Designer, Critic, and Architect Alessandro Mendini Dies at 87
Alessandro Mendini, a key figure in Italian postmodernism and co-founder of Studio Alchimia, died February 18, 2018, at the age of 87.
Italian architect and designer Alessandro Mendini bucked the rigid rules of modernism, embracing bold colors, decoration, and the Radical Design movement of the ’60s.
Mendini is perhaps best known for his Proust Chair, designed with French author Marcel Proust in mind. The chair features a Baroque-style shape covered in hundreds of pointillist dots—and this combination of historical styles paved the way for the birth of the postmodernist movement.
The Proust Chair was the first in Mendini’s Redesigns series, which incorporated his theories on the importance of historical context in design.
Atelier Mendini Private Collection
"This chair is very expensive. It has no function. It's only for amusement," Mendini said in an interview in 2015. "But pointillism is a real theory. Because if each point is good, the whole object is good."
"Mendini is the nihilistic, cynical conceptualist," said Glenn Adamson, curator of the 2011 Postmodernist exhibition at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum. The show featured a slideshow of Mendini's "Destruction of Lassu chair, 1974," where he ceremoniously destroyed a miniature chair he designed, setting it on fire in a quarry in Milan.
Alessandro Mendini photographed in 2014 in Wroclaw, Poland.
L4red0
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Mendini was also a celebrated architect, graduating from the Politecnico di Milano in 1959. He set up practice with his brother Francesco in 1989 and ran their company, Atelier Mendini, right up until his death.
The Groninger Museum by Alessandro Mendini.
Some of his best-known projects are the Groninger Museum in The Netherlands and the Alessi residence in Omenga. In his design work, many will recognize the signature Alessi Anna G. corkscrew, which features a figure of a playful, smiling woman. Mendini was the design director of his friend Alberto Alessi's Italian housewares company for 30 years.
Alessandro Mendini, destruction of Lassù chair, 1974. © Atelier Mendini
Image courtesy CSAC-Universita' di Parma
The architect and designer also worked as a journalist, editing design magazines Casabella (1970 to 1976), Modo (1977), and Domus (1979 to 1985, and 2010). With these platforms, he was able to espouse the ideology to compliment the postmodern movement he championed. As co-founder of Domus Academy, a leading postgraduate fashion and design school in Milan, he also looked to ensure its future.
The main building of the Groninger Museum in the Netherlands.
Photo by Wutsje
Mendini's time as the editor of Domus also coincided with his co-founding of Studio Alchimia, a design group he and his friend Ettore Sottsass Jr formed with the mission of "materializing a non-existent thing into being."
Iconic Pieces by Alessandro Mendini We Love
Alessi Anna G. Chrome Corkscrew
Anna G. is one cool chick in chrome. Instead of the colorful polyamide worn by the original, the Alessi Anna G. Chrome Corkscrew is a bit more glamorous in a chrome-plated gown. She is made entirely out of hard-wearing zamak to withstand many nights of bottle-opening revelry. Designed by Alessandro Mendini. Alessi, known as the Italian design factory, has manufactured household products since 1921. The stylish and fun items offered are the result of contemporary partnerships with some of the world's best designers of unique and modern home accessories.
ShopArtemide Edge 30 Pendant
Give your modern interiors a real Edge 30 Pendant by Artemide. The sharp geometric shade is an offset cube of Opal White thermoplastic. The Edge 30 Pendant glows evenly on all sides via its internal fluorescent light, making it ideal for illuminating dining rooms and entryways. Designed by Alessandro Mendini. Since 1959, Artemide has created a wide array of modern table lamps, floor lamps, wall sconces and suspensions. Technologically advanced, and with styles ranging from clean and refined to sculptural and avant garde, many Artemide designs--especially the Tolomeo and Tizio--have become icons of contemporary lighting design. Photo Courtesy of Lumens
ShopAlessi Anna Gong Folding Cake Stand
With his eternal muse, Anna, at his side, Alessandro Mendini has designed the Alessi Anna Gong Folding Cake Stand in tribute to the classic 1960s Alessi folding cake stand design, "art.898." Folded away, Anna smiles sweetly, ready to serve. When unfolded, she offers three tiered surfaces to display cakes or other treats in gleaming style. Alessi, known as the Italian design factory, has manufactured household products since 1921. The stylish and fun items offered are the result of contemporary partnerships with some of the world's best designers of unique and modern home accessories. Photo Courtesy of Lumens
ShopPhoto of Alessandro Mendini by L4red0. Photos of Groninger by Rob Koster and Wutsje.
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