Take a peek inside the Glasgow home of Gabriella Marcella, the creative force behind RISOTTO, a wonderfully colourful risograph print and design studio. From vintage Memphis lamps and quirky objects to artworks made by friends, Gabriella's home is a joyful mix of old and new, with plenty of personality.
Hi Gabriella, it’s so nice to chat to you! Please tell us a little bit about yourself, your work and where you live.
I’m Gabriella Marcella, a designer and artist, and I run RISOTTO, a risograph print and design studio in Glasgow. I first came across Risograph printing while studying independent publishing at Pratt Institute in New York, bought my first machine in 2010, and initially ran it from my bedroom. RISOTTO properly started in 2012 and has since grown into a print studio, shop, workshop, design practice and general playground for colour, paper and process.
I live in a ground floor garden flat in Glasgow’s West End with my husband Rob and our brand new baby daughter. Rob is an architect, so between the two of us we think about design a lot throughout the house.
How would you describe your home in three words. Have those words changed over time?
Colourful, collected and lived-in.
My husband Rob is the minimalist in the relationship and I’m definitely the maximalist. Over the years I’ve collected a lot of pieces, from Memphis lamps and ’60s plastics, to anything unusual and red! The flat is a classic Glasgow tenement, so while the backdrop is fairly classical and mostly white, the colour comes in through all these layered objects, artworks and furniture. It reflects both of us, and our shared love of hosting, cooking and design.
Does your home feel like an extension of RISOTTO, or a place to switch it all off?
A bit of both. The same brain is definitely at work, so there is lots of colour, pattern, modular furniture, odd objects and things made by friends. But home is a little softer and less poppy than the studio.
As a couple, I think Rob creates the space, and I fill it. That probably sums up the balance quite well.
What drew you to this particular space, and what did you see in it that others might have missed?
High ceilings, good light and a garden! We’ve done a lot of the renovation ourselves, with countless DIY weekends. The character was already there, so we just had to work out how to live in it. We moved the kitchen and living space to the front of the flat, where the light is best, removing a wall to open it all up, and pushed the bedrooms to the back where there’s more privacy.
Your work is fearless with colour. Does that confidence carry into your home, or do you edit it differently?
I think so! I work very intuitively and a lot of my colour decisions come from my gut. At home I’m probably a little more edited, but mainly because we only have limited space, so that is a strong parameter. Everything has to work quite hard, so a lot of the furniture has been interrogated for multi-function.
How do you balance boldness with calm in a living space?
I think the calm mostly comes from the architecture and natural materials like the wooden floors, then the boldness comes from the things we put into it. Rob is much better at leaving space around things, whereas my instinct is always to add more and more.
It has become a sort of soft battle of the surfaces. He clears them, I fill them. But somehow we usually meet in the middle.
Are there colours you love in your work but would never invite into your home?
I use far more bright and fluorescent colour on paper and at RISOTTO than I do at home. Neon pink or orange can be amazing in a print because of the scale and textured application, but at home I prefer richer, deeper colours, especially reds and vintage greens.
I don’t think there is any colour I would ban entirely, though.
What’s your relationship with patterns at home? Full immersion or carefully placed moments?
Probably carefully placed moments, which might be surprising given how pattern-heavy my work can be. I like pattern to have a bit of room around it.
At home it tends to come through artwork, textiles and smaller objects rather than wallpaper. I’m surrounded by pattern all day at RISOTTO, and I think I create patterns through the composition of objects, creating little bursts of it at home rather than full immersion.
What’s the most treasured object in your home, and what’s its story?
Right now it’s our Nathalie Du Pasquier cushion covers! My baby daughter is mesmerised by them! They’re black and white with flashes of red and yellow, and because her vision is still developing, they’re these super graphic, soft pattern forms that she can really lock onto. I squish them around her, and it’s quite wonderful seeing how something so simple can completely captivate her.
Do you collect things intentionally, or do they find you over time?
