The Visionary Humanist | The Power of Emotion, AI’s Assistance & Staying Curious with BODW 2025’s Michele De Lucchi

A diligent practitioner of rebellion and reflection, Michele De Lucchi advocates the urgency of designing with emotional intelligence in an increasingly technological world at BODW 2025.

Words by Monisha Sivanesan | Images courtesy of BODW 2025

Architect, designer, artist—three professions helmed by one restless mind belonging to Michele De Lucchi, a modern-day Leonarda da Vinci who humbly stands as a defining force of nature in the design scene. He’s a notable figure who didn’t merely witness the radical experiments of Alchimia, Memphis and Olivetti Design, but helped shape them. His most famous creation a.k.a the Compasso d’Oro-winning Tolomeo lamp for Artemide has illuminated homes, studios and imaginations across the globe. His hand has also shaped all sorts of furniture for the most esteemed Italian and European brands, while his architectural projects span continents and typologies, including cultural, industrial, business and residential fields.

In 1990, De Lucchi co-founded Produzione Privata, an experimental design company that encourages collaboration with craftsmen and produces objects that enhance the human hand and the essence of materials. He later became the founder of AMDL CIRCLE, an internationally renowned studio driven by a humanistic ethos. Working across architecture, interiors, design and graphics, the multifaceted firm doesn’t merely respond to change; it inspires it by daring to imagine what comes next with intelligence, generosity and a touch of playful audacity. Paralleling this journey for over two decades, in intimate workshops in Milan and Angera, he has drawn, painted and carved wooden objects, seeking the fundamental nature of the architectural form and providing a source of inspiration for his professional projects. A substantial number of his works were acquired by Paris’ Centre Georges Pompidou and housed in major museums across Europe, the United States and Japan.

Recognition has followed with remarkable consistency. A year after President Azeglio Ciampi granted him the title of “Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana”, academic life soon beckoned: he was nominated Professor at the IUAV in Venice, recipient of an Honorary Doctorate from Kingston University as well as nominated Professor at the Design Faculty of the Politecnico of Milan around the same time he became a member of Rome’s Accademia Nazionale di San Luca. In the most recent decade, De Lucchi served as Guest Editor of Domus; received the Compasso d’Oro Career Award; was appointed Academician at the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno in Florence and Officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture; and was welcomed by Japan as an Asahikawa Special Design Ambassador. Guided by human insight and poetic intelligence, De Lucchi’s approach to design is nothing short of extraordinary, to say the least.

At Business of Design Week 2025, De Lucchi stressed that education is truly the key to equipping individuals for the future. not just for the purpose of sharing knowledge, but also to use imagination, curiosity and consciousness about choices made. It’s an understanding that has to grow more in the human mentality. With the utmost passion and know-how, he further expanded on his thoughts on design through an insightful interview with designspeak.asia:

1. Your work—whether it’s at AMDL CIRCLE, Produzione Privata or simply working privately on handmade wooden models—famously places humanity at the heart of every design. But you’ve also acknowledged technology’s pivotal role in developing new solutions.

a) What does humanistic design mean to you in a world increasingly shaped by AI?

For me, humanistic design begins with understanding the difference between the individual and the community. An individual has a personal identity, shaped by choices, emotions and desires. A community, however, carries a collective identity formed by shared history, ambitions and memories. Both matter deeply, but they require different sensitivities. When we design, we must avoid imposing the limits of one individual onto everyone else and vice versa, ensuring that the design fulfils its purpose and that the target audience is satisfied. However, the conflation between the two sides has become a big problem in the world today. If you deal with individuals, we can talk, compromise or change our minds; I’m ready to change my mind if you convince me. But it is near impossible to change the mentality of several people together at once, so hopefully AI will help solve this problem.

b) Do you ever feel that AI challenges you to be more human in your work?

No, I will not say that, but I will say that AI can help me as an efficient tool, like a hammer or screwdriver. It does not replace human intention; it supports it. Just like those tools, it can be potentially dangerous when used incorrectly. Nevertheless, it’s extremely helpful and we need AI because the world has become too complex to navigate without technological assistance. AI can help us process information faster, manage regulations more efficiently and respond to global challenges more intelligently, but it is still we who must decide what is meaningful. If anything, AI reminds us that empathy, wonder and the ability to change our minds are profoundly human strengths that no machine can replicate.

2. You’ve also thrived at the epicentre of avant-garde cultural revolutions—from Cavart to Studio Alchimia to Memphis Milano and to AMDL CIRCLE.

a) Of all the designs you’ve brought to life, which has challenged your degree of curiosity to the maximum?

Of all the projects I’ve realised, the Bridge of Peace in Tbilisi, Georgia challenged my curiosity the most. In 2009, the nation’s president invited me to design a symbol of peace for a country deeply proud of its identity and culture. When you have to design something that has deep symbolic values, it is a task that must be taken seriously because symbols are very efficient communication systems if they are understood instantly and universally, or else they fail entirely.

