Design as a laboratory of possibilities

Eugenio Perazza believes that cultivating a culture of experimentation is essential - a huge effort, sometimes even a little crazy, but necessary. For him, the only real failure is losing the desire to try again. This spirit defines the visionary entrepreneur who built one of the most free-spirited and innovative companies in contemporary design. In 1976, in Motta di Livenza (Treviso), Perazza founded Magis - from the Latin “more” - as a laboratory of ideas, a factory of artists where experimentation is the rule. He tells his story in Il giorno in cui vidi una bella sedia (Ed. Rizzoli, edited by Beppe Finessi), an intellectual autobiography that retraces fifty years of encounters, successes, and inevitable mistakes. The “beautiful chair” of the title is not just an object but a revelation - the moment when Perazza understands that design can be innovation, curiosity, and challenge. It marks the beginning of an entrepreneurial path guided by instinct and vision, where intuition and rejection become opportunities. Everyone, he says, experiences at least once in life what he calls seven magic seconds - a fleeting moment capable of changing one’s direction entirely.


Il giorno in cui vidi una bella sedia © Magis

As Finessi notes in his introduction, Perazza is a craftsman of ideas, able to transform industrial design into a cultural act. Magis has never been tied to a single style, but has always been a laboratory of possibilities, where every project starts from a question and risk is part of the creative process. This philosophy resonates with the theme of Fuorisalone 2026 - Be the Project, which celebrates creativity as a living, generative act, where even mistakes become part of growth. For Perazza, being a designer means using courage, intuition, and creativity to challenge the status quo, approaching problems with curiosity, openness, and the freedom to fail.


Image on the left: Eugenio Perazza © Magis                                                                    Image on the right: © Magis

Over the years, Magis has collaborated with leading figures in contemporary design - Enzo Mari, Philippe Starck, Jasper Morrison, Konstantin Grcic, the Bouroullec brothers, and Naoto Fukasawa - building a collection that values ethical coherence over aesthetic uniformity. Each Magis piece is born from dialogue, encounter, and shared risk. Icons such as the Bombo stool, Chair_One, and Pipe Chair are not just success stories but milestones in a continuous process of exploration. The story of Magis is that of an enterprise that places design itself at its core. Today, under the leadership of Alberto Perazza, Magis continues to explore new directions while keeping its original energy alive. A symbol of this spirit is Ettore the mule, the cast-iron sculpture designed by Konstantin Grcic in 2016 to celebrate the brand’s 40th anniversary. Humble, stubborn, and tireless, the mule embodies the freedom and persistence that define Magis - and Eugenio Perazza’s idea of design: a way of thinking that never stops seeking. In the end, every Magis project is a love story - the union of industrial logic and artisanal passion, where vision and craftsmanship turn dreams into reality.