"Design is to listen to everything, art is to listen to no one." Paolo Coia
Paolo Coia is a professional Italian designer who carved out his path in the world of work at a very young age. He collaborated with numerous companies in various technological and manufacturing fields.
Drawing is his natural form of self-expression. He enjoys "thinking with his hands".
After several years of being an autodidact in Bari, Apulia, the sunny region of his origin, at the age of 20, he moved to Modena, where he attended the Higher Institute of Automotive Sciences. Upon completion, he gained a bachelor's degree with honors in Engineer-Stylist.
He immediately became part of the design team at MAC Design Studio in Tuscany, specifically in the motorcycle and scooter department. In the workshops, he gained experience in developing projects in the field of Industrial and manufacturing design, and in 2001, he began his freelance career.
Initially, he worked on redesigning products made of composite materials for numerous motorcycle accessory manufacturers; he developed graphic projects and advertising displays, thus acquiring skills in using software for 3D design.
In 2002, he devoted his activity to industrial exhibitions and interior items, creating not only a product but also an exhibition layout for his clients.
In 2003 and 2004, together with Italian and French designers, he participated in the design of recreational vehicles for companies such as Trigano, Camper International, Pilote, and Caravelair.
In 2005, upon the request of Uniwhite Italia, he implemented a significant number of projects in the food product design sector.
In 2006, for the German market, he invented the innovative modular trailer "Multibox." The product, initially presented at the Caravan Salon fair in Düsseldorf, and later showcased at numerous international exhibitions, received an industrial patent.
In 2007, he returned to Emilia-Romagna, where he carried out projects in the beauty industry for various institutions. Among his clients were companies like Revivre and Oxiline, as well as numerous firms for which he developed further important patents, leading to a long-term collaboration with the company Integree, headquartered in Spain. Later, he implemented projects in the field of green economy, introducing engineering solutions and "block diagram software" for sustainable hydrogen energy production, thus going far beyond the standard design project framework.
In 2009, he collaborated with Baltmotors Company (Kaliningrad) in the research laboratory "R&D," developing innovative concepts for motorcycles.
His vision of "concept" and significant modeling experience encouraged him in 2010-2011 to equip a workshop dedicated to functional models for studying ergonomic aspects. In 2013, he managed special projects realized using high-speed 3D printers.
In 2016, in Kyiv, Ukraine, he participated in a competition dedicated to redesigning and, after presenting his special "Electronic Bandura," won it. Significant contrasts in architecture, culture, city harmony, and lifestyle inspired a new wave of creativity, leading to the establishment of an operational center: Kyiv became a new creative hub.
Driven by the idea of spreading Italian culture and developing networking for professional opportunities and socialization, he created a speaking club called "Chiacchiere Italiane". As of today, the club has 1200 Ukrainians who are fluent in Italian!
In 2017, he devoted himself passionately to implementing interior design objects for private clients in the luxury sector.
In 2018, he began a close collaboration with the Ukrainian enterprise Shelf in the field of sheet metal processing.
In 2019, he expanded his vision, reuniting art and design (which has been his lifelong dream), creating futuristic sculptural forms from steel.
In 2020, near Boryspil Airport, he installed a magnificent stainless steel sculpture called "Eye of the Storm". The sculpture is seven meters high and weighs four tons.
In 2021, he started an important collaboration with the Embassy of the Italian Republic in Ukraine. He actively participated in organizing the Italian Design Day and the Italian Cuisine Week, creating and exhibiting numerous objects typical of the Italian style for these occasions.
24 February 2022, Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. (*)
During the spring of 2022, he created artworks in Ukraine using fragments of military equipment collected from the battlefield.
In July 2022, in the premises of the Capitol Library of Verona and in the presence of the Ambassador of the Italian Republic in Ukraine, H.E. Pier Francesco Zazo, he opened an exhibition showcasing the aforementioned artistic objects.
These same objects returned to Ukraine (Lviv) for a new exhibition organized by the Italian Cultural Institute in Ukraine.
On November 25, 2022, a sculpture called "The DNA of Creativity" was installed in the Square of Knowledge at Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. The Ambassador of the Italian Republic in Ukraine, H.E. Pier Francesco Zazo, who was present at the opening, donated the art object to the city of Kyiv on behalf of the Embassy of the Italian Republic in Ukraine as a "symbol of unity between two cultures and mutual respect between peoples."
In 2023, despite the ongoing war, he again organized an event on behalf of the Embassy of the Italian Republic in Ukraine, the Italian Trade Agency "ITA" and the Italian Cultural Institute in Ukraine for Italian Design Day, simultaneously creating an art object dedicated to the figure of the Ukrainian poet Lesya Ukrainka. On June 2, on behalf of the same Embassy, he organized a significant event for Italian Republic Day.
He organized and conducted art therapy sessions with children in numerous schools in Ukraine.
In December 2023, he was appointed as the art director for the realization of the "Bucha-2022 Memorial" project.
