FABIO NOVEMBRE

Expo is drawing to a close: can we make a quick summing-up?Let’s put off this summing-up. The rush to draw conclusions too often unbalances the course of events. Each one should play his part, to the best of his abilities, then we’ll see.The job of ambassador has a mission. What does this mean to Fabio Novembre?The term ‘ambassador’ is used for those who have to fulfil a function of representation in a different context, but in Milan I’m playing at home. I’ve approached the formality of this nomination with the informality of my everyday life. I use car-sharing, public transport and a bike. I don’t abandon Milan during the weekends. I take an intensive part in its cultural life. I get involved in many forms of solidarity. I shun the quantitative logic of ‘eat all you can’. I want a better place for my children and I make an effort every day to pursue this goal.Sustainability, environment and food production. Where do you start?They are three sides of the same triangle. The problems can’t be looked at individually, there is a single front. It is necessary to profoundly change our attitude to life, rediscover a balance between giving and receiving.What legacy will Expo leave Italy?Knowledge about food subjects is something inherent to the nature of Italians. Around a table, any kind of ideological division disappears. Foreign friends point out to me that we are the only people in the world who talk so much about food. Expo will be an important milestone, it will set a direction but is not a beginning or an end.What kind of diet do you follow when you’re travelling round the world for your work?I don’t suffer from food chauvinism. I’ve always thought of food as one of the best ways of getting to know the cultures of other people.A dish you couldn’t do without?By nature I could do without everything. But if we’re talking about a memorable dish that brings back happy memories, then I’ve no doubt: my mother’s broad beans and Apulian endives.Design and planning. Thinking of sustainability, what can an architect do to improve the current state of things?The mantra of our time should be ‘do less, do it better’. In a world that is growing at an incredible pace, the quality of our actions is a moral duty. It is necessary to develop a self-critical as well as critical capacity, and try to get the best out of our expressive ability.When a designer creates an object does he ever think about the end of its life and how to manage it?This is a problem I have set myself since I was a student. There is an expiry date for everything, including ourselves. To think that our artefacts can aspire to eternity is an understandable aspiration but also a serious error. We design new materials that will outlive us but not their function, with tragic consequences that we insist on underrating.You have defined Milan as your emotional cobweb: in what condition have you found it?Milan is fine, or in any case better than the rest of the country. It must never forget that it is the helm of the entire country, its conscience, its example of hard work. If Milan continues to keep the tiller straight, the whole country will benefit.