Damian Williamson, how did you become a designer?  
I began by specializing in woodwork.  After studying at the London College of Furniture??, I worked as an assistant  for a design firm. Then I decided to travel: I spent six months going round the world.  It was a journey of research.  I stopped to study the projects of other designers in the places I visited and observed the ways people used them.  
After this period spent travelling  I studied for a year at the Wimbledon School of Art and I graduated from the Kingston University of London with a dissertation on Advanced Materials.  

How did you come to meet De Padova?  
Through Birgit Lohmann. We met for the first time in 2005, when Maddalena De Padova invited me to show her my prototype for a chair. She liked the design immediately, and also this new technique of working wood.  We met again at the Milan Furniture Fair 2006: the chair  I created, “Spring”, forms part of the new De Padova collection.  

The Spring chair: what was the source of that concept?
I got the idea from some research I’ve been working on for years, doing experiments with bendy wood, a technique  that aims to achieve the utmost possible comfort by achieving  the utmost springiness  of the wood. After De Padova said they liked the prototype we moved on to production, but we realized that manufacturing  the chair in bendy wood was going to be too expensive.  So we began a series of experiments, applying the theory of bent wood to ash and exploiting the natural elasticity of the material alone. And it proved a success.  

What did you get from your encounter with Maddalena De Padova? 
Ever since I’ve known Maddalena, I can claim to feel very different, she transmitted such strength to me.  I will never forget her energy, her purposefulness and her intelligence.  

Do you feel this will be the first of other collaborations with De Padova?  
I have an enormous respect for Maddalena De Padova, quite apart from what the firm stands for in the history of Design.  It was an exciting partnership and I’d love it to continue.  It is very stimulating to work with a firm like De Padova, that is  so focused on research, on developing new ideas, and with a unfailing attention to detail.  

How has Nordic design influenced your work?  
Above all by the quest for simplicity.  My projects avoid lavish decoration, ostentation.  I want to make them as simple as possible.  In this, true, there is a kinship with the philosophy of Nordic design.  Think of the great masters, of Alvar Aalto, Jacobsen…

What do you think of Italian design?  
I think it has an enormous potential.  Italian firms invest a lot in research and  innovation, and show an unflagging  concern for new ideas.  Italian Design has a strong image around the world.  The best design is Italian.  

What direction would you say the new design is taking?  
I’m always  convinced it’s essential to return to base, to simple solutions.  When you get tired of an object after six months, well that’s not true design.  True design is the kind that finds ideas that stand the test of time.