“Looking backwards is always the best way for looking forward.” (1)
Primitive by Studio Nucleo : Design for a New Millennium

Katia Baudin

Upon entering Hong Kong’s Novalis Art Design Gallery, we lose all sense of time and place. We encounter a mysterious arrangement of geometric, sculptural elements in strong, primary colors – red, white, black – that seem to have sprouted out of the floor and the walls. They bring to mind Kazimir Malevich’s suprematist monochrome white Architectones of the 1920s or Robert Morris’ grey minimalist Gestalts of the 1960s, revisited through the prism of futuristic, color-drenched rock formations straight out of a Space Odyssey 2001 sequel. Upon closer inspection, we realize that we are not entering a non-objective – to use Malevich’s term – space, but are viewing functional objects for human use, recognizable typologies for everyday life: armchairs, stools, a bench, bookshelves … . Is this art or is this design? Perhaps Richard Artschwager’s analysis provides us with an answer: “If you sit on it, it’s a chair; if you walk around it and look at it, it’s a sculpture (…) both the image-ness and the object-ness can be co-present without contradictions.” (2)

For nearly three decades, Studio Nucleo, the collective behind this sculptural furniture or “functional art” has been irritating – and irrigating – the design world with multilayered and multifaceted projects that position themselves at the interstice of art and design, bridging the gap between past and present, tradition and innovation, nature and culture, permanence and ephemerality. Founded in 1997 in Turin, the brainchild of industrial designer and self-proclaimed functional artist Piergiorgio Robino, Studio Nucleo builds upon the legacy of this economically and culturally influential northern Italian city. Turin is home to Fiat, to the legendary “dark prince of Italian Design” Carlo Molino, known for his narrative, organically-shaped furniture (3), as well as to the Arte Povera movement, with its exploration of nature and technology, past and present. They can all be considered an indivisible part of Studio Nucleo’s DNA. As its name implies, Studio Nucleo is inspired by the atom structure, the origin of all life. With Piergiorgio Robino at its conceptual core, Nucleo has brought together varying voices from an array of fields – art, design, engineering, science, craft. Their collaborative approach, conjugating the conceptual with the material, echoes that of a laboratory by favoring R&D, trial and error: “(…) most of our ability and discoveries are born in the atelier, during the production processes or in making errors during the research we did to find the way to build what we had designed” (4).

Like a living organism, Studio Nucleo’s birth and growth have been spent navigating the unstable, challenging environment of the 21st century. Its birth was triggered by the approaching millennium and the existential question of designing in a world oversaturated with mass-produced furniture and objects. Akin to other designers of their generation like Marti Guixé, Martin Baas, Forma Fantasma or Dunne & Raby, Studio Nucleo has adopted a critical stance to industrial design, privileging instead an experimental approach favoring the creation of conceptually-driven, hand-made designs that are ephemeral, unique or in small editions. Like their Italian forefathers – the Radical Design collectives of the 1960s-70s like Superstudio, Archizoom or Studio Alchimia – Studio Nucleo criticizes and distances itself from modernism’s heritage and its form follows function canon, bringing together natural and synthetic materials in unorthodox, talkative objects. From the outset, nature’s elements and an evolving time-space framework characterize Nucleo’s process-oriented design investigations: one of their first projects to attract international attention, Terra (2000) – a do-it-yourself kit for creating your own zero-waste, environmentally friendly lawn chair – set the groundwork for Nucleo’s singular approach.

Then, as recalls Piergiorgio Robino, with the onset of the global financial crisis, “In 2008 (it) became urgent for us to step back into the wild side, acting with (our) hands as primitive humans but using our contemporary knowledge, design by computers and made by hands, (…), research(ing) on materials, on details, on the shapes without boundaries.” (5) This “reset” resulted in the Primitive series. As its name indicates, Primitive calls for a return to the origins, to the roots of civilization: “Primitive as primary geometric figures. Primitive as in computer language (…) Primitive as in English, (…) original, coarse and wild objects.” (6)

