Giampiero Bodino
De Castelli
Born and raised in Turin, Giampiero Bodino studied architecture in his hometown, where he met his first great teacher: Giorgetto Giugiaro. It marked the start of his work with Italdesign, where he went on to design cars and develop a fascination with the aerodynamic volumes and forms that are both beautiful and practical, and still define the style of all his designs. But it was a meeting with Gianni Bulgari that marked the start of his forays into the world of gemstones. So he moved to Rome, where he stayed for ten years until the moment he decided to return to Milan and open his studio. The Richemont Group, his main customer, asked him to become its Artistic Director: since 2002, this role has seen him manage the historical and stylistic heritage of some of the world’s finest jewellery and watchmaking companies. His passion for beautiful objects, for handmade luxury, for design and for painting, is the cornerstone of Bodino’s career. He designs and sells jewellery pieces that are miniature works of art representing a personal emotion; they interpret Italy’s centuries-old artistic legacy, yielding a unique, highly contemporary product.
Founded near Treviso in 2003, De Castelli is an illustrious firm built around many years of experience and passion for metalworking. In keeping with its commitment to give metal a starring role in design and experimentation, De Castelli imbues its production processes with ideas and handcrafting techniques that yield highly original results. The metal is transformed into furnishings, surfaces and projects. The encounter with design has inspired an approach to materials founded on respecting their potential, whether concealed or evident, which slowly emerges in a collection of pieces which remain unique even though they are part of a series. It is not just the hand that created them that makes them unique, but also the singular cultural process that puts aesthetics – and practicality – centre stage in the primordial material De Castelli uses to forge living spaces.
