‘I wanted to move the world’: meet the man who invented wellness

It was 1986 when Nerio Alessandri created the Unica exercising machine in his family's garage in Gambettola, Emilia-Romagna, signalling the start of Technogym, unarguably the world's most successful and groundbreaking wellness company. Over the past four decades, Alessandri has maintained a designer's mindset while constantly striving to innovate as well as improve people's lives through his products, from the original compact home gym (the first of its kind and unmatched to this day) to smaller equipment, and the Pilates Reformer, one of the latest additions to the Technogym portfolio.

One of Alessandri's big intuitions was to bring the gym into the home, and his success lies in a two-pronged approach to exercising equipment that combines excellent design and scientific research. Technogym's diverse portfolio includes the Technogym Checkup, offering users data-driven health insights, and a range in Sandstone, a tactile finish that brings warmth and elegance to the home gym.

Wallpaper* caught up with Alessandri to find out about the beginning of Technogym, and what drives the company forward.

An interview with Technogym founder Nerio Alessandri

Wallpaper*: Let's start from the beginning: where did your passion for innovation and sports come from, and how did you cultivate it into what eventually became Technogym?

Nerio Alessandri: I’ve played sports since I was a child, but the key to my vision stemmed from the desire to set the world in motion. Since I was young, I had a technical mind and a lifelong passion for design, specifically the fusion of technology and fitness, and the words 'techno' and 'gym' eventually became the name of my company.

I spent my childhood tinkering in my small garage. From the age of eight or ten, I was always building or fixing things: repairing my mother’s washing machine, repainting my father’s motorbike, tuning up my friends' bikes, I even build my own sound system. I always did everything myself; we didn't have a lot of money, so I even made my own clothes.

Essentially, I’ve always had a passion for building things. I grew up right across the street from a mechanical workshop, so I spent my childhood inside that space. I even built my own motorcycle at fourteen, salvaging an old bike from a scrapyard, and kept doing things like that until I was nineteen.

W*: How was Technogym born?

NA: I have a background in mechanical engineering and industrial design. At 20, I worked for a company doing packaging, but deep down, I had a crucial drive to become an entrepreneur. I knew I had to be an entrepreneur; I could have started a clothing company or a business like Technogym, but the ultimate goal was simply to build a company.

At 21, I founded Technogym with the vision of getting the world moving again, and by 22, I was making my first deliveries. Visiting a local bodybuilding gym, I realised the industry was practically non-existent; there were just dumbbells, barbells, and racks where people would spot you while you exercised: it was actually quite dangerous. It was all very, very rudimentary. With my aptitude for design and construction, I translated biomechanics, including ergonomics and physiology, into mechanical engineering.

I did my research, I studied, and asked everyone questions; I’m incredibly curious. Going to that small gym in Cesena, I realised there was a whole world of opportunities. What I knew I learned from the trainers and athletic coaches; there was no internet back then, so information was scarce. I didn't even have a home phone, so I had to use a public phone booth.

Two years later, we moved out of the garage. It was me, my brother, my cousin, and the son of the owner of the mechanical workshop. Then there was a friend of mine who had gone to the US to volunteer at the Los Angeles Olympics; I sent him a letter, and it took six months for him to reply. Once the Olympics were over, he started working with me too.

W*: I really loved the photo of your garage; it's an image that effectively captures a moment of design. Could you tell me a bit about what you made in that space?

NA: The most iconic model was the Unica, launched in 1986; it was a product a century ahead of its time, so much so that it has remained unchanged, and will certainly stay that way for the next 40 years. Back then, not only did the professional fitness sector not exist, but the very concept of a home gym was unheard of. We were the first to bring a design object like this into the home environment, just like the washing machines, dishwashers, and televisions that had appeared in previous decades. It became an important element of of the home, finding a place in the living room, the finest room in the house, or even children's bedrooms. It didn't have to be hidden; it was an object that truly lived within the home. Today, the Unica can be found in the most beautiful homes in the world.

W*: Technogym spearheaded a cultural revolution. Did you anticipate this success, to have such an impact on the history of fitness?

NA: I never have any expectations, because for me, every day is the most important, and any opportunity could change my life. I’ve been like this since I was a young man. What I can say is that the beauty of Unica is a winning formula because no one has managed to copy it; thanks to its identity, it has become an icon. And we, in turn, help shape icons, from Ronaldo and Nadal to great champions across various sports; we’ve been involved in ten Olympic Games. It’s not about success, but rather social responsibility and social impact: specifically, the ability to transform sport into well-being and longevity. I say this with great sincerity, and great humility.

W*: The celebration of Unica in Milan this year was a moment where design culture, pop culture, and sports culture all came together. Is there a story or memory you could share?

NA: I remember when Sylvester Stallone came to Cesena, back in his heyday, when he was making films like Rambo and Rocky. He visited us in Gambettola, and when he saw Unica, he was blown away.

For the anniversary, we involved 40 figures from around the world; that is the legacy of Unica. Those 40 individuals also served as ambassadors, using their public image and powerful communication skills to educate others. Each of them chose a specific location to place a Unica machine: whether a prison, a retirement home, a youth centre, or a school.

W*: What are the guiding principles that drive the company? Are they fixed, or do they change and evolve?

NA: Our values ​​have never changed, and I hope they never do. They are excellence, quality, beauty, honesty, and above all ethics, because ethics is aesthetics.

W*: Several creative collaborations have helped shape Technogym's aesthetic. How did you choose them, and how did they help grow the company?

NA: We work with several architects; Technogym is part of the most beautiful homes in the world. We have dealt with virtually every architect, and some, like Antonio Citterio, collaborate with us on an ongoing basis, including on product development and design. Antonio Citterio also created the Technogym Village [the company HQ], the world's first and only wellness campus. It is a landmark project destined to endure for the next 100 or 200 years, arguably the largest private corporate project ever built in Italy.

There is great synergy between us and the worlds of art, fashion, and design; Technogym is a design company. I call myself 'Wellness Designer' on my business card. I am a designer; I work with a pencil in hand. We believe in the way design can shape our world: we have 300 people dedicated to research and development, we work with electronics and mechanics, we incorporate extensive software, digital technology, and AI. Yet, design remains central to our operations; Technogym is a company driven by a dream of design.

W*: Over time, how have you integrated technology with design without altering your mission, and in what ways does technology help?

NA: For us, design is a system; it is not about designing a chair or a lamp that has an end in itself. A piece of exercise equipment with its complex biomechanics must work for someone who is 2m tall just as well as for someone who is 1.5m tall; it must work for an elderly person and for an athlete. This involves incredible elements of ergonomics, physiology, and biomechanics, as well as electronics. Sensors gather data and provide biofeedback; using this data and biofeedback, we can create personalised experiences through AI, which plays an integral role. We have been using artificial intelligence from the very beginning. We founded a company in Seattle in 1996, just as the Internet was taking off, and developed a platform called My Wellness. We actually [popularised] the term 'wellness' [in the 1990s]. Until then, the English term used was 'well-being'.

W*: Do you have a vision for where you would like to take Technogym?

NA: The bulk of the work lies ahead: we are essentially still beginners; that isn't just rhetoric, it’s the truth. For us, every day feels like day one, so we still have many ideas. We want to help make the world a better place and contribute to sustainability through the wellness economy, a concept we championed when we launched it at the World Economic Forum 17 years ago. Everything that will happen over the next ten years is still waiting to be done, particularly concerning those services and technology that support health, prevention, and longevity.