Primitive also brings to mind what was long coined in art history with the term “primitivism”: the cultural productions of “pre-Renaissance” civilizations – from prehistoric man to pre- Colombian architecture and African ritual masks, from children’s drawings and building block “sculptures” to vernacular folk art and furniture – which marked the emergence of modernism and abstraction, and that have informed Studio Nucleo’s approach. Like in the groundbreaking work of Constantin Brancusi, Umberto Boccioni or Pablo Picasso, with Primitive, Studio Nucleo “aims to fragment and destruct. To reduce aggregated forms to elementary geometry.” (7)

It may then come as no surprise, that – like the avant-garde movements before it – Futurism, Cubism, Suprematism, etc. – Studio Nucleo felt the need, while working on Primitive, to develop a manifesto to break from the past and clarify its approach and goals. The ten rules it defined in this manifesto continue to be the blueprint for any project it embarks on: it aims to “(create) a good artwork of functional design” that is durable, original, functional, unique, handcrafted,material, indeterminate, experimental, storyteller, relational. By limiting itself to ten principles, Studio Nucleo adopts the methodology of other design manifestos – in particular those by Dieter Rams, Enzo Mari and Sori Yanagi. Their respective calls for “innovative, long-lasting, useful design that makes a product understandable” (Rams), for “functional, emotionally resonant, enduring, well-made design” (Mari), and considerations that “design is not a solitary act (…); Talented designers are not solely responsible for good design; Tradition inspires creation. Design is impossible without tradition and creativity” (Yanagi) – all strongly resonate with Studio Nucleo’s own aims and objectives (8).

The Primitive collection was originally designed in white in order not to distract attention from the shape – conferring it a sculptural quality that was enhanced by its launch in 2009 at a leading contemporary art space in Turin, the Fondazione Sandretto. Then, in 2020, triggered by the Covid pandemic and the resulting blandness of everyday life, color made its grand entrance into the collection timidly at first through pastels followed by stronger, contrasting tones. For Novalis, Studio Nucleo has developed a special array of colors that pay homage to Hong Kong (9).

Primitive is ultimately a slap in the face to industrial design. Nucleo uses materials from the industrial design world in an unexpected and provocative manner: cardboard, traditionally used to create a model or early prototype, here becomes the structure’s skeleton. An assemblage of building block-like boxes out of cardboard are solidified through fiberglass and the application of resin along the surface – a painstaking and uneconomically long and complicated process for a material which is usually molded. Needless to say, the automobile technician in Turin who taught Studio Nucleo how to mold resin was scandalized by such irreverence! (10) Resin has become their signature material, with its transformative and almost alchemistic- like properties. “Resin is incredible because it is more than one material, (it) could be transparent, matt, flexible, soft, rigid, colored, nuanced, opaline, strong, weak, liquid, solid (…)”, according to Piergiorgio Robino: “Using resin means working without any borders. Making the impossible, possible.” (11) Each resulting furniture object or functional sculpture is unique, its individuality and imperfections – like a deeply ingrained memory – are revealed beneath the translucid, skin-like surface.

Primitive can be considered the most emblematic and seminal functional art furniture collection developed by Studio Nucleo, and has been the point of departure for their working methodologies and explorations since: from Resinite (2010) with its ghost-like memory of objects, Souvenir of the Last Century (2013) in which vernacular furniture of the past is fossilized in resin, Stone Fossils (2015) which blur the boundaries between reality and artifice, or most recently Plastic Age (2023) which utilizes resin dust and waste byproducts from past resin production. All of these projects share a common ground, whose path was first traced by Primitive: they celebrate humanity and tell the story of life with its memories, complex histories, and contradictions through the prism of our rapidly changing, technologically-driven times. Piergiorgio Robino’s aims are clear for Studio Nucleo, “We see ourselves as primitive men and women living in a digital era, and we want to be the poets of our time” (12). Studio Nucleo has indeed succeeded in bringing a singular voice to reassessing design’s mission and role in society in the 21st century, bringing poetry into daily life.

1. P. Robino, unpublished notes sent from P. Robino to the author on 08.08.2024 by email.

2. R. Artschwager cited in Katia Baudin, “Identity Crisis? Border Issues between Art and Design”, in: Annett Zinsmeister (Ed.), Art and/or Design? Crossing Borders, Weissenhof-Institut

Stuttgart / jovis Verlag, Berlin, 2013, p. 44.

