Achille Castiglioni

born Milan February 16, 1918 died 2002

Achille Castiglioni was born February 16, 1918 in milan. In 1944 he graduated in architecture from the Milan Politecnico, and in 1947 he began working with his older brothers Pier Giacomo (1913-1968) and Livio (1911-1979). He participated in the organization of the Triennale in Milan and exhibited at almost every Milan Triennale since 1947. In 1952 he stopped the part-time collaboration with his brother Livio.

In the 50's the Castiglioni brothers cemented their commitment to "minimalist" design (such as the "luminator" floor lamp). and redesigned many objects (the tractor seat stool "mezzadro", the "toio" lamp and the "sella" chair, made of a bicycle seat). Castiglioni said of his design for the "sella" "when I use the phone, I like to move around, but I also would like to sit, but not completely."

These designs drew upon the "ready made" artworks of Marcel Duchamp. In 1968 the continuous collaboration with his brother Pier Giacomo ended because of his death.

Achille Castiglioni received the Compasso d'Oro award 7 times: in 1955, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1967, 1979 and 1984. He taught for many years to a group of several thousand students, first at the polytechnic of Turin in 1969, and later leading a class in industrial design at the polytechnic university of Milan. Castiglioni often said "what you need is a constant and consistent way of designing, not a style."

Castiglioni followed no school nor was he concerned to found any so it is hard to bridle his work into any predefined channel. Achille Castiglioni's works are in the collections of many international museum of modern art, such as the MOMA, new york, the victoria & albert museum, london; the kunstgewerbe-museum, zurich; the staatliches museum fur kunst, munich; the uneleckoprumyslove museum, prague; the israel museum, jerusalem. Achille Castiglioni developed many lamps, principally for flos, he designed household objects for alessi, furniture items for bbb bonacina, bernini, de padova, gavina, and zanotta, radio and hi-fi systems for brionvega, electrical devices for b ticino, wash-basins for ideal standard... He was a curator of exhibitions and planned the design.

Achille Castiglioni has created more than 350 playful installations, in museums, for the triennale itself, 1957 the famous exhibition at the villa olmo, and "the home inhabited" in florence in 1965. he curated many exhibitions/ window designs of the showrooms of Italian manufacturers, such as ideal standard, zanotta, flos, and de padova. "There has to be irony, both in design and in the objects. I see around me a professional disease of taking everything too serious. One of my secrets is to joke all the time."

Select Timeline of Designs

• 1955 "Luminator" lamp
• 1956 "Spalter" vacuum cleaner manufactured by Rem
• 1957 "Bulb" lamp
• 1962 "Arco" lamp, "Toio" lamp
• 1965 "RR126" stereo system
• 1967 "Snoopy Lamp"

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