ACHILLE CASTIGLIONI
(1918-2002)
Achille Castiglioni was an Italian architect and
designer.
He was born in 1918 in Milan and he was an internationally
acknowledged master of design.
In 1944 he graduated in architecture from the Milan
Politecnico (where he then teached in 70's and 80's) and
began working with his older brothers Pier Giacomo and
Livio. After graduating, he began research into shapes, techniques and new materials, aimed at developing an integral design process.
He participated in the organization of the Triennale
in Milan and exhibited at every Milan Triennale since 1947.
Castiglioni is famous for his lamps principally for Flos
and worked for Danese, Alessi, Kartell, Bernini, Zanotta,
Gavina, Beylerian and Brionvega, among others.
He received the "Compasso d'Oro" award in 1955, 1960, 1962,
1964, 1967, 1979 and 1984 and many others international
prices.
In 1969, he was authorized by the Ministry of Education to teach "Artistic Design for Industry" and was a professor at Turin“s Faculty of Architecture until 1980 and then professor of "Industrial Design " in Milan until 1993.
He was one of the founders of ADI in 1956.
The Museum of Modern Art in New York conserves at least a dozen of his works, and others can be found in important design collections such as the Victoria and Albert Museum (London), the Kunstgewerbe Museum (Zurich) the Museo del Design (Prato) the Denver Art Museum and the Vitra Design Museum.
He conceived design as the use of an already existing
object in an unexpected context. His work was often
inspired by everyday things and he thought that the
designer's personal collection of found objects consisted
of objects with lives in their own. independent of any
designer's name, these objects became the means through
which he pursued and recognized good design.
For him it was fundamental the relationship between object
and set up (relationship which had great importance from
the beginning of his work), this last mentioned defined as
the first step to verify people reaction to space, volume,
color and light.
Achille Castiglioni contributed notably to updating
modernist design to contemporary modern.
He continued creating his magically simple, beautiful objects into his 84th year and made it all look effortless.
In 1987, he received an honorary Laureate from the Royal College of Art, London. In 1993 he won the annual award of London's Chartered Society of Designers. In 1995 he recieved an 'Art sur Table' Award from the National Council of Culinary Arts in Paris.
His professional activity extended into the fields of architecture and urban planning, and he is internationally renowned for his lighting and accessories.
He died on the 2nd of december 2002.
