Monica Armani: feminine, contemporary and with architecture in her DNA

30 March 2023

“I learned so much from my father, he was a rationalist architect and he told me that we should never be lazy: if a project doesn’t satisfy us, we have to get back at it and this is true in architecture as well as in design. And now that I have more experience, I realize that I’m also quicker to understand if something is wrong. It’s a chisel job.” When Monica Armani talks about herself and her profession as an architect and designer, she loves to mention her father and the influence that he had in developing her style and her method. Which manifests itself in clean, elegant, essential projects but with soul. From which shines the competence and a recognizable taste, beyond the trends.

Based on your experience, how is the right relationship established between the space and the furnishings it contains?

In both architecture and design I always try to create spaces and objects that have a long life. This is my mantra, and it also brings with it an idea of sustainability whereby if you design a product that people love for many years, it won’t be thrown away and replaced and that’s very nice. In addition, I am not inclined to create objects too tied to trends, I like that a product has characteristics in its DNA, through which a strong thought shines and which makes it as long-lasting as possible.

This implies a coordination of all the details that I have called the “detail equation”: when we manage to coordinate as many details as possible with each other, identifying a homogeneous language, this project will have a long life. So, you need to dwell a lot, carefully, on all the various details and elements. What I don’t like is the “cataloguist” architecture: you leaf through the catalogs of companies and make a patchwork. In my opinion, this is a mistake: you need to work with companies but also have a strong voice, I try to design as much as possible so that my architecture is authentic.

What are the values that you carry forward in your architectural and design projects?

Space always wins: a well-designed interior is worth more, perhaps with less square meters, than a large space poorly cut. The breadth is valid up to a certain point, what matters is how the plant is managed. I always try to free up, to make a clean, essential interior. And I work a lot with waistlines: if my windows reach a certain height, I use that height as a reference. Because I learned from my father to work on grids in plan and in elevation because it gives you rhythm and is a point of reference for the gaze. I also like to create a limbo, for example when I can I use only one floor for the whole house. And to create a neutral environment which then lends itself to welcoming all the furnishing objects.

Thinking about your outdoor projects: how has this sector evolved in recent years?

When I started, with Tribù, in 2013, the Tosca collection became a reference and sales continue to grow while normally a product settles down after a few years. This is probably partly due to the pandemic which has made us understand that we can live our private spaces in a better way and furnish them in a more suitable way. And outdoor spaces, such as balconies, gardens, terraces, and porches are very important and in fact most companies, even very large ones, have begun to take an interest in this area. Because it is a market that is still expanding. My Tosca project was very focused on textiles with a very couture effect that makes it look like an interior product. And today all companies offer products that seem almost for indoors thanks to the development of technical fabrics. Until a few years ago it was unthinkable, for example, to use velvet for outdoors. There is also great opportunity for professionals who approach an exterior project.

What do you expect from the next edition of the Salone del Mobile?

It will certainly be an important edition because it is held in April, there is great expectation. We will have to reorient ourselves to the new layout of the fair. In these years of stress for everyone, companies have digitized themselves a lot, they have experimented with new ways of communicating and we need to understand how this will affect the fair. And how the fair will relate to what is happening in the city.

How would you describe your home?

I live in Trento, in a house that I designed on a family plot. I’m on the ground floor, I have a garden around and my sister is upstairs. Here I wanted to experiment with many concepts that I profess, so I have an oak floor throughout the house, white walls, French windows from which I see the garden so that inside and outside are one. There is a very open plan, the division of spaces takes place through wardrobes that are not full height with integrated dimmable light whereby the light source disappears. And I made wings to access from one environment to another. Having cabinets lower than the walls, you can read the entire ceiling, and this makes the room wider and more open.

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