Interview | Toan Nguyen

We interviewed Toan Nguyen, new Creative Director of the Schiffini company. This year the historic kitchen brand has chosen to collaborate with Salvioni by proposing an installation in the shop window of Via Durini 3 for the Fuorisalone 2024. The protagonist of this set-up is the tribute to the “Cinqueterre” kitchen by Vico Magistretti and an unmissable proposal for catalog 2024.

What is the philosophy you chose to face this new adventure?

Relaunching such an important and historic brand as Schiffini was obviously a challenge, because the world of design has changed a lot in recent times and with it its needs. We have tried to put the spotlight on all the strong elements of the brand revisited in an innovative and exquisitely Italian vision, paying attention to details, materials and design to create something new and interesting. Today’s themes have changed a lot, the general level of cuisine is certainly much higher and tends to become increasingly refined, pushing everyone to do their best to keep up with the times.

What, however, seems to have disappeared a little is the attention to materiality that we have deliberately re-proposed here to offer an alternative to incredibly functional but cold kitchens, devoid of that material component that enhances their experiential value.

How did you deal with the legacy of a great master like Vico Magistretti?

The biggest challenge was to pay homage to and at the same time respect the fundamentals of a design coming from none other than Magistretti, a very important figure for the Schiffini brand. I therefore tried to work by understanding the original project and maintaining its essence while retouching some parameters in a surgical way so as to create a more contemporary kitchen with a more commercial dimension.

What differentiates creating a kitchen project compared to other product categories?

Someone told me one day: when you know how to draw a kitchen, then you know how to draw all the furniture. Personally I believe it is true, because the kitchen integrates many different elements, from appliances to the numerous components that give life to the whole. Furthermore, the kitchen requires great structural flexibility because no one is the same as another. Designing this type of furniture means pursuing two different ideas: on the one hand, creating something as standardized and understandable as possible anywhere in the world; on the other, offering a tailor-made idea capable of adapting to the contexts and needs of the customer. I also believe that it is impossible to overlook the material element, that is, the fact that numerous natural elements such as water, fire, fat, oil and much more that recall life and earth live and are contained in the kitchen. I paid attention to this last element, inserting marble to create a solid and functional base capable of supporting everything else.