SMALL TALK | Head-to-head with Dante O. Benini

_Please introduce yourself.
Dante O. Benini, an architect for much too long now.

_What is your home like?
An attempt at an American-style loft, in a pretentious part of Milan.

_Is there anything you would change?
After 22 years, all the lights.

_Your relationship with the things around you?
I’m tied to very few objects, but I’d like an empty house.

_Your favourite colour?
Blue and black.

_What do you do in your leisure time?
What leisure time?

_What could you never give up?
Dreaming about seeing the sea

_Your ideal work space?
Everywhere.

_Where does your creativity come from?
From the needs of others.

_Any vices?
Gluttony (controlled).

_What does beauty mean to you?
That which becomes social.

_A building or work of art you love?
The Guggenheim Museum in New York.

_A maestro who inspires you?
The ones who were my teachers: Carlo Scarpa and Oscar Niemeyer. But more than anyone else, on an emotional level, Bruno Zevi.

_A dream?
Designing a church as a gift, where there’s a need for it.

_Something that torments you when designing?
‘I can’t do it this time.’

_Your motto?
Raise a smile from everyone.