Meet Matt Mondini | Multidisciplinary Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Matt Mondini and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Matt, what habits do you feel helped you succeed?
Really small habits that build discipline and sharpen my focus have helped me succeed the most. Recently it’s been my morning routine; have a coffee, read a book, stretch and meditate. It sounds simple, but it kick starts my day and sets the tone for the rest of the morning. I usually do my most important or cognitively demanding task first, and my morning habits make sure my mind is clear and I have the focus to engage in deep work. The discipline to keep this routine, even if I’m traveling or in a different setting, seeps into the way I run my creative practice.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I originally went to architecture school, where I soon found out the classic architecture track was not for me. I much more enjoyed making models and creating things with my hands. This landed me a fabrication job at a sculptors studio in Brooklyn, where I was suddenly thrust into the art world. There I learned much about moldmaking, casting, and just generally how to make things. At this point I was going through a creative identity crisis. I had just graduated from architecture school with an accredited degree, my parents wanted me to pursue my license, and I was making plaster sculptures in a garage in Brooklyn. My mind didn’t know which way I wanted to go, I definitely didn’t want to enter an architecture practice but I didn’t feel like an artist either, the art world was so foreign to me, but that was the appeal as well. I kept at the fabrication job, slowly learning more and more about fabrication but also the art world; contemporary artists, historical works, the most interesting galleries and museums. This exposure to what seemed like an infinite amount of creative stimuli really energized me to find myself creatively. Slowly I would start to mix my practical knowledge from fabricating with my formal training as an architect. I discovered that many architects had left the profession, or like me never practiced, and had become other things; artists, furniture designers, fashion designers, curators, the list was endless. I became more and more fascinated with furniture design, more specifically the sculptural works a few designers were producing, things that one couldn’t distinguish if they were a work of art or a functional object. I started creating my own designs, a mix of pragmatic and rational thinking with a more sculptural approach formally. The more objects and products I designed and experimented making, the more I started defining my approach and creative identity. Fast forward 5 years later, I know run a creative practice with my partner, called Floating World. We focus on objects and interiors, with a playful and sculptural approach. Our latest project, Limestone Home Objects, is a collection of domestic objects made of repurposed limestone dust from local quarries in Malta, where our studio is. This first major collection of ours sets the course for the type of work we want to engage in. For the studio, it’s important that whatever we do conveys a story or a point of view. I would say I still have some lingering doubts about my creative identity, but I believe that the more I make and do, the clearer the identity will become. For me it’s become more about the process, and this approach is also brought into the ethos of the studio.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Whenever some comes and visits me in NYC, the first thing I’ll do is take them for a bagel. Bacon egg and cheese on an everything is non-negotiable. I don’t have a favorite place, but The Bagel Point in Greenpoint is where I’ve been going to the most recently. After that we’ll maybe go to Chelsea and check out any interesting exhibitions that are on, Friedman and Benda being my favorite to see some of my favorite designers and artists in the collectible design sector. Then maybe we’ll wind down at a park and just people watch or chat. McCarren park is my local park and there’s plenty to do around there as well. I’ll mainly show them my local spots around Brooklyn, and maybe go with them to a museum if there’s a good exhibition on, I’ll let them do the tourist hot spots by themselves, which everyone wants to do. If they’re staying for an extended time I’ll invite them to go hiking or camping outside the city. My go to is the Appalachian trail, either by the Del Water Gap or upstate NY around bear mountain.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
As a first generation American, I would firstly need to dedicate my shout out to my parents. They immigrated to the US from Argentina at quite an older age, my father 40 and my mother 34. Besides the obvious fact that their sacrifices afforded me opportunities to succeed in this country, their boldness and unwavering optimism in the face of adversity have really bled down into the way I navigate the world. Seeing them as an example, I never feared to dream big and pursue what I wanted, whether that be to move around the world or create a new business venture at a young age.

Website: www.mattmondini.com

Instagram: @misosoup92

Other: www.itsthefloatingworld.com