Eugenio Gerli (15 July 1923 – 2 October 2013) was an Italian
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
and
designer
A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans.
In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...
. In an intense working life spanning more than six decades, Eugenio Gerli explored many different areas of his profession. He built villas, apartment blocks, office blocks, factories, banks and stores, and also restored historic buildings. He often completed his works with custom-made interiors and furniture.This diverse range of projects inspired his industrial design and today many have become icons, like the S83 chair, the PS 142 armchair Clamis, the Jamaica cabinet and the Graphis System.
Biography
![P142 design Eugenio Gerli - 1966](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/P142_design_Eugenio_Gerli_-_1966.jpg)
Eugenio Cesare Gerli was born on 15 July 1923 in
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
;
his father Guido (
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
1892 - Milan 1987) was an English businessman. His mother Luciana Chiesa was the daughter of
Eugenio Chiesa (Milan, 18 November 1863 -
, 22 June 1930).
Eugenio Chiesa, Republican Member of Parliament, from
1922
Events
January
* January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes.
* January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...
was firmly opposed to fascism. This caused the family all sort of difficulties, culminating in the exile of Eugenio Chiesa in 1926 and the arrest of Guido, later deported to various concentration camps in Italy.
Eugenio married Marta Somarè daughter of art critic
Enrico Somarè and granddaughter of painter
Cesare Tallone
Cesare Tallone (1853–1919) was an Italian painter.
Biography
Born in Savona and after losing his father at the age of ten, Cesare Tallone moved with his mother and sisters to Alessandria, where he became a pupil of the decorative artist Piet ...
, forebear of a great family of artists including the painter
Guido Tallone, the editor and typographer
Alberto Tallone and pianoforte builder
Cesare Augusto Tallone.
After an initial two years at the Department of
Engineering
Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...
Eugenio switched to studying
Architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
at the
Milan Politecnico
The Polytechnic University of Milan () is the largest technical university in Italy, with about 42,000 students.
The university offers undergraduate, graduate and higher education courses in engineering, architecture and design.
Founded in 18 ...
under
Piero Portaluppi
Piero Portaluppi (19 March 1888 – 6 July 1967) was an Italian architect.
Biography
Pietro (known as Piero) Portaluppi was born in Milan, son of the engineer Luisa Gadda e Oreste Portaluppi.
He graduated in 1905 from the Istituto Tecnic ...
and
Gio Ponti
Giovanni "Gio" Ponti ( ͡ʒo18 November 1891 – 16 September 1979) was an Italian architect, industrial designer, furniture designer, artist, teacher, writer and publisher.
During his career, which spanned six decades, Ponti built more tha ...
, both leading architects and designers. (graduated in 1949)
Eugenio Gerli integrated his spatial ideas with innovative solutions for custom-made designed interiors. This philosophy, together with his early studies in Engineering, helped him in the development of models for
industrial design
Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical Product (business), products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in advan ...
His early work was influenced by the works of
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...
,
Alvar Aalto
Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto (; 3 February 1898 – 11 May 1976) was a Finnish architect and designer. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware, as well as sculptures and paintings. He never regarded himself as an artist, see ...
and
Charles Eames
Charles Ormond Eames Jr. (June 17, 1907 – August 21, 1978) was an American designer, architect and filmmaker. In professional partnership with his spouse Ray Kaiser Eames, he was responsible for groundbreaking contributions in the field of a ...
.
Eugenio Gerli also loved to create a strong bond between Architecture and visual arts, collaborating with artists like
Arnaldo Pomodoro
Arnaldo Pomodoro (born 23 June 1926) is an Italian sculptor. He was born in Morciano, Romagna, and lives and works in Milan. His brother, Giò Pomodoro (1930–2002) was also a sculptor.
Pomodoro designed a controversial fiberglass crucifix fo ...
,
Lucio Fontana
Lucio Fontana (; 19 February 1899 – 7 September 1968) was an Argentine-Italian painter, sculptor and theorist. He is mostly known as the founder of Spatialism.
