Achille Castiglioni Design

Achille Castiglioni Achille Castiglioni (Milan, 1918-2002) was a renowned Italian designer. Widely considered as one of the most important industrial designers of the 20th century, Achille Castiglioni created more than 150 products during his career. He was often inspired by everyday things and made use of ordinary materials. He uses the minimal amount of materials while creating forms with a maximum effect. Achille Castiglioni studied architecture at the Politecnico di Milano University and set up a design office in 1944 with his brothers, Livio Castiglioni and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni. The teamwork and professional partnership that came out from the work of Achille Castiglioni, Livio Castiglioni and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni gave birth to the so-called Castiglioni brothers team. Livio then left in 1952. This group have become one of the most witty, elegant and innovative partnerships in modern design. The brothers worked from the viewpoint that design must restructure an object's function, form and production process, and applied this maxim to every work that they produced. Castiglioni described this process with these words: "Start from scratch. Stick to common sense. Know your goals and means". Castiglioni's method, to have "a constant and consistent way of designing, not a style" led him to help create new products to restore Italy's quality of life in the post-war years and to innovate upon the household object. Most of Castilglioni's products are design classics and are still in production under licence. Some of his most recognized designs include the Achille Castiglioni lighting collection such as the Arco Lamp, Cocoon Lamp, Mezzadro Stool and Snoopy Lamp. The MoMA has his most important designs in its permanent collection.

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