David Lopez Quincoces: “The greatest gift Milan has given me? Working with people to have fun with”

Pues mira... After all these years I’ve spent working in the design world, and where we basically offer a service to companies, you have to be very clear about who you are designing for, what the clients need and how your own vocabulary can be adapted to provide the best answer. What I do is first of all select the companies I work for. We need to be attuned and have similar aesthetic attitudes to offer a kind of design that satisfies the requirement, but bearing my signature. It’s about creating a balance between product, language, quality and price.  

The pieces we exhibit there are unrelated to industrial processes. They are not confined by the logic of the production chain, procedures, molds and so forth. Rather they’re more closely bound up with craft production, with details that industrial production would perhaps be unable to achieve, with more delicate and personalized finishes achieving greater quality.  

As far as design is concerned, we’re developing projects with each of the companies we work for. There’s always something boiling in the pot that is presented at the Salone del Mobile. As far as the artistic direction is concerned, we always try to adopt an approach outside the box, shaping a language that is not assimilated to that of others. We like fusions of art, photography and graphics, enriching projects also intellectually. In the studio we are working on increasingly large-scale projects such as hotels, contracts, private homes and restaurants around the world.  

There is no better place than Milan for those working in this field. For many reasons. It’s a central location in Europe and so well connected internationally that it enables you to work with the whole world. Clients come from the United States, the Orient, the Middle East, and it’s a hub that is alive with contacts and clients. In terms of manufacturing, we have absolutely the best craftworkers in the world for furniture and contract projects, allowing you to develop your own style and projects with greater freedom. From this point of view, it’s given me everything. I’ve had the opportunity to meet people who have been perfecting their workshops, their techniques, their ways of working with wood or metals for many years. This is where your really learn, when you manage to really get hands on. You start working together, and even if they often don’t open up to you at first, but after years of working together, the suppliers become friends. You’ll always know someone you can learn something new from. This is the greatest gift Milan has given me: working with people to have fun with.  

Not working! (laughs) Truth be told, I enjoy the process as much as the final outcome. I’m very satisfied with how the work is developing and I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything specifically. Unfortunately, I’m really easily motivated by whatever people propose to me, always bringing out the positive side, whether it’s a chair or a building. I have fun at all stages, involving the client and ensuring everyone is excited to be creating beauty.