Tag Archives: made in Italy

Media, Other, Ponti Method

Welcome to Germany, on our company website!

Ermes Ponti bespoke: German speaking website We’re happy to announce that the ermesponti website now speaks German, besides Italian and English.

We are truly committed to worldwide work, as our list of references can tell you.

As the world becomes smaller and smaller, the ermesponti method is more and more known, and we’re proud to bring the Italian expertise of our teams all over, from Milan Montenapoleone to New York to Shanghai.

As to our German friends, we thought it necessary to add to our company website the possibility to speak with them in their own language.

We are deeply thankful to our business partners in Germany for the appreciation they showed towards our work in more than one occasion.

We’re talking about the interiors of the German Pavillion at the 2015 Venice Architecture Biennale, where ermesponti was chosen by the German Architects studio Ciriacidis Lehnerer for the faithful interiors reconstruction of the original Bonn Kanzlerbungalow, in the premises of the Venice Biennale.BungalowGermania_Ausstellung04 © Bas Princen

Or, different story but equally gratifying for us, when the top German luxury brand Mont Blanc put us in charge of a bespoke interiors retail project, after seeing – during a meeting in Hamburg – how our team handles all parts of a project, starting from handmade prototyping.

Of course we would like to open up our conversation to  French, Russian, Chinese, Portuguese as well… but, as we all know, quality takes time, and we care for quality above everything else!

So, for now, let’s welcome our German contacts with a warm…

Wilkommen!

 

ermesponti bespoke interiors website in German

Ermes Ponti bespoke: company website in German

End to End, Interiors, Ponti Method, Process

Back to Italy? We never left the land of design and handmade excellence!

In the media and at conferences people start talking about “Back to Italy”.

In face, many Italian brands seem to be bringing their productions back to Italy.

We have never left Italy, here’s why: we think that working in our country is an important asset…

1. Relocation = devaluation

With the lure (sometimes never materialized) to spend less we relocated without criteria.

By detaching the mind that creates a project from the hand that realizes it, we have produced monsters, both in quality and culture terms.

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2. The real Made in Italy is made with the head and hands of Italians.

The strong cultural value of our population comes from an integration of intellectual and manual functions, as in the great tradition of Renaissance.

The separation between “those who think” and “those who do”, typical of relocation, breaks beyond repair the true value of the best national products, moreover creating unnecessary and expensive roles in the industry, by manking tha value chain longer and longer (and therefore creating the need for… controllers, for instance , people who have no role whatsoever in the process).

Form our point of view, we’ve always believed in our people and in their enormous professional value.

3. Being “local” means reduction of the supply chain (and cost).

To the people who prefer to outsource productions, ermesponti suggests the opposite: concentrate creativity, design and production.

The short chain shortens the overhead costs and enhances the specific quality of the work as an expression of a strong core, able to build on its own experience.

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4. The higher the quality, the more important the intellectual involvement, at all levels.

In a high-quality product completely bespoke (custom or handmade), the “intellectual” quality of the person who works on it cannnot be ignored.

If this person, working with her hands, is also used to make her intelligence work in the process (certainly not what happens in Fordist chains with relocated production), she is also involved in continuos improvement of the object itself.

It’s a way of working definitely Italian: that’s how our country has expressed the masterpieces that have made us famous the world over.

In this way, Italians  in Italy may be able to face the high costs of a domestic production, making it convenient and rewarding again.

5. It’s also a matter of social responsibility.

Companies not only have responsibilities to themselves: we think that the relationship with the territory can and should be part of an advanced entrepreneurial dimension.

Work creates wealth, knowledge and culture: a company must be able to reinterpret and re-propose such values to the market, in a virtuous circle of growth and evolution.

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6. The consumer is the author of products.

The new “prosumer” is no longer dissociated from the environment: she is the center of the market scenario as a whole, in which territory plays a big part.

7. Purchase = identity

Most of us are tired of being only a credit card, there’s a desire to return to be men and women who interact with products in a sensible way…

Which also means to recognize a prodution, something that happens near home, and maybe involves friends or family.

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End to End, Interiors, Media, Ponti Method

Some thoughts on “How to spend it”: quality, Made in Italy, bespoke and… a modest proposal.

How to spend it - Sole24Ore

There’s new magazine of the Il Sole 24ore Editorial Group, in Italy: “How to spend it”.

This use of the English language in the name  in an Italian magazine sounded me strange to me at first…

Then I understood: it’s a magazine created in Italy, together with The Financial Times, which has been distributing it for 20 years in UK.

Some questions arose spontaneously.

The first one: spending what? Time or money?

Flipping through the pages, I think i got the answer: it’s for people who have a lot of both… good for them! :-)

Second question: do we really need such a format, in these hard times where recession of domestic consumption seems so  overwhelming?

Maybe yes, because – as I quickly found out – the magazine promotes widely both Made in Italy brands and the Made in Italy approach to goods and lifestyle.

Speaking of Made in Italy heroes, in a few minutes I ran into a pearl of wisdom that made me forget all my thoughts.

The following quote appeared to me like a message: something to be shared and discussed, with a strong tie to the times we’re living.

A concept appealing to all: entrepreneurs, common people, young generations.
A message regarding our future.

