At a time when design risks becoming visually uniform, Francesco Roggero continues to argue for depth, context, and experimentation. As Managing Director of Studio Original Designers 6R5 Network, Roggero works across cultures, materials, and technologies, blending craft with advanced systems. In this conversation Asma Rafat, Senior Correspondent, Realty+, he reflects on the studio’s evolving philosophy, the meaning of originality today, and why responsible, ethical design must balance commerce, collaboration, and imagination while remaining rooted in human experience and addressing the challenges shaping design’s uncertain future.
Studio Original Designers 6R5 Network operates at the intersection of design, craft, and global collaboration. How do you define the studio’s core philosophy today, and how has it evolved over time?
Francesco Roggero: Today, Studio Original Designers 6R5 Network defines its core philosophy as "Living among Nature and Technology for a new quality of inspiration," a vision that bridges organic form with functional complexity. The studio's current approach focuses on creating "new generation" spaces that utilize home automation, virtual reality, and computerized systems to foster dynamic, multimedia-managed environments.
Since its founding in 1971, the studio’s philosophy has evolved from traditional design consultancy to a multidisciplinary global network:
- 1970s–1980s: Industrial & Material Foundations: Early work focused on consulting for major industrial groups across Italy, Japan, and the USA. The studio established itself through iconic architectural interventions, such as the Torre Arcobaleno (Rainbow Tower) in Milan, which symbolized a blend of industrial heritage and ceramic craftsmanship.
- 1990s–2010s: Global Collaboration & Cultural Expression: The studio expanded its "network" model, collaborating with international brands like ASA Selection and Mapei. During this period, the philosophy emphasized "design as a relationship with culture," treating form as an expressive solution to complex technical problems.
- 2020s–Present: Digital Integration & Poetic Sustainability: The modern philosophy has shifted toward a "Design Re-Evolution". While embracing high-tech tools like AI and VR, the studio maintains a commitment to the "poetics of manual labor”
Your work often moves between cultures, geographies, and material traditions. How do you ensure authenticity while designing for a global audience?
Francesco Roggero: Ensuring authenticity in global design means immersing oneself in local cultures to understand real symbols and needs, blending traditional techniques with innovation, valorizing local "Made in" while adapting functionality and materials for the global context, and collaborating with local artisans to preserve artisanal and narrative integrity, avoiding stereotypes and aiming for a universally resonant authenticity through respect for the original context, as suggested by ministerial and academic research on creativity and social transformation.
In an age where visual sameness spreads quickly through social media, what does originality mean to you as a designer and as a creative leader?
Francesco Roggero: For the designer and creative leader, originality means anticipating the future with fresh ideas, connecting disparate elements to create something unique and meaningful, and leading the team to push boundaries, finding innovative solutions that define a clear and consistent brand identity, transforming the vision into a tangible and recognizable impact. It's not just "creating," but "creating in a new way," blending aesthetics, functionality, and storytelling to solve problems and communicate powerful messages.
Materials play a central role in your projects. What draws you to certain materials, and how do material choices shape the emotional life of a space or object?
Francesco Roggero: Materials deeply shape a space's emotion through tactile experience, visual cues, and sensory engagement, drawing creators to textures (smooth glass for modern sophistication, rough wood for warmth), origins (sustainability stories), and how light plays on surfaces, evoking feelings from calm and harmony to energy, defining the "story" and identity of a place beyond mere function. Choices like soft fabrics foster comfort, while contrasting metals and glass create contemporary vibes, directly influencing well-being and perception of scale, turning a generic 'space' into a meaningful 'place'.
Sustainability is frequently discussed in design, but often in abstract terms. What does responsible design look like in practice within your studio’s day-to-day work?
Francesco Roggero: Responsible design is achieved by integrating sustainability, ethics, and social impact into every phase of the project: from initial analysis (eco-friendly materials, low-impact processes) to production (durability, recyclability), and finally use (ergonomics, accessibility). The goal is to create solutions that are not only functional and aesthetically pleasing, but also beneficial for people and the planet, considering the product's entire life cycle.
How do you balance the commercial realities of design with experimentation and risk-taking, especially when working with international clients?
Francesco Roggero: Balancing design experimentation with commercial realities, especially internationally, means framing innovation as an investment, using iterative, data-driven testing (prototyping) to de-risk ideas, maintaining clear communication and training with clients, and understanding local cultural nuances. This approach grounds creativity in user needs and business objectives, demonstrating value beyond aesthetics, rather than blindly hoping for success.
Strategies for balancing creativity and commerce implemented by our Studio:
“Form and Communicate” frames creative ideas as long-term investments in user experience, brand equity, and efficiency, not just costs, showing how they translate into tangible benefits such as customer loyalty or market differentiation.
Data-driven experimentation: Use prototyping and testing to collect real data on user behavior, replacing assumptions with concrete evidence to validate innovative concepts on a small scale before full launch. Iterative design process: Implement design thinking (empathy, definition, ideation, prototyping, testing) to create feedback loops, enabling refinement and adaptation based on real user reactions and market changes.
Contextualize for global clients: Research and integrate local cultural norms, user behaviors, and market conditions (e.g., visual language, color psychology, legal constraints) to personalize experiments and avoid costly guesswork.
Offering layers of options: Presenting a spectrum of designs, from safe, data-driven options to bold, experimental ones, allowing clients to choose their risk appetite and understand the potential ROI of each.
Focus on learning, not just metrics: Especially in innovative projects, emphasize that the value of initial experimentation lies in the learning gained, which leads to long-term profitable results, rather than the expectation of immediate monetary gains.
Collaboration is a key part of the 6R5 Network model. What have you learned about leadership and creative exchange through this networked approach?
Francesco Roggero: A beautiful example of collaboration and coordination between different work entities was the Milano Style Collection project – created for the American company Lili Cement Tile of New Jersey by our friend – Industrialist Simon Katan – we created it in 2019 – it was a collaboration and synergy of three nations – for the creation of handcrafted elements with modular decorative shapes in cement as coverings of various shapes and decorations – created by skilled craftsmen from Vietnam – based on a project by our Milan studio and American management and coordination of Lili Tile.
Looking ahead, what questions or challenges are currently driving your curiosity as a designer, rather than finished ideas or outcomes?
Francesco Roggero: The questions and challenges that drive designers today revolve around ethics. of AI (how to design responsibly), radical sustainability (beyond ecological, towards regenerative), inclusivity (designing for everyone, not just the mainstream), and redefining the user experience (ubiquitous, immersive, non-screen interfaces), focusing on social impact, the Anthropocene, and ethical technology for a more equitable and sustainable future.
New Spaces and Interventions will lead us to create new housing and design solutions for new Worlds for cosmic travel and who knows interventions with peoples of other Planets and Universes and our neighbors.
