About

Calibro [ˈka.li.bro], Italian for caliper, is a design and technology studio founded in Milan in 2016 by Matteo Azzi and Giorgio Uboldi.

A caliper is a precise yet manual measuring tool whose parts adjust to fit whatever it measures. We chose this name because it reflects our practice: balancing quantitative and qualitative methods, accuracy and interpretation, and adapting to the material rather than forcing it into a predefined form.

We work with researchers, cultural institutions and companies to explore, understand and share data, archives and collections.

Our process begin with a research question rather than a brief, and the first step is calibrating: aligning our knowledge with the expertise of the people we work with, and exploring together what the material can tell us and where the project might lead.

From there we design the whole workflow, from how sources are gathered and organised to the form the work can take.

Just as a caliper's jaws close differently around each object, our work takes a different shape in every project: an exploratory research tool, a public digital archive, a book, an interactive visualisation, a publication or an exhibition. We give people the means to combine distant and close reading and build their own interpretations, keeping knowledge situated and connected to where it comes from.

We are a small studio. Every project is followed by the people who design and develop it, from the first conversation to the final output. We listen closely and treat each collaboration as its own case. When a project calls for it, we draw on a network of developers, researchers and designers, which allows us to take on long and complex work without losing that attention to details.

Alongside commissioned projects, we teach and carry independent research, which keeps us questioning our own methods and approaches.