Diego started working with wood as a hobby back in his homeland in Patagonia, Argentina.
It wasn’t too long until he had to choose between a well paid job and his new passion, and so, his woodworking career started from the slow, basic learnings of self-teaching, patience, dedication and poverty…
Grandson of a Buenos Aires carpenter, son of an engineer, scientist and younger brother to an illustrator, Diego combined and translated these family skills into something that triggered simple but meticulous pieces of work showing cleverly contemporary creations, keeping a very close eye in accuracy, fine quality and evidently, personality.
It was love that made him choose between Argentina and England, and once here, he built his first English workshop on board an old lifeboat on the Kennet & Avon canal. He soon had the fortune of becoming a student of a City&Guilds college in Bristol where he began a challenging course in furniture making and design. His family started growing and the three of them decided to move away from the water and find terra firma in Lincolnshire, where he was able to finish his course with a distinction for his achievements.
Today, he is the winner of several awards, including the City&Guilds Medal for Excellence and the Worshipful Company of Joiners and Ceilers Award presented in Buckingham Palace by HRH Princess Anne.
Diego is a real fan of handmade joints and his hand-cut dovetails tend to be prestigiously placed in his works along with the use of contrasting timbers, showing a pretty unique style with an uncomplicated artistic charm.
His pieces of furniture and objects – from desks to fine jewellery boxes to wacky toys – show every time a definitive quirk that just works, producing designs with a magnetic nature. His incidental “maker’s signature”, a simple 3d inlaid cube, form part of this character (sometimes you see it, sometimes you have to find it). He has also created a number of intricate marquetry pieces, including a low table with an inlaid full map of the world.
“The design and creative process is the most difficult part in what I do” Bernasconi admits, “as I am a perfectionist. And when one demands perfection, it is quite difficult to reach the level of your own demands”.
Diego’s influences are subtle and delicate. A combination of artist and craftsman, his designs and ideas evolve as the piece progresses, showing a developed talent that was gained with experience and practice, stubborn persistency and capability.
As well as using traditional tools, methods and locally sourced timbers were possible, he is very strict about the rest of the products he uses. Diego is highly concerned about our environment and, as a long-term vegan, he doesn’t use any animal products or by-products such as adhesives or finishes or any other materials that were once of animal origin. This gives him an inquisitive and refreshing approach in the experimentation with new technologies, materials, textures and durabilities.