Andrea Branzi (30 November 1938 – 9 October 2023) was an Italian architect, designer, and academic. He was born and raised in Florence, though he lived and worked in Milan for much of his career. He was a professor and chairman of the School of Interior Design at the

Polytechnic University of Milan The Polytechnic University of Milan (, abbreviated as PoliMi) is a university in Milan, Italy. It is the largest technical university in the country, with about 40,000 enrolled students. The university offers undergraduate, graduate, and higher ...

until 2009.

Life and career

Branzi studied as an architect at the Florence School of Architecture. He received his degree in 1966, then founded

Archizoom Associati Archizoom Associati was a design studio from Florence, Italy. The founders were Andrea Branzi (architect and designer), Gilberto Corretti (architect and designer), Paolo Deganello (architect and designer) and Massimo Morozzi (architect and designe ...

with Gilberto Corretti, Paolo Deganello, Massimo Morozzi in 1966 in Florence where they developed the No-Stop City. In 1976, he established Studio Alchimia and in the 1980s began to associate with the

Memphis Group The Memphis Group, also known as Memphis Milano, was an Italian design and architecture group founded by Ettore Sottsass. It was active from 1980 to 1987. The group designed postmodern furniture, lighting, fabrics, carpets, ceramics, glass and me ...

. Branzi also served as the cultural director of

Domus Academy Domus Academy is a private school of design in Milan, Italy. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses in fashion, industrial design, design management, business and user experience design, product and interior design, design i ...

, Italy’s first postgraduate design school, for its first ten years. His design works are included in permanent collections of museums such as the

Centre Georges Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...

, Paris;

the Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the third-largest museum in the world and the largest art museum in the Americas. With 5.36 million v ...

, New York;

Museum of Fine Arts Houston The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Houston Museum District of Houston, Texas. The permanent collection of the museum spans more than 5,000 years of history with nearly 80,000 works from six continents. Follo ...

, Houston;

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

, New York;

Victoria & Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

, London;

Vitra Design Museum The Vitra Design Museum is a privately owned museum for design in Weil am Rhein, Germany. The architect of this building was Frank O. Gehry. His architecture was based on the art movement of the early 20th century, deconstructivism. Making the bu ...

, Weil am Rhein, and the

ADI Design Museum The ADI Design Museum is a museum in Milan, Italy, which houses the historical collection of the ADI Compasso d'Oro Foundation, as well as hosting temporary exhibitions, public talks and other initiatives. It is dedicated to the understanding a ...

in Milan. Branzi died on 9 October 2023, at the age of 84.

Awards and honors

In 1979, Andrea Branzi was awarded the prestigious Italian industrial design award

Compasso d'Oro The Compasso d'Oro (; ) is an industrial design award originated in Italy in 1954. Initially sponsored by the La Rinascente, a Milanese department store, the award has been organised and managed by the Associazione per il Disegno Industriale (ADI ...

. In 2005, Branzi received his second Compasso d'Oro Award. In 2008, he was named an Honorary Royal Designer for Industry by th
Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA)
in the UK. On 15 October 2018, he was awarded the

Rolf Schock Prizes The Rolf Schock Prizes were established and endowed by bequest of philosopher and artist Rolf Schock (1933–1986). The prizes were first awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1993 and, since 2005, are awarded every three years. It is sometimes consider ...

by the

Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts (), commonly called the Royal Academy, is located in Stockholm, Sweden. An independent organization that promotes the development of painting, sculpture, architecture, and other fine arts, it is one of seve ...

References

External links

Official Website of Andrea Branzi

Over Design Over

su Rai Educational
Foto dell'inaugurazione
presso la galleri
TINGO
della serie di Ceramiche Portali. {{DEFAULTSORT:Branzi, Andrea 1938 births 2023 deaths Italian designers University of Florence alumni Academic staff of the Polytechnic University of Milan Compasso d'Oro Award recipients Rolf Schock Prize laureates

Life and career

Awards and honors

References

Further reading

External links