Early life
Born in Rosario, to Italian immigrant parents, he was t ...
,
Blasco Mentor,
Pietro Cascella
Pietro Cascella (February 2, 1921 – May 18, 2008) was an Italian sculptor. His principal work consisted of
large monumental sculptures, including the '' International Monument to the Victims of Fascism'' in the Auschwitz II-Birkenau death ca ...
,
Guido Somarè.
The Exhibition at the Milan Triennale dedicated to
Osvaldo Borsani (held from 16 May 2018- to 16 September 2018, designed by Lord
Norman Foster
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
and Tommaso Fantoni) included sixteen works of Architecture and Design by Eugenio Gerli. This paid homage to Gerli's work and represented an important contribution to the rediscovery of this "forgotten Master" (Marco Romanelli).
Eugenio's sons
Enrico
Enrico is both an Italian masculine given name and a surname, Enrico means homeowner, or king, derived from ''Heinrich'' of Germanic origin. It is also a given name in Ladino. Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Henri ( French), Enr ...
and
Guido
Guido is a given name Latinised from the Old High German name Wido. It originated in Medieval Italy. Guido later became a male first name in Austria, Germany, the Low Countries, Scandinavia, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and Switzerland. The mea ...
, both Architects, joined their father in the Studio in 1977 and worked together on all projects.
Main architectural works
![Paolo Monti - Servizio fotografico - BEIC 6356251](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Paolo_Monti_-_Servizio_fotografico_-_BEIC_6356251.jpg)
* 1950 - Cardiological Clinic Villa Adele
Laveno-Mombello
Laveno-Mombello is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Varese in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northwest of Milan and about northwest of Varese. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 8,991 and an area of .All d ...
where (in collaboration with Mario Cristiani) he designs also the specific technical furniture. adjustable beds and reclining armchairs i
* 1954/55 - Ambasciatori Cinema in Milan, including all freestanding furniture as well as integrated lights.
* 1955 - Villa at Lago Maggiore -
Portovaltravaglia
* 1956 - Villa Seralvo -
Meda Meda may refer to:
Places
* Meda de Mouros, a parish in Tábua Municipality, Portugal
* Medas, a parish in Gondomar Municipality, Portugal
* Meda-Ela, Sri Lanka
* Međa (Leskovac), village in the municipality of Leskovac, Serbia
* Meda, Lombardy ...
* 1957 - Tecno flagship Store in
via Montenapoleone
Via Monte Napoleone, also spelled Via Montenapoleone, is an upscale shopping street in Milan, Italy, Europe's most expensive street (2022) and the third most expensive street in the world . It is famous for its ready-to-wear fashion and jewelry sho ...
- Milan - with transparent glass floors. Special Prize Formica Domus
* 1958 - Apartment for an art collectionist - via Mascagni - Milano
* 1959 - Apartment Block - viale Coni Zugna 23 - Milan
* 1962/63 - Horizontal Block of country villa-style apartments -
Sirtori
* 1968/1972 - Restoration and extensions of Art Nouveau
Palazzo Castiglioni, Headquarters of Confcommercio (Unione Commercio e Turismo)
Palazzo Castiglioni (1903) - Corso Venezia 49 - Milan
* 1972 - New Office Block for Headquarters of Confcommercio (Unione Commercio e Turismo) - via Marina - Milan
* 1970 - Restaurant El Toulà - Milan
* 1971 - Villa Gatti - La Pinetina -
Appiano Gentile
Appiano Gentile ( Comasco: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Como in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northwest of Milan and about southwest of Como.
The city borders the following municipalities: Beregazzo con Fig ...
