Everything around us – from the most mundane object next to us, to the apartment we live in, to the building we live in – is the fruit of someone’s thought and the result of a creative process that starts with an idea and results in its realization.

This process, in a single word, is design which – in what we consider the most fascinating definition – represents the art of shaping our reality.

We talk about it to share some thoughts on a subject that we take for granted every day but which profoundly influences everyone’s lives because it characterizes the spaces we live in and the actions we perform every day through the objects we use.

Through our choices we surround ourselves with things that make us feel good, both aesthetically and functionally. We give the design we decide to surround ourselves with an important role in living as well as possible or doing everything we have to do as well as possible, from work to chores around the house.

Design surrounds us. In its broadest sense, design is the act of conceiving, planning and creating objects, environments or experiences with a specific purpose.

It is not just a question of aesthetics, but a combination of functionality, image, ergonomics and intuition that aims to improve our lives.

Every object around us is conceived and designed so that we can use it in the best possible way, just as the environments in which we live are designed to be as comfortable, functional and safe as possible.

Each person prefers the style that is closest to their own taste, which is the one that gives them the highest sense of well-being: we choose the colors, the materials, the furnishings, the doors that make up the scenography in which, every day, we are the actors on stage.

Italy is universally considered the cradle of design. We should be proud of the leading role that Italian design has always played, even before the word took on its current meaning.

Just think of artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, painters, sculptors but also designers, engineers and inventors: work that represented beauty but also led to functional and concrete solutions.

In these characteristics, their works already represented what would become, over time, the hallmark of Italian design: the intersection of creativity and practical sense.

The current meaning of design has been in common use since the mid-19th century with the first movements that began to oppose industrialization and mass production, promoting instead craftsmanship as a blend of aesthetics, quality and functionality.

In Italy, the history of design passes through professionals of the caliber of Giò Ponti, Achille Castiglioni or Ettore Sottsass – to name but a few – prominent post-war figures who conceived iconic pieces that combined aesthetics and functionality, embracing tradition and innovation and creating objects that were both classic and avant-garde.

Clean lines, elegance and profound attention to detail have brought Italian design style to the world.

BARCELLONA | Bianco Grigio | Gae Aulenti

We are the heirs of the great masters of the past, and we have the honor of keeping the creative development unique and authentic by carrying it into the future.

It is a great responsibility for a job that, today, has evolved thanks to the development of technologies, new materials and new processes that have to address people whose needs are different from those of the past.

Today, we live in a global and much more dynamic society than in the past, where flexibility becomes a key feature for satisfying different tastes.

MYSORE | Terracotta | Ettore Sottsass

The success of the great Italian designers of the post-war period is closely linked to the companies that collaborated to realize their projects and ended up producing the iconic pieces of Italian design that we all know.

Well known to all are the companies that have produced furniture, lamps or design objects that have become historical pieces of Italian culture.

Today, design is not just a game reserved for upholstered furniture or lighting: it is the entire production sector that has been in motion – for years now – in a movement in unison with shared objectives: striving for excellence, handing down the Italian tradition, developing research that leads to the interpretation of historical culture aimed at the creation of new products that have nothing to do with the anachronism of a sterile copy.

The recognition of new Italian design is based on the value of tradition applied to innovation.

ORIENTALE | Tonino Guerra

Among them, the masters Ettore Sottsass, Gae Aulenti and Tonino Guerra have enriched the Cocif Collections with designs born of the flair and creativity that distinguished them throughout their careers.

Tonino Guerra

It is the choice to act on quality and innovation that allows for solutions that are the answer to people’s needs to live in a home that is like a bespoke suit, comfortable, functional and in line with their tastes.

It is not just about making beautiful products, nor is it just purely functional, but about managing all aspects together, so that we can be proud of our active contribution in lending continuity first hand to the cultural process of Italian design also through the production of doors.