Rather than resorting to more familiar imagery like statues or doves with olive branches, I looked to the city itself. Tbilisi is divided by the Kura River, with historically different communities on each bank—one Christian and the other Muslim. The answer became clear: a bridge. It’s the purest architectural expression of peace, as it connects two sides, two cultures and two perspectives.

Very contemporary yet fitting with its surrounding historical context, the bow-shaped pedestrian bridge made of steel and glass was completed in just nine months. While initial public reaction was hesitant, the bridge gradually became embraced as a beloved national landmark largely due to one special reporter who stood in the middle of the bridge, made a New Year’s Eve wish on live TV and had it come true. Today, it stands not only as a physical crossing, but as a powerful living symbol of unity.

b) What have you learnt from today’s designers carrying forward that spirit of rebellion and experimentation?

When I think back to the 1980s, I realise that design moves in cycles. There are moments when you must expand your language and the way you present yourself to the world (be as expressive and extravagant as possible) and others when you must simplify your message. At Memphis, we challenged the rigid “International Style” that dominated design using an abstract language meant to suit everyone, yet often disconnected from the spirit of the time. Therefore, Memphis’ big contribution to the design world was not simply aesthetic or ideology, but the revolutionary act of merging design with fashion.

At the time, fashion was considered superficial and temporary, but it captured the pulse of a specific moment, revealing how time is passing. By embracing that, design became more responsive, more alive. So, it’s exciting to see how today’s designers keep that deep engagement with the zeitgeist or the spirit of the time, now defined by digitalisation and sustainability, alive in innovative ways. After all, an architect, designer or any creative person who is not aware of the spirit of the time is simply out of time, and what he does will not be understood. True experimentation means responding courageously to these forces, rather than retreating into neutrality.

3. If you could redesign one element of today’s cities to better reflect the human soul, what would it be?

It would be the piazza, or the public square. In Italian villages and cities alike, the piazza has always been the true heart of civic life. As the centre of the community, it is where people meet, talk, trade, celebrate and share daily rituals. Surrounded by institutions like the town hall or church, it symbolises the structure and identity of the community. Today, however, social media platforms and e-commerce have begun replacing many of these physical interactions. Younger generations gather online rather than in shared urban spaces, and the symbolic role of the piazza is fading. Yet I believe we need these places more than ever, especially with the rise of loneliness among the youth. A well-designed public square reflects the human soul because it fosters communication, connection and community—things that cannot be fully replicated in virtual space. Cities must rediscover and reinvent such spaces if they wish to remain truly human.

4. Share your favourite example of a humanistic architecture/design project based in Hong Kong which you’re inspired by.

One of my favourite examples of humanistic design in Hong Kong is the ferry and harbour experience. The piers and waterfronts are both transport infrastructure and social spaces. Unlike buses or trains, which feel rushed and compressed, the boats move slowly and create a pause in the city’s intensity. That slowness changes behaviour. People talk more, look at the skyline and reconnect with their surroundings. The harbour becomes a shared urban living room that feels reflective of Hong Kong’s identity. For me, that balance between movement, landscape and human interaction is a powerful example of humanistic design.

5. What’s something that you’re currently curious about?

What I’m currently most curious about is the global decline in birth rates. Across Italy (Europe, basically) as well as Japan, Korea and China, populations are shrinking. In the next 50 years, we may see a 20% to 30% decrease. Yet our economic systems are built on the rise of consumption. If there are fewer people, how does that model sustain itself? It raises profound questions about how we redefine progress. I’m very curious to see how humanity will solve this problem. I remain optimistic though, as I believe humanity has a natural capacity to self-regulate and adapt as it always does in response to drastic change.

6a) What are the central principles of your keynote, and what’s the most important lesson that the business of design world should take away from it?

When preparing my keynote in Milan, I knew I wanted to provoke curiosity, so I began by speaking about a surprising subject at a design conference: ants. Yet observing ants allows us to reflect on ourselves. The relationship between humans and other living organisms is essential if we want to understand how we organise, collaborate and imagine the future.

The central principle of my talk was finding the balance between rationality and emotion. In business and design, the former—which tends to be easier to comprehend—typically dominates, but it is not sufficient. Therefore, we also need to give equal consideration to the latter which is fairly more complex, full of surprises and deeply gratifying. The most important lesson that I hope to pass on to the design industry is this: Emotion is not a weakness in business; it must be well taken care of because it is what gives value meaning. We must design not only for utility and profit, but for wonder too.

b) Among the speakers, whose talk are you personally most curious to watch and learn from, and why?

I’m especially curious about the speakers approaching design from a technological perspective. For me, technology without human consideration is incomplete. I want to understand how others are integrating technological advancement with empathy, culture and wonder in order to address real human needs.