year.
The Giardino delle Delizie tile collection for Fornace Brioni is influenced by the grottos of Renaissance gardens
Now, recognized for her brazen pastel hues and melding of geometric patterns, Celestino’s product expertise is vast, spanning collaborations with such Italian design and fashion heavyweights as Botteganove, Billiani, Cedit-Florim, Fendi, Saba, and Sergio Rossi.
“To work on a product with and for a company is a long process and no less demanding than an internal one,” she explains. “The projects are born from the dialogue, and it’s a path where the company’s role is fundamental for the success of the piece.” Celestino is also the creative director of the family-run tile company Fornace Brioni, for whom she designs collections of Old World cotto tiles that reimagine classic shapes and draw from Italian heritage to evoke the likes of gardens and Renaissance grottos.
“When I design a product, whether it’s a chair or a lamp, I start to think not only of the single item, but also the whole mood, and [where it would fit] in the interiors,” she says. “I give attention to the proportions and the right size. I start to sketch from the floor line.”
Soft lines and simple geometry define the Veretta chair line designed by Celestino for Billiani
This article originally appeared in HD’s 2021 Product Marketplace issue.
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