A shared table as an image of dialogue.
“Can industry give itself a purpose?” Adriano Olivetti asked this question in his speech at the inauguration of the Pozzuoli factory on 23 April 1955. To read it again today is to ask what effect a company has on people’s lives, through what it produces and how it works.
For Noema, a company taking shape around ceramic surfaces, the question also concerns very ordinary situations. A designer needs to understand whether a proposal meets the needs of a space. A commercial partner needs to be able to explain what they offer. Anyone involved in a decision needs to know which elements are already defined and which still need discussion.
Our first principle is to make time to listen. A request often contains more than its immediate subject: behind a preference for a colour there may be a condition of the room, a material to retain or a doubt that is still hard to put into words. Listening helps bring these reasons to the surface before we respond.
The second is clarity. We ask for precise words to describe a surface, and agreements that can be understood by those who will work with them. A description may evoke an atmosphere; when it addresses a product’s characteristics, it must make them recognisable. Distinguishing between evocation and description also takes care.
The third principle is to take responsibility for our choices. This means being able to explain why a proposal has entered the range, what role we give it and which questions remain open. It is a commitment to both the material and the relationship with the people involved in a project.
These are Noema’s principles, developed through reflection on a question by Olivetti. Their measure will be in the work: in the quality of a response, the precision of an agreement, the room made for a useful objection. That is where we ask our idea of a company to take shape.
English translation of the quotation by the Noema editorial team, from Adriano Olivetti’s original Italian. The reflections that follow are Noema’s own.