3. Alice Rawsthorn, Design as an Attitude, JRP/Ringier & Les Presses du Réel, Zurich/Dijon, 2018, p. 168.

4. Studio Nucleo, cited in a biography document sent by P. Robino to the author on 08.08.2024.

5. P. Robino quoted in an unpublished interview for DesignWanted, 2022. Interview sent from P. Robino to the author on 08.08.2024 by email.

6. Studio Nucleo on Primitive, quoted from their website (https.//nucleo.to/primitive-2021/).

7. Ibid.

8. see the website design manifestos.org for a fascinating anthology. P. Robino specifically cites Dieter Rams manifesto as the impetus behind creating his own manifesto.

9. P. Robino in an interview with the author, 23.09.2024.

10. Ibid.

11. P. Robino quoted in an unpublished interview for DesignWanted, 2022, op. cit.

12. P. Robino quoted in Jonathan Openshaw, Postdigital Artisans: Craftsmanship with a New Aesthetic in Fashion, Art, Design and Architecture, Frame Publishers, Amsterdam, 2015, p. 188.

「回顧過去總是展望未來的最佳方法。」（1）
Studio Nucleo 的 Primitive：給新千年的設計

卡蒂亞．鮑丁  Katia Baudin

步進香港的 Novalis 藝術設計畫廊，我們便立刻喪失對時間和地點的所有感知，眼前是一組神秘的幾何雕塑元素，它們以強烈的原色——紅色、白色 和黑色呈現，彷彿是從地板和牆直接破壁而出。這些元素令人聯想到卡濟米爾．馬列維奇（Kazimir Malevich）1920 年代的絕對主義（Suprematist）白色單色建築體（Architectones），又或者是羅伯特．莫里斯（Robert Morris）1960年代簡約主義的灰色形態（Gestalts），並透過恍如來自《2001太空漫遊》續集中，充滿未來感的七彩岩石而被重新審視。細看之下，我們意識到自己不是進入了一個非客觀空間（借用馬列維奇的術語），而是看到供人們使用的實用物品，它們都屬於日常生活中可識別的類型：扶手椅、凳子、長椅、書架……這是都是藝術還是設計作品？或許理查德．阿特施瓦格（Richard Artschwager）的分析能為我們解答：「如果你坐在上面，它就是椅子；如果你圍著它走並觀察它，它就是雕塑……視覺性和物體性可以同時存在而互不矛盾。」（2）

作為一個創作「雕塑傢俱」或「實用藝術」的團體，近三十年來 Studio Nucleo 一直以多層次和多面向的作品去挑戰設計界，但又同時豐富著設計領域。Studio Nucleo 處身於藝術與設計的交界，並為過去與現在、傳統與創新、自然與文化、永恆與短暫之間架起一座座橋樑。1997 年，工業設計師兼自號實用藝術家的皮爾喬吉奧．羅比諾（Piergiorgio Robino）於都靈創立他的心血結晶—— Studio Nucleo，它建基於這座極具經濟和文化影響力的義大利北部城市。都靈是快意（Fiat）的故鄉，而傳說中的的「意大利設計黑暗王子」卡洛．莫里諾（Carlo Mollino）也是來自此地，他以敘事性和有機造型的傢俱而著稱（3），此外，貧窮藝術（Arte Povera）也在此發源，該運動探索自然與技術、過去與現在的關係。以上這些都可視為Studio Nucleo不可或缺的基因。正如其名字所暗示，Studio Nucleo 的靈感來自原子結構，亦即是所有生命的起源。以皮爾喬吉奧．羅比諾為概念核心，Nucleo 匯集了來自藝術、設計、工程、科學、工藝等多個領域的不同聲音，一同合作。他們結合概念和材料，以類似實驗室的方式——重視研發以及嘗試和除錯的過程：「……我們大部分的技術與發現都是在工作室裡誕生，無論是在生產過程中，還是在研究時犯錯，都是為了尋找方法去製造我們設計的東西。」 （4）

