Vico Magistretti

Vico Magistretti's work and research have crossed the history of Italian design, of which he is one of the undisputed fathers. Born on 6 October 1920 in Milan, he graduated in architecture in 1945 at the Milan Polytechnic. Student of Ernesto Nathan Rogers he also studied at the "Champ Universitari Italien de Lausanne". Besides being an architect and designer, Vico Magistretti is known for being one of the most successful urban planners in Italy. In 1956 he was one of the founders of ADI, the Association for Industrial Design. He became a member of the CIAM in 1958. Academic of San Luca (1967). Since 1983 he has been Honorary Fellow at the Royal College of Art in London, where in 1990 he was elected Honorary Professor and in 1996 Senior Fellow. In 1986 he was Honorary Fellow Honoris Cause of the R.I.A.S. of Aberdeen. In 1992 he was Honorary Royal Designer for Industry of the R.S.A. from London. Among the prizes awarded to Vico Magistretti: Gold Medal at the IX Triennale 1951; Compasso d'Oro 1967; Two Compassi d'Oro 1979; Two Compassi d'Oro for Lifetime Achievement 1995; Two Gold and two Silver Medals at the Wiener Mobelsalons International 1970; Chair of Gold at Mobelsalons in Cologne 1982; Gold Medal S.I.A.D. from London; Gold Medal "Apostolo del design" Milan 1997. He has participated in exhibitions and lectured in Europe, America and Japan. His design works are present in the permanent collections of the MOMA in New York and 13 other American and European museums. Among his architectural works: in Milan, the church at QT8, the Tower of the park in via Rovere, the Tower in piazzale Aquileja, the house in via S. Marco, the headquarters of the Department of Biology of the State University; villas in Azzate, Arenzano, Carimate; the Municipality of Cusano Milanino; a house in Tokyo; the Cavagnari Center of the Parma Savings Bank; Tecnocentro Cassa di Risparmio di Bologna; Milan underground depot station. In design, what matters is the concept expressed in a sketch. From a sketch to the shape: Vico Magistretti has never made technical drawings, but sketches that express the idea. Convinced that certain pieces are conceptually simple to be communicated by telephone. Sketches, sometimes drawn casually on the back of an envelope, on the page of a newspaper, on the subway ticket. His way of working therefore leads him to talk with technicians and producers, in a confrontation and in an exchange of ideas on the realization of the product: Design means talking together. In the field of Industrial Design he has collaborated and still collaborates with many companies including: Artemide, Cassina, De Padova, Flou, FontanaArte, Fredericia, Fritz Hansen, Campeggi, Kartell, O-Luce, Schiffini, Olivari for which he designs some of the products most significant of the mass production of Italian industrial design: chairs, lamps, tables, beds, kitchens, wardrobes, bookcases. Most of them are still in production.one.