An Interview with Katia Santuccio
Meet our Instructor Katia Santuccio
Katia Santuccio, an Italian architect and designer, has been running Go Inspired’s Design programs for 4 years. We chat with Katia to find out more about her and what the Design courses are all about.
Tell us a bit about you?
I was born in Milan but when I was to decide about university I visited Florence and decided to move there because I wanted to experience beauty every moment of my life.
How did you get interested in Design and Architecture?
I’ve always been attracted by the function of objects and always by shapes too. Since I was a child I felt the necessity of creating, inventing and transforming things…But I wasn’t aware yet this was the attitude of a designer!
What is unique about the Italian Interior Design course?
Discovering our potential and language by doing things. I like to observe my students discovering their intimate design language and hope to give them some of the tools architects need to realize their own visions while living in Florence.
What background do your students have?
Most of them are students in architecture or interior design. Some are professionals looking for a new experience.
What does this course aim to do?
Make students live architecture and design as a design holiday! Being free and relaxed is the best way to absorb things. My students seem to have clear ideas about how to develop a concept but can’t find real references in the past and being aware of what exists gives them the push to go beyond. I try to give them a general idea of the Italian approach to design, art and architecture..
I hope to create doubts in their minds… I think young people should always remember to ask, to have a critical spirit, to be curious and selective at the same time.
How do you make this course hands-on?
I am always combining theory and practical lessons. I invite students to “look at usual things with unusual eyes”. In Italy we have a great tradition in design but also in developing processes to realize high quality objects.
I want to involve them in real matters of design. Discover materials and icons of design from a technical as well as poetic point of view. Involve them in the extraordinary history of Italian design made of passionate designers and sensitive businessmen.
What can students expect from this course?
I think the best attitude is just being open and curious. They should just expect to add a brick to their education. As architects we have a great responsibility… their attitude and contribution are necessary for success.
Why is learning Italian Interior Design important in Florence?
Florence represents the essence of beauty, even in the smallest detail… sensibility is not a matter we can learn but Florence forces us to bow to her power.
Why would you recommend this course to students?
During the workshop students are requested to create a maquette. It is surprising how they get involved and soon realize how complex it can be to control the whole process of a project. They need to make ideas and realization go together. This process will be a smaller sample for their real work in the future.
What are some of your favorite architectural places in Florence?
Santo Spirito church represents, in my opinion, an important step towards modern architecture as we intend it today… minimal, simple open space able to hide its complexities and solutions.
The Laurentian Library for its rigorous design, its functional approach and its poetic intensity.
But walking through Florence I can recognize a whole architectural place…sometimes I feel like I am walking in a maquette and find myself touched even if I have been living here for a long time.
What’s better than Florence to go inspired??!!
Thanks Katia for taking the time to tell us more about you and the Design Courses!
For more information regarding Go Inspired’s design courses, check out Go Inspired’s Design Courses