Faculty of Design
Industrial Design
Meet the Designer
Giancarlo Alessandro
Martinez Magarelli
Industrial Design
“The central goal in my work is designing an object that one gets to use rather than has to use. I want to find the toy hidden inside every tool and imbue all objects with a sense of play, joy and humour. From woodworking, to sewing, to electronics, my works may be disjointed in composition but all are unified under the hope of (re)introducing their users to childish whimsy. I refer to myself as a functionalist but that title comes with hesitation. It's easy for functionalism to devolve into sterility or to stumble into banality in the pursuit of minimalism; I'd rather something be ugly and interesting than beautiful and boring. A product that beckons for interaction is a better, more functional object and I believe that 'form' is the best way to access that function. By leveraging oddity and intrigue, and treating 'form,' not as a rival to, but as a component of 'function,' I strive to pull delight from the ordinary. ”
Giancarlo Alessandro Martinez Magarelli is a student of Industrial Design at OCAD University working with textiles, wood, and electronics. He explores tools, toys, and instruments, leveraging play and oddity to shape his work. Previously, Giancarlo studied physics at the University of Waterloo, but starved of opportunities for creative expression, he instead found industrial design as the perfect intersection of physics' mechanical reality, and art's creative abstraction. When it's not his own creative practice, Giancarlo spends his time helping other creatives and artists in theirs - answering questions about mechanics or sharing his skills and experience in fabrication. Giancarlo was invited to represent OCAD at the 2024 Queen's Park Showcase, where he presented The Brief Art Case, a product developed in partnership with Baycrest's Memory Care team for their residents. He co-developed and fabricated the installation "A Truckload of Park Hangs" for Park(ing) Day Toronto 2024, working alongside a team of artists (Enzo Sun, Felieze Alba, Joshua Holmes) and the Parkdale Community Garden. Giancarlo continues to develop his design and fabrication skills while working with artists and designers and will showcase his work at GradEx 2026.
De Anza College
Automotive General Service Technician Certificate
Minor Completed, 2022
University of Waterloo
Physics and Astronomy
Major Transferred, 2022