From Bologna to New York: Leonardo Possati at Parsons School of Design

"Let's design a better world": the Parsons School of Design in New York is guided by the ambitious—but not utopian—idea that art and design can be tools to improve the world. Founded in 1896 as The Chase School by Impressionist painter William Merritt Chase, it became the first American higher education institution to open a branch in Paris in the 1920s. Today, according to the QS World University Rankings 2024, Parsons is ranked the top U.S. university in the field of arts and design.

Interdisciplinarity and a practice-based approach are at the core of Parsons’ teaching methodology. Located in Greenwich Village, the school counts over 5,700 students, both undergraduate and postgraduate, from 116 countries worldwide. Among them is a young designer from Bologna, Leonardo Possati, who reflects on how his experience in New York—where he still resides after graduating a few months ago—was pivotal for his professional development.

Interview with Leonardo Possati: From Bologna to New York (and Back?)

How did you end up at Parsons School of Design?
I have always loved drawing: as a child, I carried a notebook and pencil everywhere. Later, during high school, I spent six months in New Zealand taking a carpentry course, where I built my first stool. That experience was formative, leading me to product design, a field that allowed me to merge my passions for drawing and craftsmanship—creating objects with my own hands.

After completing my Bachelor’s at NABA in Milan, I aimed to pursue a master’s abroad, applying to schools in London and the U.S. That’s how I arrived at Parsons, where I began studying Industrial Design in September 2023 and completed my Master of Fine Arts in May 2025.

How did Parsons’ practice-based approach shape your formation as an industrial designer?

Even NABA offers a more hands-on, Anglo-Saxon style of education compared to other Italian institutions. Both at NABA and Parsons, class sizes were small, around thirty students, which allowed for close, personal interaction with professors, who are also professionals. From the very beginning, it felt like stepping into the professional world.

Moreover, my classmates came from diverse backgrounds—psychology, music, engineering, neuroscience—broadening my perspective on industrial design and expanding my creative mindset.

How was your thesis project Vivo conceived?

The idea started with my first project at Parsons, a small collection called Otio, which already explored assemblability—an especially relevant concept in New York. Apartments are generally small and rented unfurnished, so people often buy cheap, low-quality furniture. Beautiful objects are frequently left on the street. This inspired me to design a modular, customizable system that the user can configure according to changing needs.

I have always been passionate about playful design, where users can create their own configurations, interacting directly with the product. The system is called Vivo because it evolves continuously. Modules can be disassembled and reassembled to create different furniture pieces. For example, in a studio apartment, a personal sofa can transform into an extendable table for guests. The collection can also be expanded over time with additional modules, multiplying possible configurations.

Are you continuing this project beyond your studies?

At Parsons, we organized two exhibitions, including one at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF). This allowed me to make valuable contacts to find a supplier and plan the production process so that the modules could remain economically accessible. My goal is to run a test batch of 50 modules to gauge how the product is received.

For my thesis, I personally built three plywood prototypes—a large module and two smaller ones—using a CNC machine to create the perforations. Now the challenge is to maintain this perforated design, which makes the modules immediately recognizable and lightweight, while multiplying the possible combinations. At the same time, it generates a significant amount of material waste, which needs to be addressed.

Can you tell us about the most significant projects in your portfolio, besides Vivo?

Light Lines, my thesis project at NABA, is a collection of lamps inspired by my passion for architecture. The two pieces reference iconic buildings in Milan’s skyline: the Cristallo floor lamp evokes Gio Ponti’s Pirelli Tower, while the Velaschina table lamp draws inspiration from BBPR Studio’s Torre Velasca.

BoBa Table was one of my first projects at Parsons, created for the Advanced Manufacturing Methods course with my classmate Carmen Puig, an artist specializing in textiles. During the first semester, we learned to use all available machines at the university, including CNC, laser cutting and engraving, plasma cutting, and 3D printing.

BoBa Table is a modular totem/table built by stacking walnut wood elements alternated with cylinders decorated with textiles woven using the contemporary Japanese Saori weaving technique, known for its irregular patterns. BoBa Table was exhibited at Echoes in Color, a show at the Mexican gallery Lux Feminae in New York, Spring 2024, featuring several emerging artists.

Foldy is another project from the same course, created with plasma cutting. It is a rack for storing firewood, conceived from initial experiments with various cuts on a single flat sheet, followed by precise hand folding to minimize material waste.

Finally, Otio served as the prelude to my Parsons thesis: a collection focused on conviviality, made of three wooden pieces assembled solely with interlocking joints. It includes a stool that doubles as a chessboard, a floor lamp, and a small table for storing wine bottles and glasses.

How did your collaboration with Malaparte Design begin?

Malaparte Design, founded in 2019 by Tommaso Rositani Suckert (*), creates modern reinterpretations of the furnishings of Casa Malaparte, the iconic villa his ancestor designed for himself in Capri. I met Tommaso through mutual friends and began collaborating with him through an internship after my first year of the master’s program. These are 1930s-inspired pieces, offered in limited, numbered editions of twelve worldwide, through the Gagosian Gallery in New York.

Plans for the future?

I am still exploring my design language, always including playful details that change the user’s perspective. I see New York as more of a commercial platform than a manufacturing hub. In the future, I aim to open a studio near Bologna to work with skilled Italian artisans, combining my Parsons training with the professional network I built in New York.