Architect and educator Elena Manferdini grew up in Italy, drawing on any surface she was allowed to, and some she wasn’t. After obtaining a degree in structural engineering, a 9-month stint in Los Angeles grew into a 22-year ongoing stay. In LA, she established her studio, Atelier Manferdini, and began teaching. Now the Chair of Graduate Programs at SCI-Arc and a new mother, she’s passionate about the exchange of information and experimenting with color as a democratizing force for architecture.

Follow Elena Manferdini at ateliermanferdini.com and on Instagram.

What is your earliest memory?

Legend says that my mother was pregnant with me...and she was walking into a church in the mountain, around the city of Bologna. A black dog approached her and she was scared.

I vividly remembered her feelings of fear and later on in life I asked her about the dog. She swears that she was never again in the neighborhood of that church after the encounter and could not place my memory other than when i was still in her utero. I remember it being hot. It must have been summer because I was born the second week of September.

What’s the best advice that you’ve ever gotten?

Invest in yourself. Your company will give you the highest returns, because nobody will ever work for it as hard as you do.

How do you record your ideas?

Things to do go into my calendar

Thinks i want to learn end up in my inbox

My cellphone is filled with recoderings, pictures and annotations

What’s your current favorite tool or material to work with?

Augmented reality and glowing ink.

What book is on your nightstand?

Right now i am reading the blog of Amalia Ulman. On my nightstand, there are many tales for children that I read to my son.

Why is authenticity in design important?

Nowadays, contemporary architectural practices have embraced a way of working that utilizes scripting chronicles, robotic fabrication, and digitized replicas. Doubling is the new-normal that subverts the one-off and glorifies multiples. Mass production is our way of living. It is time to theorize similarities rather than originality and explore the relationship of replicas in the composition of the current design culture.

One could argue that—as designers—we operate in a society of duplicates and copies, where authenticity is merely a romantic deception. Looking back at the practice of printing (silk screening, etching, stamping) copies have been always part of a process of dissemination of ideas and creativity. The original is simply a tool to create copies. The printed copy was the intended output.

Favorite restaurant in your city?

If my city is Bologna: La Iole (cucina emiliana)

If my city is LA; Waro (Korean restaurant)

What might we find on your desk right now?

Working on 2 monographs of my work in the past 5 years.

And a public art proposal for MLK Jr. Child and Family Wellbeing Center, constructed on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Medical Campus. The Child and Family Wellbeing Center will house a medical clinic for children who have experienced abuse, or are children in the foster system, as well as an autism clinic, child psychiatry services, and a Family Justice Center.

Who do you look up to and why?

My son. He is always smiling.

What’s your favorite project that you’ve done and why?

We designed the shopping windows for 8 Lane Crawford stores (pictured above), and this project taught me that colors are a democratizing force in architecture. Client gave me unbound freedom of design, and we were able to start developing an interactive AR component all through the stores.

What are the last five songs you listened to?

According to my iphone:
“Matadora” by Sofi Tukker
“Desire” by Anna Calvi
“Grande Grande Grande” by Mina
“Empty” by Ray Lamontagne

Clever is produced by 2VDE Media. Thanks to Rich Stroffolino for editing this episode.
Music in this episode courtesy of El Ten Eleven—hear more on Bandcamp.
Shoutout to Jenny Rask for designing the Clever logo.

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