He presents himself as a designer “with a lot to learn”, and who is animated by creativity and the study of details. Danilo Cascella, born in 1966 – and with a thirty year experience in the retail sector – says: “I am a researcher, I search for styles. My philosophy has always been the search for the product and exclusivity by virtue of a very sophisticated clientele, which is used to living in international contexts and for whom I have discovered new brands, new styles and a certain level of alternatives compared to the established offer”. His first excursion into the world of design occurred via an installation “Fashion to Design” in the Sktisch showroom in 2012 and it is from that moment, that what can be defined as a brilliant career in the world of design, began to take place, or better: a new way of making design made up of many expressions of contemporary creativity. A young project, with high ambitions and unique in its genre, and therefore, for the time being, without competitors. “I had an intuition”, he continues “which was to give style to technological object inserted into a context of excellence”.
Hello Danilo, can you please tell us about how D-Table was born: the first interactive multitouch design table? It occurred after a reflection about the role of the project with regards to behavior, when I started to play around with technology thinking about how to personalize a device in an Italian way. This was a work in progress which led me to install high-tech materials into a piece of furniture and then watched it come to life. It was born the moment I witnessed good taste, interaction, utility and satisfaction all enclosed in a single container.
Is it more a device or furniture? I would say “compromise” is the most flexible definition, and what I look for the most. It is an item of design because I tried to confer it a touch of the Made in Italy, but, on the other hand, it also has a technological soul, which is present in our everyday lives. Yet, whichever seems to be the most appropriate conclusion, what I desired most, was to create an object which could allow people to share something whilst looking each other in the eyes, looking at the sky, the objects and the people around us, without having our faces engaging one-to-one with a device, which does not allow us to acknowledge our surroundings.
So, this is how the D-Table was born… We’re talking about an interactive multitouch table, which allows multiple people to surf the internet at the same time and which can satisfy practical, safety, energy-saving, resource optimization and waste reduction needs. The contemporary and versatile design of the five, let’s say, ‘base’ models (which are D-Zero, D-Time, D-Cosmo, D-Monster and D-Young) offer the table in a varied mix of materials to which we can add a level of customization, which can reach 100%, with totally tailor made projects due to the fact that our team is composed of a group of renowned Italian artisans who have all experienced the invaluable tailor-made tradition.
How does the Made in Italy aspect come into this discussion? It is a fundamental aspect: D-Table is entirely made in Italy. It is thought in Italy, assembled in Italy and created in Italy, even though the search for the best technology occurs on a global level, yet it is still assembled here, in an area, which is very interesting from a design point of view and to which I am particularly attached to: the Emilia area.
According to you, what aspect of the D-Table do you think engages the user the most? Firstly, the fact you can share things and secondly, the possibility of having a large object, with which you can experience many things, and which possesses a series of extras such as an exclusive software of which we are owners and creators. Through the software, it is possible to personalize even the navigation experience, thanks to the management of a series of preferences, which are seldom offered in the same way by others.