Livio Castiglioni
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Livio Castiglioni (16 January 1911 – 30 April 1971) was an Italian architect and designer. He made a significant contribution to twentieth-century Italian lighting design and was an early proponent of the practice of
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 ...
in Italy.


Early life and education

Livio Castiglioni was born 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 ...
on 16 January 1911, the son of Livia Bolla and the sculptor
Giannino Castiglioni Giannino Castiglioni (4 May 1884 – 27 August 1971) was an Italian sculptor and medallist. He worked mostly in monumental and funerary sculpture; his style was representational, and far from the modernist and avant-garde trends of the earl ...
, and the elder brother of the architects Achille and
Pier Giacomo Castiglioni Pier Giacomo Castiglioni (22 April 1913–27 November 1968) was an Italian architect and designer. Early life and education Castiglioni was born on 22 April 1913 in Milan, in Lombardy in northern Italy. He was the second son of the scul ...
. He received a degree in architecture from the
Polytechnic University of Milan 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 186 ...
in 1936 and subsequently went into practice with his brother Pier Giacomo and
Luigi Caccia Dominioni Luigi Caccia Dominioni (7 December 1913 – 13 November 2016) was an Italian architect and furniture designer. Life Caccia Dominioni was born on 7 December 1913 in Milan, in Lombardy in northern Italy, to Ambrogio Caccia Dominioni, a lawye ...
. After the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
the youngest Castiglioni brother, Achille, joined their architecture and design studio; in the mid-1950s Livio left to establish his own design practice.


Work and career

Much of the early work of the Castiglioni brothers was in
exhibition design Exhibit design (or exhibition design) is the process of developing an exhibit—from a concept through to a physical, three-dimensional exhibition. It is a continually evolving field, drawing on innovative, creative, and practical solutions to t ...
, although they also carried out a number of architectural projects, including the reconstruction in 1952–1953 of the in Milan, which had been destroyed by Allied bombing in 1943. Livio Castiglioni designed products for companies such as Alessi, Artemide, , and . One of his first works of industrial design was the 1939 "F.I.M.I. – 547" tabletop radio, which is amongst the earliest examples of this product typology to challenge traditional shapes and aesthetics, making it a turning point in the history of Italian industrial design. He was a consultant to Phonola until 1956 and then for
Brionvega Brionvega is an Italian electronics company that is known for manufacturing futuristic televisions and audio equipment. The company was founded in 1939 by Giuseppe Brion and Leone Pajettain in Milan. Initially named B.P.M. Radio, the company w ...
from 1960 to 1964. In 1969–1970 he and Gianfranco Frattini designed the "Boalum" light for Artemide (the name combines "
Boa Kwon Bo-ah (; born November 5, 1986), known professionally as BoA, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer and actress. One of the most successful and influential Korean entertainers, she has been dubbed the " Queen of K- ...
" and "lum" from "lume", an Italian word for light). The design was still in production in 2023, over fifty years after it was first manufactured. Castiglioni was one of the founding members of the Associazione per il Disegno Industriale in Milan and was its president in 1959–1960. He is also credited as being the originator of the Compasso d'Oro award. Working as a lighting designer throughout the 1960s and 1970s Castiglioni collaborated with many of his contemporaries such as the architects
Gae Aulenti Gaetana "Gae" Aulenti (; 4 December 1927–31 October 2012) was an Italian architect and designer who was active in furniture design, graphic design, stage design, lighting design, exhibition and interior design. She was known for her contributi ...
, Cini Boeri, and , as well as his son .


Legacy

Castiglioni died in Milan on 30 April 1971 and is buried in the cemetery of Chiaravalle. Examples of his work are held in the collection of museums such as the National Science and Technology Museum and in Milan, the Pompidou Centre in Paris, the Boijmans Museum in Rotterdam, the Saint Louis Art Museum in St. Louis,
Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
, as well as the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
and the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
in New York. Reflecting on his friendship with the Castiglionis, the designer Massimo Vignelli said:
In reality, the Castiglioni brothers were one person. Symbiosis of thought, creative ability, inspiration and execution were an integral part of their being. Talking to one of them or all three of them was the same, they were completely interchangeable, same voice, same accent, same grin, same laughter, same gestures. They were the Castiglioni, like their work, indivisible fruit of the same research, of the same passion, of a great ability to transform the world around us into a new memorable gesture.
In 2014 the city of Milan named a street after the three Castiglioni brothers (''Via Fratelli Castiglioni'').


References


External links


Livio Castiglioni
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
collection
Great Masters , Livio Castiglioni


RAI Television documentary, Part One (''in Italian'')

RAI Television documentary, Part Two (''in Italian'') *
Quotes about Livio Castilioni on Italian Wikiquote
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castiglioni, Livio 1911 births 1979 deaths Polytechnic University of Milan alumni 20th-century Italian architects Architects from Milan Italian industrial designers Italian furniture designers Italian designers Product designers Lighting designers