(Como)
* 1972 - Club House – Golf Club La Pinetina - Appiano Gentile (Como)
* 1972 - Villa Orlando - La Pinetina - Appiano Gentile (Como)
* 1973 - Villa Casale - La Pinetina - Appiano Gentile (Como)
* 1974 - Villa Colombo - La Pinetina - Appiano Gentile (Como)
* 1962 and 1974 - Headquarters and Factories for Tecno S.p.A. (with Osvaldo Borsani) -
Varedo
Varedo (Milanese: Varee) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Monza and Brianza, in the Italian region Lombardy, located about north of Milan.
Varedo borders the following municipalities: Desio, Bovisio-Masciago, Limbiate, Nova Mila ...
- (
Monza/Brianza)
* 1974 - Palazzo ARBO - via Bigli 22 - Milan
* 1974/78 - Tecno S.p.A. stores in Milan, Rome, Turin, Paris, Naples
* 1976/77 - ETRO S.p.A. Headquarters - via Spartaco - Milan
* 1978 -
Penthouse
Penthouse most often refers to:
*Penthouse apartment, a special apartment on the top floor of a building
*Penthouse (magazine), ''Penthouse'' (magazine), a British-founded men's magazine
*Mechanical penthouse, a floor, typically located directly u ...
Dome (with Osvaldo Borsani) -
Riyadh
Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the R ...
- SA
* 1978 - Canteen for
Breda
Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...
Fucine Factory -
Sesto San Giovanni
Sesto San Giovanni (; lmo, Sest San Giovann, label=Western Lombard ), locally referred to as just Sesto ( lmo, Sest, links=no), is a ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Milan, Lombardy, northern Italy. Its railway station is the northernmost s ...
(Milano)
* 1979 - Villa Flenda - La Pinetina - Appiano Gentile (Como)
* 1982 - Project for
EUR Rome Headquarters of Confcommercio (Unione Commercio e Turismo) - (with Arch. Enrico Gerli) - Rome
* 1983 - Villa Bonomi in
Castel d'Agogna (Pavia)
* 1983 - New Office Block for Banca Popolare della
Murgia - (with Arch. Enrico Gerli) -
Gravina (Bari)
* 1984/88 - ETRO Interior Store via Pontaccio - Milan
* 1985 - New Office Block for Banca Popolare della Murgia -
Corato
Corato ( Barese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Italy. It is located in the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, in southeastern Italy. Founded by the Normans, it became subject to Alfonso V, king of Aragon, at the end of the 15th century, and later ...
(Bari)
* 1987 - Project for Villa Koskotas on the hills of
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
* 1987/90 - ETRO Flagship Store -
via Montenapoleone
Via Monte Napoleone, also spelled Via Montenapoleone, is an upscale shopping street in Milan, Italy, Europe's most expensive street (2022) and the third most expensive street in the world . It is famous for its ready-to-wear fashion and jewelry sho ...
- Milan
* 1988 - Perfumery ETRO via Verri - Milan
* 1988 - New Headquarters for Enasco - via del Melangolo - Rome
* 1990 - New Headquarters for ETRO S.p.A. - via Spartaco - Milan
* 1998 - Private apartment -
Monza
Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...
* 1976/2000 - ETRO Stores in London, Paris, New York, Rome, Singapore, Los Angeles
* 2003 - Parlamentino (Small Parliament) - for Confcommercio (Unione Commercio e Turismo) - corso Venezia 49 Milan
* 2002/2004 - New Offices - Istituto Centrale delle Banche Popolari - via Cavallotti 14 / via Verziere 11- Milano
E.G. Designer
![Poltrona P28](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Poltrona_P28.jpg)
Although Eugenio believed he was first and foremost an architect, today, he is remembered primarily for his furniture design. Some of his projects have become design classics and stand in some of the world's most important collections, including the
Triennale di Milano
The Triennale di Milano is a design and art museum in the Parco Sempione in Milan, in Lombardy in northern Italy. It is housed in the Palazzo dell'Arte, which was designed by Giovanni Muzio and built between 1931 and 1933; construction was fina ...
, the
Centre Pompidou
The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...
