OMNIDE: a HUB at the service of quality and beauty, with a special attention to charity initiatives
We meet in London, during an Excellence Magazine event, Ivan Lazzaroni, principal director of OMNIDE.
Ivan, how was your project born?
We’re an architecture studio that owes its strength to the collaboration and open dialogue with professionals from other fields, such as engineers, interior designers, builders, suppliers, and artists, to deliver projects where the quality of details determines the beauty of the whole. Allowing for constructive multidisciplinary partnerships, this approach has enabled us to create and complete high-level, high-quality projects in the residential, commercial and retail areas for new constructions, renovations, and conversion of buildings, both in the UK and in the rest of the world. We have partners in Amsterdam, Mumbai, Nairobi, and Rome.
A pool of professionals with different backgrounds. What’s the added value you can create for your customers?
We’re able to give our customers a chance to choose from a wider selection of design options, thanks to our knowledge of new groundbreaking materials, finishes and building methods, on which we’re constantly updated by our network, so that we always keep up with the latest news. Our close relationship with suppliers and builders also allows us to pay particular attention to quotes in order to make them closer to reality when it comes to final balance, so that customers can complete their project on budget and on time.
Omnide is a HUB that hosts different activities. How did you come up with this idea?
When we opened our architecture studio, we realized that planning can be successful and innovative only if it’s open to collaborations with other fields and activities, as this adds perspective to projects and enables us not to follow a particular style, but to meet customers’ needs with different options.
Creating a hub where people can meet, discuss and always learn something new is particularly effective in a multicultural place like London, but the city lacked a physical space where this could happen. The idea of opening one came naturally to us when we moved to Omnide ++, which we have personally designed. Plus, since there’s a fine line between arts and architecture, we’ve thought of using art as a language to help people from different backgrounds connect, so that art can be a way for them to find common grounds for an open, constructive dialogue, overcoming barriers like their origins and ethnicity. We’ve consequently decided to invite a different artist once a month to display their artworks, in order to organize event nights that could inspire our community and visitors.
You’re also actively engaged in charity. Can you tell us more about your latest project?
It was born of our wish to find a deeper, more pragmatic purpose to the events we organize with artists every month, and to raise awareness among the London community.
When I first visited India 9 years ago, I could see the living conditions of many homeless children, who lived out in Mumbai streets all day and night. In India, there are about 2 million children that live in the streets, with no prospects of a normal future.
So last July 3, we held an event at Omnide++ to sell works from Indian artists, and we’ve thought of using part of the profits to fund a school for homeless children in Bhilwara, in Northern India.
Omnide has taken care of planning the extension of this school, and thanks to our event and the fundraising campaign launched for this project https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/therajasthanifoundation we’re now working to put it into practice.
This is also possible thanks to the support by 6 Indian artists part of the Ima foundation www.imafoundation.com who have donated part of their works to our project, and by the Rajasthani foundation http://www.ourtrf.org/ who has already sponsored other initiatives for this school, and manages funds.
Making this project we want to raise awareness in the London community to also create consciousness to get a better future for these children
