Italian architect and designer Francesco Lucchese's most prominent works are on a grand scale.

He transformed the Cineplex in Sofia, Bulgaria, from a rigid boxy structure to a fluid one full of undulating lines and colored light. In the same city, he redesigned the Hotel Les Fleurs, turning an ordinary inn into an architectural landmark worthy of its namesake by festooning every aspect of the interior with flowers and constructing a giant mosaic of metal and glass to give the exterior structure a softer, more organic feel.

In his seminar marking the opening of Jakarta's Italian Design week, however, Lucchese emphasized importance of design not only on the large scale, but also in smaller, more intimate settings.

A native of Sicily, Lucchese graduated in 1985 from the Polytechnic University of Milan with a degree in architecture. Since then, he has worked as both an architect and a product designer, tackling projects across the world, but keeping his Milan studio as a home base. Working in Italy - a country with a long history of excellence in both fields - keeps him at the center of the design world, constantly facing the challenge of respecting traditional methods and materials while keeping his eyes fresh and meeting the demands of modern customers.

New materials and new technologies have made it possible to design and construct virtually any shape imaginable, Lucchese said, but like their predecessors, modern architects still need to think and build on the human scale.

"An architect can't put the museum in his head inside somebody else's home," he said. "Design must be functional. It has to answer to people's needs."

In architectural projects such as the Bulgarian cinema, this has meant clever details such as installing sinks of various heights in the bathroom, making sure there is a comfortable size both for a tall adult or for a child in a wheelchair. "This is a way to respond to the needs of all," he said.

His product designs, which he creates for companies such as Venini, Egoluce and Cappellini grab attention first for their style, which reflects Lucchese's strong interest in bright colors, fluid lines and the play of light. Yet they, too, focus on fulfilling a function through their form.

A bright cascade of Corian - a moldable acrylic polymer Lucchese seems particularly enamored of - that unfolds from the ceiling like an orange plastic tongue is not just a decorative feature. It is a multifunctional piece of furniture, serving simultaneously as a room divider, a wine storage rack, a breakfast counter and a dining table.

Like many of Lucchese's products, the piece aims to fill a consumer requirement he finds particularly pressing - the need for designs that are beautiful, but take up very little room.

"With this, we're saying a big thing," said Lucchese. "A small space is not a poor space."

According to Global Property Guide, which indexes real estate prices around the world, the cost of a square meter of residential property in prime areas of cities like Monaco or London can easily top US$20,000, or even $40,000. Jakarta, by contrast, is considered a bargain at less than $1,300 a square meter, but property prices in the city are still a strain on most of its residents. And as more and more people crowd into cities across the globe, they must learn how to live in less and less room.

"A small space is very expensive," said Lucchese. "Every square meter must be made to count."

The most striking example of this philosophy is a bathroom design Lucchese's studio created for the manufacturer Hatria, which fits a toilet and sink comfortably and stylishly into a space a just a meter square. Lucchese met this challenge by simply turning the elements on a diagonal. The toilet and sink are tucked neatly in adjacent corners, leaving enough room to maneuver, while bright tiles and the round, chubby lines of the ceramics keep the room from feeling harsh or utilitarian.

The logical accompaniment, perhaps, would be one of Lucchese's shower designs, a sleek jewel-toned cylinder, small enough to fit in a corner but still capable of opening wide enough to be used even by people with disabilities. And on the wall, a hot-water radiator Lucchese designed for the manufacturer Antrax. Called "Zero," it looks like a flattened pink donut lightly dipped in purple frosting, sits flush against the wall and is designed to emit violet-scented perfume as the heated water rises through its curves.

Lucchese's kitchenware, too, shows this playful multifunctionality. During his presentation in Jakarta, Lucchese stood silently, projecting a slide of a nondescript stack of dishes, and then laughed triumphantly, raising his hands as the next slide revealed the dishes unstacked, the small package nesting together enough dishes for an elegant meal.

This sense of fun, style and function, has secured Lucchese and other Italian designers a place at the cutting edge of the today's design world. Predicting where future trends will lead is impossible, Lucchese said, because design will always respond to consumer demand.

"But one thing is certain," he said. "In the studio, we're trying to focus on things that are eco-sustainable, recyclable, and low-energy."

Italian Design Week continues through June 14, with design displays and special events at Vastuhome, Ambiente, Archipelago, Smeg Gallery, Transliving, Stella Mobili, Sogno Italiano, Melandas and Decorous showrooms in Jakarta. For more information, contact the Italian Trade Commission, Jakarta, on 021 571 3570 or at giacarta.giacarta@ice.it

The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post

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