, th
MAD Musée des Arts Décoratifs located in the
Palais du Louvre
The Louvre Palace (french: link=no, Palais du Louvre, ), often referred to simply as the Louvre, is an iconic French palace located on the Right Bank of the Seine in Paris, occupying a vast expanse of land between the Tuileries Gardens and the ...
's western wing and the
Stedelijk Museum
The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (; Municipal Museum Amsterdam), colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. in Amsterdam.
As a student, he started experimenting with the use of plywood. He took part in an exhibition at
Fede Cheti with an all-plywood chair with three legs.
In 1949, he founded a workshop named "Forma" for the series production of experimental prototypes.
In 1950–52, he worked in collaboration with
Mario Cristiani in Cardiological Clinic Villa Adele in Laveno- Mombello, to design general layout and specific technical furniture: adjustable beds and reclining armchairs for medical applications.
From 1952 to 1954, in addition to projects with plywood and "traditional" materials, he began researching and experimenting with a special resin-structured felt.
In 1954, four models "Forma" either in felt or plywood were presented at the in the section put on by
Franco Albini
Franco Albini (17 October 1905 – 1 November 1977) was an Italian Neo-Rationalist architect, designer and university instructor in design.
A native of Robbiate, near Milan, Albini obtained his degree in architecture at Politecnico di Milano U ...
. In 2007, two of the models were selected for the permanent Triennale Collection.
From 1954 to 1956 designed innovative seats for
Padua
Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...
firm Rima
including:
* Small Armchair Rima P28 with a metal structure seat with crossing leather stripes, chairback and armrests made of a continuous veneer plywood structure.
* Model P 75 - with Mario Cristiani - revolving small armchair with fusion metal base and car-industry derived rubber revolving hinge joint.
* Sofas with plastic felt backs for Atria of Cinema Ambasciatori.
In 1957, he started a long collaboration wit
Tecno S.p.A.designing many classical "icons" like the famous GRAPHIS, the " Copernican Revolution" a complete modular system for offices, the small Armchair PS142 Clamis, made of two specular twin bodies,
the circular Armchair P28, the Chair S83, the " Butterfly" extendable Table T92, the nut-shell Cocktail Cabinet Jamaica.
Selected industrial design works
* 1956 Butterfly extendable Table with Mario Cristiani - Prize at
Fòrmica-
Domus
In Ancient Rome, the ''domus'' (plural ''domūs'', genitive ''domūs'' or ''domī'') was the type of town house occupied by the upper classes and some wealthy freedmen during the Republican and Imperial eras. It was found in almost all the ma ...
competition (re-disegned by Gerli and produced by Tecno with the name T92 in year 1960)
* 1957 Bed made of intersecting planes - Prize at
Formica
''Formica'' is a genus of ants of the family Formicidae, commonly known as wood ants, mound ants, thatching ants, and field ants. ''Formica'' is the type genus of the Formicidae, and of the subfamily Formicinae. The type species of genus ''For ...
-
Domus
In Ancient Rome, the ''domus'' (plural ''domūs'', genitive ''domūs'' or ''domī'') was the type of town house occupied by the upper classes and some wealthy freedmen during the Republican and Imperial eras. It was found in almost all the ma ...
competition.
* 1957 Bent plywood dismountable Chair - S3 Tecno (Prototype Gerli 1951).
