5 Minutes With… Luigi Rosselli

Italian-born Luigi Rosselli first travelled to Australia to work on the new Parliament House in Canberra. He established his own practice in Sydney in 1985 and since then, his signature European-inspired architecture can be seen all around Australia, most recently in his design for Stefano Manfredi’s BALLA Restaurant at The Star.

Describe your design philosophy.

Humanist design, where the people and environment take precedence over preconceived design dogmas.

Your top 3 influences.

Alvar (Aalto), Adolf (Loos) and Alvaro (Siza).

The moment you knew you wanted to be a designer.

Age 10, following the steps of my father who was an engineer. I wanted to emulate his bridge designs in Lego and did better than my brother, who became an engineer.

Favourite local landmark/building.

Readers Digest Building, Surry Hills by John James.

Favourite international landmark/building.

Teshima Art Museum, designed by Ryue Nishizawa in Teshima, Japan.

Dream project to work on – real or imaginary.

A chapel on the ridges of the Swiss Alps.

Dream person to collaborate with.

All the people I’m working with currently!

Favourite decade of design.

1910s.

Favourite chair.

The Campaign Chair.

Your #1 concern for the design industry in the coming decade.

That designers see the benefit in designing to last, to avoid unnecessary waste.

One item in the workplace you can’t live without.

Whiteout.

The most unusual/interesting thing about the way you work.

I like to have a perspective out of my office window, and survey the city.

Luigi Rosselli Architects
luigirosselli.com