Martino Gamper on Mutation, Enterprise, and Physicality as Future Drivers

Italian designer Martino Gamper (born Merano, 1971) shares his vision for the future in an interview with Ludovico Pratesi. Gamper studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, worked briefly in Milan, and moved to London in 1998. He gained international fame with '100 Chairs in 100 Days and its 100 Ways' (2005), collecting discarded chairs from London streets and recombining them. He cites sculptors Brancusi, Bourgeois, Calder, and Hepworth as inspirations. The project originated in 2002 at a Victoria & Albert Museum summer workshop where he and friend Rainer Spehl gathered abandoned furniture. Gamper emphasizes the importance of Genius Loci and believes the future is the past reimagined. He advises young designers to be themselves and take courageous paths. He identifies three guiding ideas: mutation (constant change), being enterprising (using resources with respect and intelligence), and physicality (balancing virtual with corporeal stimuli). The interview is part of the 'Futuro Antico' series on Artribune.