Francesca Cutini - Barrel 12 interviewed by Cristina Morozzi

Francesca Cutini, born in Perugia, architect, graduated from the Polytechnic of Milan, began her professional career in 1991 collaborating with Ferruccio Laviani's studio, where she dealt with design and architecture. In 1993 with the architect Stefano Tini she designed a crucial residential complex and some private homes in Perugia. Since 1994 she has worked as a stylist for various furniture magazines and created catalogues for important Italian companies, including Poliform, Benetton and Bassetti.

In 2004 she founded her interior design studio, called Studio 12. "The Barrel 12 project", she says, "was born before the Expo, when the mayor of Monza called me, together with other architectural firms, to create a small project inside the park of the Villa Reale, which consisted in the design of a literary garden. At the time, I was undergoing a lot of renovations, and I asked my blacksmith if he could find me a disused bin to recover. My project for the park was a path with olive trees, inspired by Umbria, my favourite region, interspersed by containers. At the end of the trail, there was a bin organized with shelves to be a bookcase. My dream was to create a design project, inspired by the artist Anna Maria Tulli who photographs rusty bins.

One day I was on a construction site in Umbria, she continues, "and the workers were heating up with a rusty barrel. I photographed them, and then I went to the blacksmith and asked him to rust the bins that I was able to recover. I have my suppliers of bins in two sizes either with a diameter of 60 cm, or 45 cm, suitable for city apartments ".

Francesca's bins, transformed into original and functional furnishing accessories, were initially distributed at the Rinascente, then on Design Italy, the e-commerce site, with a 'special collection' specifically dedicated to sustainability.