Italian Design: Passato al Presente
A look at the greats of Italian design, from past untill present.
Il Passato
Design is where it is today in large part thanks to this innovative trio. Here’s a quick primer to the Italian design minds we’re still looking to for inspiration today.
Giò Ponti (1891–1979) (above)
“Industry,” Giò Ponti wrote, “is the style of the 20th century, its mode of creation.” Writer, painter, architect, designer, and Citroën DS driver Ponti channeled art into industry with his prolific work, from Milan’s iconic Pirelli skyscraper to graphic ceramic plates, from the La Pavoni espresso machine to the Superleggera chair. In 1928, he founded Domus, which for decades was Europe’s most beautiful, eclectic, and influential design magazine.
Achille Castiglioni (1918-2002).
Achille Castiglioni (1918–2002)
Between alluring irony and blunt practicality are the brilliant designs of Achille Castiglioni, whose mantra was “Start from scratch. Stick to common sense. Know your goals and means.” For Castiglioni, who sometimes worked with his brothers Livio and Pier Giacomo, common sense meant sitting on a bicycle seat while talking on the phone, or using a polymer webbing to create the poetic Gatto table lamp. achillecastiglioni.it
Anna Castelli Ferrieri (1918-2006)
Anna Castelli Ferrieri (1918–2006)
The materials revolution of post-war Italian design would not have been the same without Anna Castelli Ferrieri, an architect, designer, and art director who cofounded Kartell, the pioneering manufacturer of injection-molded plastic household objects, with her engineer husband, Giulio Castelli. Her Componibili cylindrical sliding door shelf units are icons to this day.
kartell.it
Il Presente
In picking the most vital Italian designers of today, we sought contemporary corollaries to yesterday’s class of masters.
Stefano Boeri (born 1956)
Anthropological reflection and politics meet architecture in the writings, research, buildings, and project plans of Stefano Boeri, who founded a practice called Multiplicity. As editor of Domus in the early aughts, he was both loved and loathed for taking an interdisciplinary approach to buildings; now he edits Abitare, the country’s leading architecture magazine. A true polymath and possible megalomaniac, he’s running for mayor of Milan.
stefanoboeri.net
Patricia Urquiola (born 1961)
Patricia Urquiola was a Spanish architect before she became one of Italy’s most famous designers. “She fell in love with design after working with Achille Castiglioni in the ‘80s,” says Urquiola’s friend Patrizia Moroso. Her amazingly prolific furniture designs embody technology, biomorphism, subtlety, and craft. Nowadays, no Italian company’s collection is complete without a bit of Urquiola.
patriciaurquiola.com
Renzo Piano (born 1937)
Pritzker Prize–winner Renzo Piano is the most ubiquitous Italian architect on the global stage. He has lovely manners, and his international workshop consistently churns out polished, thoughtful, calm, and high-tech public spaces. Piano’s unrivaled string of blockbusters over the last few decades includes Kansai International Airport in Osaka, San Francisco’s California Academy of Sciences, and the Shard, Europe’s tallest skyscraper, underway in London. rpbw.com
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Un'Introduzione al Disegno Italiano
From Marble to mobili, Italy has been a, if not the, design mecca for the last century. Here's why.
Articles
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Italian Design: Il Futuro
As impressive as Italy’s design legacy is, it’s the future that moves this lot. Get the inside track on what’s next.
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Italian Design: La Mappa
You know where your Parmesan cheese comes from: Parma. But which region offers the best chairs? We've mapped it out for you.
Products
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Italian Hotel Bedding
This design from Restoration Hardware might be the classiest of the lot. Perfect to match your leather wingback chair and mother-of-pearl letter opener.
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Animal Blueprints
As previously mentioned, I came across a couple of gift ideas for my gift guide that weren’t exactly gadgets, or gadget related. This is a company I discovered last year and one that I think…
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100% AL Table
Simple sawhorse table, you say? Not so. The top of this table - a mixture of virgin and recycled aluminum - presses directly into place atop its trestle base with no need for nails or screws. The…
Dwell Collections
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Scandinavian Designed
Having just returned from a trip to Copenhagen, I have Scandinavian design on the brain. Though the region arguably experienced its golden era in the mid-20th century, with the work of icons like…
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Geigy's Graphic Design
Design Musem Zurich's current show Good Design, Good Business showcases the great graphic design from 1940-1970 of the Swiss chemical company Geigy.
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Inspired Design
The memory of designer Tobias Wong lived on at "Brokenoff Brokenoff," an exhibition hosted at Manhattan’s Gallery R’Pure. The show was composed of pieces interpreted by his…
Tip
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Masculine Design: Three Pitfalls
Just like in female design, going overboard can end up disastrous. If you put so many antlers up on the wall it just becomes overkill instead of an interesting and whimsical addition to a…
Videos
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Dwell on Design 2011
Join us behind the scenes of Dwell on Design where 21,000 attendees gathered at the Los Angeles Convention center to discover the latest innovations in modern design.
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Dwell on Design 2010
We present the sights and scene captured from the show floor of this year's Dwell on Design conference, checking in with a few of our exhibitors and partners, at the West Coast's largest design…
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Matt Locke at Dwell on Design 2009
Designer Matt Lock presents his creations, made from found materials at his warehouse, at his booth on the floor of Dwell on Design in Los Angeles.
Events
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Whatever Happened to Italian Architecture?
Architects, architectural historians, and critics from both Italy and abroad will come together for a two-day symposium at the Swiss Institute in Rome (ISR) to present and debate their intellectual…
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Design USA: Contemporary Innovation
This exhibition features outstanding contemporary achievements in American architecture, landscape design, interior design, product design, communication design, corporate design, interaction…
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Bodega and BoConcept present: ART+DESIGN
Join BoConcept Santa Monica for their Re-Launch party on Thursday June 3, 2010 from 6-10pm. BoConcept Santa Monica has collaborated with Bodega Vinyl Editions to present a curated collection of…
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