恍如一個活生生的有機體，Studio Nucleo 在21世紀這個不穩定而且充滿挑戰的環境中誕生和成長。它的出現始於千禧年臨近時，面對一個充斥量產傢俱和商品的世界，從而引發出傳統設計的存廢問題。與其他同代的設計師如馬爾蒂．吉赫（Marti Guixé）、馬騰．巴斯（Martin Baas）、FormaFantasma 或鄧恩與雷比（Dunne & Raby）等人一樣，Studio Nucleo 對工業設計持批判態度，並倡議和採用實驗性的方法，偏重於概念為本的手作設計，它們都是短暫、獨特而且小批量生產。像他們的義大利前輩——60至70年代的激進設計團體如超級工作室（Superstudio）、建築躍升（Archizoom） 或阿基米亞工作室（Studio Alchimia）一樣，Studio Nucleo 批判並與現代主義的傳統保持距離，它們的形式跟從實用規範，把天然和人工材料結合，創造出非正統且富有生命的作品。從一開始，自然元素和不斷演變的時空框架就是 Nucleo 以過程為本的設計探究特徵：他們其中一個最早引起國際注目的作品 ——《地球》（Terra，2000）是一個自行製作的套件，讓人自己動手製作一張零廢棄的環保戶外折疊椅，這作品為 Nucleo 獨特的方法奠定了基礎。

之後，正如皮爾喬吉奧．羅比諾回憶的那樣——隨著全球金融危機爆發，「在2008 年，我們急需回到野性的一面，像原始人一樣用雙手工作，但同時利用當代的知識——用電腦設計，但用雙手製作……研究物料、細節、無邊際的形狀」。（5） 這次「重置」的結果就是 Primitive 系列。正如名稱所表示，「原始」呼籲回歸本源，回到文明的根源： 「原始的幾何圖形。電腦語言中的原始……，英語裡的原始……原始、粗糙和野性的物件。」（6）

「原始」也讓人聯想到藝術史上歷史悠久的術語「原始主義」：指的是「文藝復興前」的文化產物——從史前人類到前哥倫布時期的建築和非洲儀式面具；從兒童繪畫和積木「雕塑」到鄉土民間的藝術和傢俱——它們標誌著現代主義和抽象主義的興起，並啟發了 Studio Nucleo 的創作方向。就像康斯坦丁．布朗庫西（Constantin Brancusi）、翁貝托．波丘尼（Umberto Boccioni）或巴勃羅．畢加索的開創性作品一樣，通過 Primitive，Studio Nucleo「旨在分解和破壞。將聚合的形式還原為基本的幾何形狀。」（7）

因此，或許實在不足為奇的是，就像過去的種種前衛運動——未來主義、立體主義、絕對主義等一樣，Studio Nucleo 在創作 Primitive 系列時，覺得有必要制定一份宣言，以打破過去的窠臼，並確立自己的方法和目標。這份宣言所定義的十條原則，至今仍是他們每個計劃的藍圖：它旨在「設計一件具實用性的優秀藝術品」，而它應當是耐用的、原創的、實用的、獨特的、手作的、富觸感的、不定型的、實驗性的、有故事的、具關聯性的。在十條原則的範圍內，Studio Nucleo 也博取其他設計宣言中的方法，尤其是從迪特．拉姆斯（Dieter Rams）、恩佐．馬里（Enzo Mari）和柳宗理（Sori Yanagi）的宣言。他們各自呼籲「創新、持久和有用的設計，從而創作令人易於理解的作品」（拉姆斯），「實用性、令人共鳴、持久、製作精良的設計」（馬里），以及思考到「設計不是一個單獨的行為……優秀的設計不只是來自優秀的設計師，傳統激發創造。沒有傳統和創意，設計是不可能的」（柳宗理），——以上都與 Studio Nucleo 的自身目標和宗旨產生共鳴 （8）。

P r i m i t i v e 系 列 最 初 的 設 計 是 純 白 色 ， 旨 在 讓 觀 眾 集 中 注 意 其 外 型 ， 並 賦 予 其 雕 塑 般 的 質 感 。 這 種 雕 塑 質 感 在 2 0 0 9 年 於 都 靈 的 頂 尖 當 代 藝 術 空 間 — —Fondazione Sandretto 揭幕時更加表露無遺。隨後，在 2020 年，由於疫情大流行使日常生活變得沉悶，不同的顏色開始在本系列中隆重登場，一開始以柔和的粉色為主，之後加入更強烈的對比色調。而為了 Novalis，Studio Nucleo 開發了一系列特別的顏色，以向香港致敬（9）。

