Davide Groppi is an Italian lighting designer, born in Piacenza. In the late 1980s, after an initial training in drafting, he started a small workshop in the historic heart of the city, inventing and manufacturing lamps with the brand by his same name. Over time, creative independence and management have allowed him to develop his own brand of original and unique products, distributed the world over. In his work, simplicity, lightness, emotion, invention, and amazement are the fundamental elements. The things that inspire these ideas are works of art, ready-made objects, magic, the desire to make things with his hands or simply the urge to play and have fun with light.

 

S.M.: What drew you to lighting design in the first place? Which different aspects of design did your interest shift to during your activity?

D.G.: The need to communicate and do a job that belonged to me. Light has always fascinated me, and I have always liked the idea of telling stories with my lamps. Now I am mainly interested in the immaterial aspect of light, and therefore the possibility of inventing something new, never seen before.

 

 

S.M.: Your breakthrough design came through an encounter with Maddalena de Padova, from an already established company mostly centered around furniture; beyond image or typology, what do you think lay at the essence of this design to match with the sensibility of the brand?

D.G.: I believe that Maddalena De Padova felt my passion for light and lamps. And, also, a certain way of describing my work.

 

 

S.M.: Design and production are strictly linked. How early did you choose to become a producer of your own designs, and what have been the advantages and disadvantages of managing both fields?

D.G.: Immediately. I was too young to think about presenting my ideas to companies. So, I imagined self-producing what I invented. It was an adventure, but I had the opportunity to grow independently and free from the typical constraints of the industry.

 

Read the full interview in the annual issue Villas 2024.