Both, but I’m definitely a lifelong collector and a bit of a magpie. Some things I actively hunt for, especially vintage plastics, old office objects, Kartell pieces, post-modern lighting or anything that takes me by surprise and pulls me in through its form or material. Often these tend to be old, as things were made differently then, often with more attention to craft, and they also tend to last a long time.
eBay is my happy place, and I love exploring the weird corners of a category where most people wouldn’t think to look, whether that’s the job lot sections, obscure art categories or pages and pages into a search.
Is there something in your home that makes absolutely no sense visually, but you’d never part with?
Honestly, I can’t think of anything! We’re quite meticulous about what comes in, mainly because space is at such a premium.
What’s the newest addition to your space that’s brought you unexpected joy?
The nursery, really. It used to be a home office / spare room. It has been lovely moving more of our work life out of the house and turning it into a cosy room to nest in that feels extra playful.
It has given me an excuse to introduce colour in a softer way, and bring in some of my collaboration pieces from Bisley, with my Tetris pattern printed on the steel doors. I think they’re the only pieces of furniture in the house with pattern on them, other than textiles and an artwork. I hope it can be a room that keeps changing as she, and we, do.
Do you keep your living and working spaces separate, or do they gently blur into one another?
They are physically separate now, which I really value. They used to blend, as so much of our life revolved around making things, whether we were technically at work or not.
Now the studio at The Glue Factory has much more space, and it’s its own world, full of machinery, paper, collections and chaos. Inevitably some of it still follows me home in the form of prints, prototypes and tools, but I like being able to leave the majority of it there, and come home and properly switch off.
What does your home sound like on a typical day?
At the moment there is a very new soundtrack of baby noises, rattles and chimes. We’ve still had the tools out as we’ve been fixing things around her, but luckily she seems completely unfazed by the sound of a drill, and if anything quite likes the hum!
Are you someone who constantly rearranges, or once it’s right, it stays put?
Not constantly, but I’m always tweaking things in small ways. Sometimes an object is moved accidentally, but it opens up a better configuration that I wouldn’t necessarily have found intentionally. I love finding a new ledge so I can squeeze in another object that gives me a smile when I pass it.
I like a home to keep evolving. The downside of being a collector is that you are always making space for the next thing. One in, one out is supposedly the rule, though we’re not too strict about it!
What do you want people to feel when they walk into your home?
Warm, playful and welcome. I never want it to feel too precious.
The best version of the flat is when there are people in it, Rob is cooking, and there are drinks on the table.
How do you create a sense of warmth or personality beyond just objects?
For me, warmth comes as much from how a space is lit as what is in it. Rob has taught me this, and how much of a difference lighting can make to the atmosphere of a room.
Our kitchen is really the centre of the flat. It is where we cook, eat, chat and have friends round, so a lot of the personality comes from what happens there rather than what is sitting on a shelf or on the wall.
Is there a time of day when your home feels at its best?
Probably in the evening, when all the lamps are on. We have quite a lot of post-modern lighting and I love the way it can add drama or draw attention to a corner or an object, without everything being on show at once.
If your home had a personality, how would you describe it?
A sociable, engaging, slightly eccentric but equally practical type. There is a definite push and pull between order and adornment.
Which corner of your home are you most proud of and why?
Maybe the corner by the stereo in the lounge. From there I can see the whole living space, chat to Rob while he’s cooking, look out to the garden and put my feet up. It’s a nice little vantage point over everything.
If you had to live with just five things from your home, what would make the cut?
Assuming Rob and the baby don’t count, I’d take my Tadanori Yokoo Word Image Word Image Word Image screen-printed poster, one of my Rules of Play plant stands, my blue Memphis Super Table Lamp by Martine Bedin, the red Kartell/Sottsass Pilastro stool, and a box of old office stationery.
What’s one small, everyday ritual at home that you’d never give up?
Pastries on the couch with coffee on a Saturday morning. It is a very small thing, but I love that it signals the start of the weekend, and gives us a cosy, indulgent moment before the day properly gets going.
Thank you, Gabriella!