Here’s what Maurizio Marinella, of the historic company of ties and accessories based in Naples, told journalist Roberto Napoletano, in his “Passaporto Italiano” column:

“The message I got from the ones who came before me is departing from Naples, but never leave Naples. Depart from Naples and stay here in Naples”.

Maurizio Marinella - Ermes Ponti blog

(Thank you Mr. Marinella for your inspiration, I wish I could meet you one day).

In my personal opinion, this is exactly what we have to do!

And we of Ermesponti do it. Actually, we do it every single day.

We depart from Italy, continuously (last trip Germany, but also Asia, New York, UK, all over the world, we go where someone asks for an end-to-end solution to an interiors problem), but never leave Italy.

We work worldwide from here. 

We design and produce bespoke interiors assuming control of the whole process, from starting idea to turnkey delivery for clients and locations all over the world.

Every time we bring with us the values of the Italian culture and the Italian lifestyle.

This reminds me of another Sole 24 ore editorial content I always follow: the radio program “La Fuga dei Talenti” (Talents’ escape) regarding Italian youngsters going abroad to build their carreers.

In this regard, what I’d like to suggest to Mr. Napoletano – radio24 director – is to focus on a positive attitude, which is still possibile, if we change point of view.

Young people need reasons to stay or come back to Italy, not only to escape from our country!

Let’s all give them new, positive examples! Shouldn’t we try to follow Barbara Santoro’s inspiring example?

Our country still is able to produce high levels of excellence, in alla regards.

As fare as we are concerned, we think that there is a high demand of the highest level of luxury: the perfect customization.

A home fitting you perfectly, like a bespoke suit, exclusively designed for you can really improve your lifestyle and makes you feel better.

Living immersed in beauty and harmony, in a space that represents you perfectly, can really change life from hell to heaven!

In brief, we believe the revolution of the “designed for” instead of the “design-by” it’s coming soon and we are proud to be part of it.

And here’s the modest proposal I’d like to share with Il Sole 24 Ore’s manager Mrs. Nicoletta Polla-Mattiot:

The right header for the Italian edition of this prestigious English magazine must be different from the English one: How to spend it, better!

So, dear Mrs. Nicoletta Polla-Mattiot, when can we expect the new “bespoke issue”?

Architecture, Design

From Design to Architecture; from “Design by” to “Designed for”.

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Both industrial design and interior architecture are undertaken to furnish a space. But they do it in different ways. Let’s have some examples.
design awards 2014
In the first case, the client who is going to furnish his house using industrial design products can do it by himself. Sometimes he could need the help of an interior decorator. They will choose together a certain brand, they will leaf through the pages of beautiful catalogs and make their own selection of a certain number of pieces of furniture. They will fill each room of the house with industrial products they need and sometimes they  will overfill it with a lots of beautiful stuff they don’t need at all. Everything will be in fashion in the new house, but not for a long time. They will pay a certain amount of money, but they will never know the real cost of production of each piece of furniture. It doesn’t matter if the furniture is from Ikea or one of the best Italian brands, the way is really the same. The production, distribution and marketing processes are similar.
This client is choosing a product “design by” someone. Sometimes the designer is a big name or sometimes the brand name is more famous. Often both of them are very popular. And they are the main reason for the customer’s choice. The customer feels confident buying something well-known worldwide. Especially a customer who is looking to keep up with the Jones’s. In new markets this kind of situation  is very common and that’s why fashion or design brands have great success.
In the second case, the client is looking for something completely different from the brands. Often he is not brand orientated.  For example, he could be searching for eco sustainable production, fair trade or just “Made in Italy”.  He can also be interested in crystal clear distribution and he is very careful about the real value he brings home. He doesn’t want merely to fill his house, but, first and foremost, he has a specific plan for it. He wants a site-specific project for his house; something “designed for” him and no one  else.
john pawson
Of course he is not able to do it by himself. “It takes a hatter to make a hat”, they say. Especially a first class hat. A bespoke suit made in Savile Row could be the best way to express his own personality.  A bespoke interior might be the best investment for a comfortable daily life as well. The hatter or the tailor in this case should be an architect, but not an ordinary architect. The client needs  to build a good relationship with an architect. A close affinity is necessary. He will express his needs and also sometimes his dreams for his home. He  wants an architect able to translate furniture and interiors in architectural form. Something “designed for” him is more than a comfortable, bespoke suit worn once or twice a year!
In the end, the two clients have similar results  and spend almost the same amount of money. There is no significant difference between a house totally decorated with top-brand furniture and another house furnished with custom-designed furniture. The key point is not a question of money. The average person spends or invests what is affordable.
Actually, it is only a question of taste and education. People are ready to spend only on what they really care about. If they are interested in a sense of modern beauty they will feel in fashion when buying what design brands are offering. But, if they are looking for their own specific expression of beauty, personality and well being, they will ask for an interior that is not just the fashion, but custom designed for them.
poddaponti dining 
As architects we feel our mission is designing and making timeless interiors in an end-to-end process. We can guarantee top-quality materials and pleasing contemporary design. At the same time- we can keep a watchful eye on  the client’s budget and schedule.
We believe architectural interiors should be done in this way. Everything is bespoke at ermesponti. This is our core-business; give us a try!