Vico Magistretti

Vico Magistretti (October 6, 1920 – September 19, 2006) was an Italian architect who was also active as an industrial designer, furniture designer, and academic. As a collaborator of humanist architect Ernesto Nathan Rogers, one of Magistretti's first projects was the "poetic" round church in the experimental Milan neighbourhood of QT8. He later designed mass-produced appliances, lighting, and furniture for companies such as Cassina S.p.A., Artemide, and Oluce. These designs won several awards, including the Compasso d'Oro and the Gold Medal of the Chartered Society of Industrial Artists & Designers in 1986.

Early life and education

Vico Magistretti was born on October 6, 1920 in Milan, Italy. He was the son of an architect. During the second world war, to avoid being deported to Germany, on September 8, 1943 he left Italy during his military service and moved to Switzerland. While in the country he taught at the local university and took courses at the Champ Universitaire Italien in Lausanne.

While in Switzerland he met Ernesto Nathan Rogers, who turned out to be his maestro. According to '' The Guardian'', "He soon came under the influence of the architect Ernesto Nathan Rogers, whose humanist ideas for the reconstruction of postwar Italy inspired a whole series of intellectuals. At that time Magistretti took part in work on the extraordinary experimental neighbourhood on the edge of Milan known as QT8, where a group of architects and planners were given complete freedom. Magistretti built its "poetic" round church."

He returned to Milan in 1945, graduating from the Politecnico di Milano University in 1945.

Production career

After graduation he worked at the firm owned by his father, Pier Giulio, with the architect Paolo Chessa.

He worked initially in urban design in Milan. In the 1950s he moved into the field of mass-produced furniture and lamps. Some became museum pieces. Among other, he worked for the following companies: Artemide, Cassina, De Padova, Flou, Fritz Hansen, Kartell, Schiffini.

According to ''The Guardian,'' "His first great success came with the world famous Carimate chair produced by the Cassina company. The chair was a bestseller for years and mixed rural simplicity (the straw of the seat) with urban sophistication. There were the smooth lines of the wooden supports and legs, the colour, the pop-art bright red frame and elements of Scandinavian design."

Lombardy