Chiara Ferella Falda Q&A
-Chiara, thanks for welcoming us to such an inspiring place. Let’s start with what seems like a simple question, but is not: how are you?
- I’m very well! Apart from Milan’s greyness these days and the rather ugly architecture that the upcoming Olympics have brought to the city. I wish that, once the Olympics are over, there would be works and public spaces left for the community and for culture, but apparently that won’t be the case. And what I’ve seen around the city is truly ugly, especially for Milan, the design capital. But yes, I’m well.
-How would you describe your job and yourself to readers who don’t know who you are?
- Look, I'm always a bit stumped, and that’s a good thing too, defining what I do. I'm not quite a curator or event organiser, but I do both. I'm a pro in the creative world, mainly art, design, and fashion. Lucky me, I produce events, young artists, I’m the director of the FLA, but I chase stuff that doesn't fit neatly into boxes. I go for things that excite me in fields I know and stumbled into by chance. I studied political science, graduated in international law, still my passion, but post-grad I took this amazing film directing and TV language course with a placement. My teacher, Donato Pisani, a big TV director, sent me to Superstudio. I wasn't thrilled, I wanted to go for more cinema-related jobs, but he told me to trust him, that owner Gisella Borioli (CEO of Superstudio) would love me. The interview with Gisella was quick, she sized me up from head to toe and said: “you start tomorrow!”. I jumped in as a journalist, covering runway shows for a U.S. TV program. Fashion's always been my love, fueled by devouring mags Flavio Lucchini and Gisella Borioli created (I didn’t know them yet, but by chance I already loved all their magazines, fate…), so I ended up interviewing fashion insiders, chasing the circus across Milan, London, Paris. Then shifted to communications, becoming Superstudio Group's comms director. Meanwhile, with its hybrid art, contemporary design, fashion vibe, I handled Superstudio's art side, like the concept gallery called “MyOwnGallery” here in Tortona, launching young artists, and tracking Flavio Lucchini's artist path post-publishing. My trajectory here is super varied, letting me test myself across roles, inspired by amazing people. That's why, even doing outside gigs, I've never truly left Superstudio. Huge thanks to Flavio and especially Gisella for throwing me in deep but trusting me fully. An unforgettable school: you either sink or you make it, there’s no middle ground!
-Now it's crystal clear, yet, tell us still: any episode or person that sparked your pull into this endless, complex art-fashion-design ecosystem?
- Two people: first, Flavio Lucchini. Seeing his immense body of work, down in the basement here, his output from the '90s on, blew me away. He used art to capture fashion, not nostalgic, but timeless. We've lost the thrill for that divine garment you keep in your closet and memories forever; fashion as art awareness is gone. But Lucchini's deeper. His works freeze fashion's frivolous, fleeting side into eternal totems. Second, Michelangelo Pistoletto.
I am very proud to be one of his Ambassadors, and I have had the opportunity to collaborate several times with him and his curator, Fortunato D’Amico. He's a full-on artist, socially engaged, with cutting-edge socio-philosophical thinking. His stunning works aside, it's how he pushes concepts everywhere, like the one behind his work on Terzo Paradiso: balancing nature and tech. Or his youth support, humanity, openness. He gifted us a Terzo Paradiso on the roof here, a stunning piece that fits perfectly with our beautiful location.
-You've been tied to Superstudio for about 25 years, a game-changer that revolutionised Milan’s Tortona area, a creative epicenter and beyond. Where's Superstudio at today in its hybrid design-art-urban innovation arc?
- First off, there are four Superstudios now: historic Superstudio 13 (photo studios on Via Forcella 13), this one from 2000 (Superstudio Più), one in Barona (Superstudio Maxi), and a Bovisa one opening soon. Back to the question: the core is still urban redevelopment. Back then, Gisella and Flavio took abandoned factories in the Tortona area (for example, ex-General Electric), and transformed them into spaces for photography, advanced communication, creativity, culture, and events. Genius, but folks called them crazy, self-funding a project in what was then considered a sketchy pre-periphery.
But they nailed the need for event-ready spaces for fashion and design! By the way, no new land eaten, and historic buildings revived. Then, around Superstudio 13, agencies, fashion schools, showrooms, cafes sprouted spontaneously yet strategically. After a while Armani, MUDEC followed... Today, sustainability is central. Tommaso, Gisella’s grandson, joined the group by founding Superstudio Events, bringing a strong green upgrade: Superstudio Maxi has around 600 solar panels, and even cigarette butts are recycled. All locations hold the highest environmental sustainability certifications. Advanced technology supports high-level events, while free and inclusive initiatives help preserve the group’s cultural roots. Respect for heritage, combined with a constant forward-looking vision, forms the group’s deepest identity.
-We have to touch briefly on the pandemic, years later, without fully grasping its life impact. How do you think that period changed the relationship with events, physical spaces, and digital projects?
- Beyond the pain and drama, personally it wasn't a negative period for me. I had my dog, took long walks, spent time at home with my husband. What struck me was seeing people around me rediscover the value of time and even their own homes, questioning the meaning of life. At work, I felt an externally imposed anxiety: the rush for alternatives, forced digitalisation, the panic to "do something anyway." Then a strong desire emerged to reclaim physical spaces. It was more complex for international events, especially things like design week. Sometimes I wonder if the pandemic is being erased because it promised a social change that never materialised, and today we're the same or even worse off than before.
-Shifting focus to another recent endeavor of yours outside Superstudio, we are particularly intrigued by The Plot Foundation. We understand it as an initiative dedicated to merging neuroscience and art to unravel "cerebral narratives" and combat prejudices. Tell us more about it, and your role in this venture.
- Shortly after the pandemic, I left Superstudio. I was tired from focusing mostly on communications, with relentless schedules that weren't sustainable. Grateful as I was for years in such an exceptional environment, I needed to shift toward producing events and supporting artists. So I began curating exhibitions and working with the Fondazione Pistoletto, which eventually led me to photographer-artist Giangiacomo Rocco di Torrepadula (GG), whose practice centers on prejudice. I took on the role of his curator and producer. It sparked a powerful collaboration. GG is an extraordinary person with a completely open mind. After several shows together, we had the idea to create an organisation drawing on behavioral neuroscience principles to make prejudice, that fear of the unknown, accessible to everyone. So many social and political problems come from social anxiety and fear, stoked by misinformation and fake news, which fuel more fear, violence, and confusion. Grasping how our brain, especially the amygdala, handles these emotions, and how the prefrontal cortex can regulate them, is crucial. That's exactly what The Plot Foundation does, harnessing contemporary art's visual language as a potent, complementary approach. It operates on two fronts: school education programs, where students translate key ideas from behavioral neuroscience into artistic works with remarkable results; and the creation of exhibitions and events designed to encourage positive reflection, using an accessible and engaging artistic language while being firmly grounded in solid scientific research.