* 1958 Armchair P28 (Trecentosessanta) based on circle
* 1962 Series of dismountable Chairs S81- S82- S83
* 1963 Coulisse Table T97
* 1963 Table T68 : top made with exchangeable elements (with Osvaldo Borsani)
* 1963 Tables T69-T102 with jointed fusion central base (with Osvaldo Borsani)
* 1963 "Servomuto" revolving Trays
* 1963 Bed L79 (with Osvaldo Borsani)
* 1964 TableT87 two heights Table with different aesthetics (Gold medal at
XIII Triennale di Milano)
* 1965 Bookcase E101 Domino - the getting over the fixed piece of furniture with five modular and linear elements: the beginning of an experiment with volumes, colors and planes that will lead to the revolutionary project GRAPHIS (1967)
* 1965 Sofa and Armchair D/P73 Sir
* 1966 Bar Cabinet B106 Jamaica - nut shell inspired
* 1966 Armchair and Sofa P104 and D104 Jacqueline
* 1967 Bed L108 Holland
* 1967 GRAPHIS SYSTEM – production 1968 (with Osvaldo Borsani) - the getting over the fixed piece of furniture with only 2 elements to be freely planned (''Patented May 16/1972 US3663079 A'')
* 1969 Revolving bedside Table T128 Revolver
* 1968 Plastic small Easy Chair - Margherita
* 1969 Upholstered Armchair PS 142 Clamis made of two specular twin bodies (Patented July 18 ''-1972 - US D224285 S'')
* 1969 Vases L1- L2- L3
* 1975 Bookshelves with sliding glasses E333
* 1979 Series P/D 225 - Fixed or modular sofas with wooden structural corners (with Enrico Gerli)
* 1984 Office Armchairs P131 (with Guido Gerli)
* 1985 Armchair P121 with reclining back (with Enrico Gerli)
* 1988 Office Armchairs Aries E,M,O (with Guido Gerli and Centro Progetti Tecno)
Awards
* Prize at
Fòrmica -
Domus
In Ancient Rome, the ''domus'' (plural ''domūs'', genitive ''domūs'' or ''domī'') was the type of town house occupied by the upper classes and some wealthy freedmen during the Republican and Imperial eras. It was found in almost all the ma ...
competition 1956 - Butterfly Table (with Mario Cristiani)
* Prize at Fòrmica-Domus competition 1957 - Bed made of intersecting planes
* Special prize at Vis Securit-Domus competition 1960 - Tecno Flagship Store via Montenapoleone with transparent glass floors
* Gold medal
XIII Triennale di Milano - 1964 - TableT87
* Selection
Compasso d'Oro 1970 - Graphis System
* Selection
Compasso d'Oro ADI 1970 - Table T92
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* Giuliana Gramigna, Paola Biondi, ''Il Design in Italia dell'arredamento domestico,'' Torino/London, Umberto Allemandi &C, 1999,
*
*
*
*
*
External links
* Centre Pompidou: https://www.centrepompidou.fr/ (Eugenio Gerli) -
* https://www.centrepompidou.fr/cpv/ressource.action?param.id=FR_R-1a465fd73e1b3fd66ef5fedc1f092e1¶m.idSource=FR_O-bfaba549ea3cae5f1c840babbd0cb26
* Triennale di Milano: https://www.triennale.org/en/collection/
* Triennale di Milano . Design Museum . Collezione permanente del Design italiano https://web.archive.org/web/20190130000013/http://www.triennale.org/categoria_collezione/collezione-permanente-del-design-italiano/
* MUSÉE DES ARTS DÉCORATIFS: http://collections.lesartsdecoratifs.fr/chaise-s-83/
* https://www.tecnospa.com/en-us/company/architects-and-designers/eugenio-gerli
* Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam : https://www.stedelijk.nl/en
* Gerli Design: https://www.gerlidesign.eu/
Le Centre Pompidou expose sa collection de design italien à l'Hôtel des Arts de Toulon (francetvinfo.fr)*
Triennale Milanobr>
IoArch -104 - March 2023 - p.22 - Il segno senza tempo di Eugenio GerliEugenio Gerli, 100 anni di poliedrica modernità - Giornale dell'Architettura (ilgiornaledellarchitettura.com)Eugenio Gerli. Maestro del Design italiano. - 24 Ore News
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerli, Eugenio
1923 births
2013 deaths
20th-century Italian architects
Architects from Milan
Italian furniture designers
Italian industrial designers
Polytechnic University of Milan alumni