最終，Primitive 系列是對工業設計的一記耳光。Nucleo 以令人意想不到且具挑釁性的方式使用工業設計界的材料：傳統上用來製作模型或早期原型的紙板，在此卻成為結構的骨架。由紙板製成的盒狀組合，再利用玻璃纖維和在表面塗上樹脂來使其堅固，對於通常透過模壓成型的材料來說，這是一個既費時又不經濟的複雜過程。不用說，指導 Studio Nucleo 如何使用樹脂製模的都靈汽車技師，對這種近乎褻瀆的做法有多震撼！（10） 樹脂已經成為他們的標誌性材料，它具有可變和近乎煉金術般的特性。「樹脂是令人讚嘆的，因為它不僅僅是一種材料，它可以是透明的、啞光的、柔韌的、柔軟的、剛硬的、有色的、細膩的、乳白色的、強壯的、脆弱的、液體的、固體的……」，據皮爾喬吉奧．羅比諾所說：「使用樹脂意味著在無限制的情況下工作，將不可能變為可能。」（11）每件製成的傢俱或實用性雕塑都是獨一無二的，其個性與瑕疵——就像根深蒂固的記憶——在半透明、如皮膚般的表面下顯現出來。

Primitive 可說是 Studio Nucleo 所曾開發的計劃中，最具代表性和開創性的實用性藝術傢俱系列，並成為及後創作方法和探索的出發點：從《樹脂石》（Resinite，2010）中對物件如幽靈般的記憶，到將舊日的鄉土傢俱用樹脂變成化石的《來自上個世紀的紀念品》（Souvenir of the last century，2013），再到模糊現實與人工界限的《化石》（Stone fossils，2015），以及再利用舊日樹脂產品製作時產生的廢品和灰塵的新作《塑膠時代》（Plastic Agee，2013）。所有這些作品都有一個共通點，它們的概念最初都是來自 Primitive：它們讚頌人性，並透過我們這個急速變化、技術為本時代的稜鏡，去講述生命的故事，包括回憶、複雜的歷史和矛盾。對於 Studio Nucleo，皮爾喬吉奧．羅比諾的目標非常明確：「我們將自己視為生活在數碼時代的原始人，我們希望成為這個時代的詩人」（12）。Studio Nucleo 的確成功地以其獨特的聲音，重新評估設計在21世紀社會中的使命與角色，並將詩意帶進日常生活。

1. P. Robino，為與 Gérard Goodrow 在 Ammann Gallery 進行藝術家對談所準備的未發表筆記，2015 年。筆記於 2024 年 8 月 8 日由 P. Robino 通過電子郵件發送給作者。

2. R. Artschwager 引用自 Katia Baudin 的文章《身份危機？藝術與設計之間的邊界問題》（Identity Crisis? Border Issues between Art and Design），收錄

於 Annett Zinsmeister（編），《藝術和／或設計？跨越邊界》（Art and/or Design? Crossing Borders），Weissenhof-Institut Stuttgart / jovis Verlag，柏林，2013 年，

第 44 頁。

3. Alice Rawsthorn，《設計作為一種態度》（Design as an Attitude），JRP/Ringier & Les Presses du Réel，蘇黎世／第戎，2018 年，第 168 頁。

4. Studio Nucleo，引用自 P. Robino 於 2024 年 8 月 8 日發送給作者的傳記文件。

5. P. Robino 引用自 DesignWanted 中的訪談，2020 年。訪談於 2024 年 8 月 8 日由 P. Robino 通過電子郵件發送給作者。

6.關於《原始》系列，引用自 Studio Nucleo 網站（https://nucleo.to/primitive-2021/）。

7. 同上。

8. 參見網站 design manifestos.org 上的精彩選集。 P. Robino 特別提到 Dieter Rams 的宣言是他創作自己宣言的動力。

9. P. Robino 與作者的訪談，2024 年 9 月 23 日。

10. 同上。

11. P. Robino 引用自 DesignWanted 中的訪談，2020 年，同上。

12. P. Robino 引用自 Jonathan Openshaw 的《後數字工匠：時尚、藝術、設計和建築中的新美學工藝》（Postdigital Artisans: Craftsmanship with a New Aesthetic in Fashion, Art, Design and Architecture），Frame Publishers，阿姆斯特丹，2015 年，第 188 頁。