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DESIGN
NEWS
A
selection of news related to interior design, architecture, product design
and art, from various international publications.
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ARCHITECTURE
The Museum of Mediterranean History in Reggio Calabria by architect Zaha Hadid.
from Wallpaper
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INTERIOR
DESIGN
SoHo loft by Natalya Kashper.
from NYTimes
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DESIGNERS
Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby.
An interview from last year.
from designboom
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ART
Yves Saint Laurent
Nov 1, 2008 - April 5, 2009 at the
De Young Museum
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BOOKS
Collection Houses.
By Michelle Galindo.
Amazon
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This month we focus on one of the most difficult things to achieve in design - simplicity. One designer who seemed to achieve this so effortlessly was Vico Magistretti. He once said that his favorite object was the umbrella "because it is simple and useful." Here is a look at his carreer as an industrial designer and architect.
Focus
Featured projects: The spectacular Museum of Mediterranean History in Reggio Calabria, Italy by Zaha Hadid; and a SoHo loft by Natalya Kashper.
Interview: Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby (designers for Established & Sons).
Books: Collection Houses by Michelle Galindo (the cover house is by San Francisco architect Mark Dziewulski).
In 1959 he took part in the "Congres Internationaux d' Architecture Moderne" (CIAM) in Otterlo, Netherlands where he presented radical projects alongside other Italian architects (BBPR, Gardella, De Carlo). Magistretti took part in the extraordinary experimental neighborhood on the edge of Milan (knows as QT8), where a group of emerging architects and planners were given complete freedom. This work stands out even today for the humanistic qualities of the architecture, and for its green space.
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Vico Magistretti - Searching simplicity
Vico Magistretti (1920-2006) was an architect and industrial designer celebrated as the dean of Italian modernism. He was born in Milan, Italy on October 6th, 1920.
Magistretti studied in Italy and Switzerland during the second World War and graduated from the Politecnico University in Milan in 1945.
He began his career working in the studio of his father, who was an architect. Soon after he came under the influence of the architect Ernesto Nathan Rogers.
 
A drawing of the 1979 Compasso d'Oro winning ATOLLO table lamp manufactured by O Luce. |
Vico Magistretti portrayed in front of his Silver chair for DePadova.
It was in the 1950s that Magistretti focused on industrial design. In collaboration with entrepreneurs and craftsmen, Magistretti saw possibilities for a new series of well-designed, mass-produced goods. In 1956 he contributed to the founding of ADI, the Italian Industrial Design Association.
His works have been displayed in international design exhibitions, and can be seen in the most prestigious museums in the world - twelve of Magistretti's projects are housed in the permanent design collection of MoMA, in New York, including his one-piece Selene plastic chair.
The Italian city of Genoa honored him with a retrospective exhibition in 2003. Most of what Vico Magistretti designed is still manufactured today. He won numerous awards, among them the Gold Medal at the 1951 Triennale, the Grand Prix at the 1954 Triennale, three Compasso d'Oro awards - in the year 1967 for his lamp 'Eclisse', in 1979 for his lamp 'Atollo', and in 1995 for his outstanding career, as well as the Gold Medal of the Chartered Society of Industrial Artists & Designers in London, 1986.
Vico Magistretti lectured in Milan, Venice, Rome, London, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Aspen, Tokyo and Saõ Paulo and was professor at the Domus Academy in Milan. Magistretti taught for 20 years at the Royal College of Arts, where he was nominated as a Royal Designer. He has also been a Honorary Member of the Royal Scottish Incorporation of Architects. He was appointed as a member of the Accademia di San Luca in Rome and of the Comitato Scientifico of the Politecnico University in Milan.
Despite the huge success of his design work, Magistretti continued to work as an architect, producing some extraordinary (and much undervalued) buildings in Italy and abroad.
On September 19th, 2006 Vico Magistretti passed away at his home in Milan, Italy.
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With his life-long friend and fellow architect Luigi Caccia Dominioni,Magistretti worked on the 'Milano San Felice', the first out-of-town, middle-class neighborhood, with its hidden traffic, horseshoe form and city garden qualities. Similar developments were built throughout Italy during the 1970s and 1980s, following the same design.
Above: the Horseshoe shape neighborhood "San Felice" in Milan.
The Vidun table for DePadova - vidun in Milanese dialect means big screw.
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New at DZINE
Stack by Shay Alkalay for Established & Sons.
Ada chair by Roberto Barbieri for Zanotta.
K2 in white Corian by Norbert Wangen for Boffi.
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Torch bunch chandelier by Sylvain Willenz for Established & Sons.
H chair by Christophe Pillet for Porro.
Angelo & Angela vases by Jean Marie Massaud for GlasItalia. |
Images and text courtesy of DePadova, O Luce, Marsilio Libri, Porro, Zanotta, Established & Sons.
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