In January 2024, commissioned by the Embassy of the Italian Republic in Ukraine, he designed and implemented a conference hall for meetings of the G7, in which Italy will preside for the entire next year.
At the moment, he can "play" with enthusiasm and plan projects "on a large scale" as his multifaceted knowledge and matured experience make him a highly flexible and competent professional in problem-solving.
Professional skills: artistic drawing, technical drawing, sketching / pantone, letrajet, airbrushing. 2D CAD, 3D modeling, CAD / CAM processes, feasibility analysis, ergonomics study, engineering. Mechanical processing, thermoforming extrusion processes, thermoplastic, rotational moulding, extrusion blow molding; metal casting techniques, rapid prototyping, maquette, composite materials, robotic processes and computer flow charts.
Paolo Coia - Artist
I started drawing at four, expressing myself through drawings even as a child; back then, I had no idea that drawing could be so serious! I enjoyed observing everything from a "drone's eye view": it allowed me to find unexpected solutions, to explore myself even today, and that's my challenge!
Over the years, curiosity and life experience have led to an uncontrollable need for emotional, creative, and artistic self-expression in various fields: whether on canvas, in art objects, or places. Colors are my passion; I love breaking them down into basic geometric components and then fitting them into rhythmic lines. I create abstract compositions filled with symbolic meaning. My works are iconic figures that I like to showcase as a reflection of free emotional experience. I want to give myself as I am, not as others want to see me. In my creativity, I use my own technique of color dispersion in a multilayered way. The overlaps between color levels are transparent, expressing the values of authenticity as a unique perspective from the inside out, like a tent, bathed in light, or a window, always open to the Universe. Using straight or wavy lines, I depict strong, metallic contrasts similar to those found in a factory. I find inspiration in brilliant figures like Leonardo Da Vinci or in the clear, black or white lines, emotions from contemplating Lucio Fontana's "spatial" cuts that translate into tremors in the body. I am always contradictory: at night, I see biomechanical compositions in my dreams, and during the day, I stroll for a long time, meet friends, and drink coffee to calm my soul! My palette is rich in colors, lines, and angles created by them, allowing viewers to see specific objects in unconventional planes and with unexpected geometry.
I am a materialist and I adore volume; I create three-dimensionality by interweaving shadows that attract the viewer's eye, taking it to a new level of perception, a level of augmented reality. I take earth, sand, or something characteristic of the place where I draw and mix it with color. Inside me is the sea and a passion for mechanics. I love to "think with my hands" and breathe the soul into material things. My creative process, even if contradictory, should always be visible. I stand out from the crowd; there's always a smile on my face: I choose irony as a form of thinking and a way of life. I confess that even now I play with a Newton's disc to see the dissolution of colors: it's the same thing I did in childhood, but now I watch the process with the eyes of a contemporary artist! I observe the future from the past; I feel like a street artist of the Renaissance era, and I like the combination of art and design because the creative process has an infinite number of variables, and its instruments are inexhaustible. And in this lies the beauty!
© Design Center Italia 2024
24 February 2022, Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. (*)
Paolo Coia did not abandon his Ukrainian friends. The pretentious and absurd cruelty of the events led to a situation where a sense of justice prevailed over madness: he decided to dedicate himself entirely to volunteering and to speak out against the war in support of the Ukrainian people at all levels. In March 2022, he decided to leave Kyiv and, after a desperate journey, arrived in Medyka, on the Polish border. From there, he traveled daily between Medyka and Lviv; he organized an emergency assistance point for hundreds of refugees of Ukrainian and Italian origin in a rural house. Every day, he received essential goods for hundreds of refugees continuing to arrive at the Tesco center (Przemyśl). He collaborated with non-governmental organizations in the area to distribute food and provide emergency assistance. He reached out to his friends in Italy and received support in sending a significant number of vans with medical supplies and humanitarian goods, which he delivered to the most war-affected regions. He managed to organize the search and evacuation of people with disabilities from the territories of Kyiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, and Kherson regions. He organized three buses from Krakow to Italy, and subsequently, together with the non-governmental organization Hopeful Giving (Onlus), organized weekly transportation of refugees to Italy during the first three months, guaranteeing them assistance in finding safe places and jobs. Upon returning to Kyiv after overcoming the first phase of the humanitarian crisis, he dedicated himself to raising funds to purchase two ambulances: one of which was later sent to the orthopedic department of Kyiv Hospital, and the other to Kharkiv Polyclinic. During the summer of 2022, he assisted a group called “Quasar” (Lviv) in collecting humanitarian aid for internally displaced persons and families in difficult circumstances. Through his art exhibitions, he organized fundraisers aimed at providing proper assistance to civilians. In the winter of 2022-2023, he managed to bring fifteen generators and three additional ambulances to Ukraine. He started various psychological support activities and organized art therapy courses for students of schools, orphans, and hospital patients in the Zhytomyr, Kyiv, and Chernihiv regions.
Currently, his activities continue at full speed in the usual continuous mode, with ongoing efforts to collect aid and funds to support those in need.