Thinking with one’s hands and making with one’s head. Perhaps this is the best way to describe Marco Campardo’s attitude to design. Focused on questioning established modes of production, his practice is rooted in material exploration and hands-on making, using unorthodox methods and tools to develop objects that are intriguing, both conceptually and formally.

For Jello, his first collaboration with Galerie kreo, Marco Campardo brings this approach to the fore by seeking to re-consider the relationship between the mould and outcome, between process and object. If the standard approach suggests that the designer drafts an ideal form to be reproduced endlessly through the precision of a mould, the work of Marco Campardo is based on the principle that forms are not the result of drawing forms on paper, but of a hands-on process of making. Indeed, rarely does Campardo design something from scratch. Often, what attracts him is the choice of a material or finding an intuitive solution to problems and limitations inherent in certain projects. His childhood spent with his father in a woodworking shop has influenced his approach to the world, starting from a technical understanding of objects, how they are made and how they are to be used. The Jello collection, on show at Galerie kreo in Paris from February 7 until April 5, as much as his previous work such as Sugar Shapes, George or Elle chair, are the result of this attitude whereby design is understood as a speculative medium, rooted in experimenting with materials and production processes.

Photo © Alexandra de Cossette Courtesy Galerie kreo