Achille Castiglioni (16 February 1918 – 2 December 2002) was an Italian architect and designer of furniture, lighting, radiograms and other objects. As a professor of design, he advised his students "If you are not curious, forget it. If you are not interested in others, what they do and how they act, then being a designer is not the right job for you."

Early life and education

Castiglioni was born on 16 February 1918 in Milan, in Lombardy in northern Italy. He was the third son of the sculptor Giannino Castiglioni and his wife Livia Bolla. His elder brothers Livio and Pier Giacomo were both architects. Castiglioni studied classics at the Liceo Classico Giuseppe Parini in Milan, and then changed schools to study the arts at the Liceo artistico di Brera. In 1937 he enrolled in the faculty of architecture of the Polytechnic University of Milan. When the Second World War broke out, he became an officer in the artillery and was stationed on the Greek front and later in Sicily. He returned to Milan before the Allied invasion of Sicily of 1943. In March 1944 he graduated from the Polytechnic University of Milan.

Work and career

Following the war, Castiglioni returned to Milan and joined the architectural design practice that his brothers Livio and Pier Giacomo had started with Luigi Caccia Dominioni in 1938. Much of their work was in exhibition design, but they also carried out a number of architectural projects, including the reconstruction in 1952–53 of the, which had been destroyed by bombing in 1943. Livio Castiglioni left the practice in 1952. From then until Pier Giacomo died in 1968, he and Achille worked as a team; their designs are not attributable to either one of them. Together, the brothers created a number of works that explored Marcel Duchamp's concept of the ready-made by incorporating and repurposing existing objects into new designs such as the "Sella (stool)" and "Mezzadro" stools for Zanotta in 1957. During the same period the brothers experimented with new furniture typologies and concepts such the "Cubo" couch for Arflex. In 1959, they began working with Kartell, designing lighting and furniture, including a collection of tables and stools called "Rochetto". The Castiglioni brothers designed the "Lierna" chair for Cassina, and the "Taraxacum" chandelier for Flos S.p.A. (company) in 1960. Also for Flos, in 1962 they designed both the "Toio" lamp, assembled from "ready-made" surplus hardware, and the "Arco" lamp, which consists of a long arched stainless-steel cantilevered support, an adjustable shade made of perforated spun aluminium, and a heavy marble base. These projects were followed in 1964 by the "Splüghen Braü" pendant light, and the "RR 126" radiogram for Brionvega. After the death of Pier Giacomo, Castiglioni worked alone. From 1969 he taught architectural and design subjects, first at the Politecnico di Torino, and then, from 1980 when he became an ordinario or full professor, at the Politecnico di Milano. Achille Castiglioni died in Milan in 2002.

Legacy

Throughout his lifetime, Castiglioni received many awards and distinctions for his designs, including eight Compasso d'Oro awards, as well as the Compasso d'Oro Career Award "for having raised design to the highest values of culture through his irreplaceable experience." His designs are held in museum collections around the world and several books have been published about his life and work. In 1997, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York staged a retrospective of his life and work titled: "Achille Castiglioni: Design!". The exhibition was curated by Paola Antonelli, who also wrote the catalogue. In 2014 the city of Milan named a street after the three Castiglioni brothers (Via Fratelli Castiglioni).

Archives and collections

The Studio Museum of the Achille Castiglioni foundation in Milan holds archival records of 191 architectural projects, 484 installation projects and 290 industrial design projects. A total of c. 11,500 technical drawings and freehand sketches is complemented by 130 plastic models, boxes and drawers containing photographs, slides, glass plates and negatives, videocassettes, DVDs, audio cassettes, extracts from magazines, books, catalogues, and objects collected by Achille Castiglioni. Additional Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni works and archives are held by the University of Parma. Museums which hold Castiglioni's works in their collections include the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London, Kunstgewerbe Museum in Zurich, Staatliches Museum für angewandte Kunst in Munich, Design Museum in Prato, Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Denver Art Museum, Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, the Museum Angewandte Kunst in Frankfurt, and the Museum für Angewandte Kunst Cologne, the Pompidou Centre in Paris, and the ADI Design Museum in Milan.

Awards and honours

Partial list of works

Architecture

Exhibition and interior design

Industrial, product, lighting, and furniture design

Publications

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