A cofounder of both Design Miami and, more recently, the design site L’Arco Baleno, Ambra Medda has an eye for what’s new and next in the design world and a facility for discovering fresh talent. That expertise led Christie’s to appoint her this winter to the newly created position of global creative director for the department of 20/21 Design, which focuses on work from the 20th and 21st centuries. AD spoke to Medda about her exciting new role.
* Architectural Digest: *How do you envision your position at Christie’s?__
Ambra Medda:__ I’m looking to forge interesting relationships with the media, with institutions, with creative individuals—it could be a fair or a designer or a brand—and explore areas where we haven’t really been active. And more generally, I’m helping to create a new language for design within Christie’s.
* AD: *What would that new language emphasize?
AM: We need to figure out how we should be presenting design both online and offline. For example, how do we make our auctions a more approachable platform for people to acquire design? Many people don’t even think of Christie’s as a place to buy pieces for their home. Everything seems sort of unattainable, dedicated to connoisseurship. The design market has changed and evolved so much that it’s an interesting moment to re-question what we’re doing and how we’re doing it. And to celebrate design in the way that feels most true to this moment in time, as opposed to just selling what has traditionally sold well.
__ AD: __What are design collectors looking for these days?
AM: I get a sense that people are looking for new material and fresh ideas. With the recession, a lot of buyers went back to traditional pieces, to historical material—which I personally love, and that’s a great thing—but now I think everyone’s ready for some novelty. It doesn’t have to be radical or grandiose; it can be whatever we want.
* AD: *How has the idea of collecting design evolved?
AM: People aren’t collecting the way they did ten or twenty years ago. Very few collectors are buying just the one thing anymore. They may want to have an exquisite 19th-century Japanese lacquer bowl and above that a Lucio Fontana painting and below that a Joe Colombo desk from the 1970s and then a set of Pierre Paulin armchairs. For us, it’s more about reflecting that attitude toward collecting rather than, for example, presenting all contemporary design.
__ AD: __It’s true. If you look at the houses in AD lately, they often feature that mix.
__AM:__Yes, for example, nobody would really do a house all in Louis XIV anymore. And for many people, a sale that’s dedicated to Louis XIV furniture might feel a little distant or scary. But you could put out a few Louis XIV pieces that would look absolutely extraordinary mixed with things that are much more modern or contemporary, and that might make people feel like, Okay, I am part of this conversation, I get it.
AD: In your previous positions, you spent a lot of time traveling and seeking out new talents. Will that be part of your job at Christie’s?
AM: For sure. I’ll always be scoping the world for new ideas and talents. That’s the way I experience design, and it’s something I want to bring to my role at Christie’s, to expose the company to things that they may not be looking at. But in fact I was recently on the phone with a Christie’s colleague based in Shanghai, and I was very pleased to hear that she’s putting together the first contemporary Asian design sale, scheduled for October, which will focus on exquisite craft from Japan, Korea, and China. So, it’s already in the air here.
__ AD: __Who are your favorite new designers?
__AM:__Well, in terms of my personal interests—which doesn’t necessarily mean I’m going to be including them in a sale or that they’re part of a Christie’s project—I just got back from Rome, where I went to the opening of a show by Andrea Anastasio. He did some very interesting vases with foliage coming out of them, wrapped in material that’s used to ship very expensive and delicate technological components. They’re sublime. He’s been relatively disassociated from the traditional design scene, which has allowed him to have a real freshness to his work.
__ AD: __What’s the most exciting aspect of your new position?
__AM:__Getting to collaborate with incredible specialists from my field. And getting to ask ourselves all these fundamental questions. Why are we here and what are we doing? It’s about building on what exists and harnessing all of the quality and resources, the connoisseurship and authenticity that Christie’s was built on.
