ACHILLE CASTIGLIONI

"I have always desired to do the opposite, not because I have an anarchic behavior. But because I think that the fundamental basis of design consists in thinking the opposite".

Achille Castiglioni, an internationally acknowledged master of design, was born in Milan in 1918. Soon after graduating in architecture from the Milan Polytechnic, he joined his elder brothers, Livio and Pier Giacomo, who had founded their practice and studio premises right in the centre of in Milan.

As happens to many gifted architects, the shortage of substantial architectural commissions led the Castiglioni brothers to design smaller items. The working methods of collaboration and techniques of the Castiglioni brothers established a series of principles that were to be of outstanding importance, for others as for Castiglioni in the years ahead.

Concepts in design were issued and created from the Castiglioni’s studio: first there was the concept of integral design. This meant that a project was developed in close connection with the production facility, based on new working methods and possible materials, which reinvented the relationship between the various components. All the work, constantly affecting each stage of the project and highly sensitive to the influence of the techniques of production, sought to achieve the appropriate result using the least possible resources.

In 1944 Achille Castiglioni and Pier Giacomo started working jointly on numerous projects and conducted research and experiments in exhibition design, until the death of Pier Giacomo in 1968. In these years they developed some of their most significant ideas in the innovation of the spaces of the home: objects and furniture and special attention to lighting help in re conceptualizing interior design. After his brother´s death, Achille went on working in the same way as they had done together, so that it is impossible to make out any changes in his designs that were not the result of social or technological change.

From 1947 on, Castiglioni was present at all editions of the Milan Triennale, in particular as a member of the organization and installation committee, and also often with his own works on display.

He took part, as a promoter and an active member, as one of the founders of the A.D.I (the Italian Industrial Design Association) to promote the work of cultural associations and institutions whose purpose was to foster and develop design.

In 1969 he began his academic career by completing a doctorate. In the years from 1969 to 1977 he held the chair in industrial design at the school of architecture of the Turin Polytechnic. 

In 1978, also in Turin, he became professor extraordinary of interior design. Appointed to the Milan Polytechnic in 1981, he became full professor of Interior Design, lecturing in interior design and furnishings. Castiglioni continued to devote himself as a teacher, designer and jury member to competitions and exhibitions, winning numerous prizes for the objects he created. Over the years he also worked to commissions from private clients, designing objects, restructuring shops, designing exhibition spaces and creating exhibit designs.

Castiglioni passion for design and for creating those inspired objects continued until his death on 2nd December 2002, most of his creations are on display in the world´s most important museums: the objects that contributed to the birth and development of Italian design. 

ACHILLE CASTIGLIONI WORK

READY-MADES 

Castiglioni always honored and respected objects in which the form-function relationship was perfectly resolved in constructional terms. That is why he often used parts of existing objects while adapting them to different functions to literately bringing those objects to life.

Mezzadro Stool 1957
How a tractor seat can become a comfortable stool, supported on a leaf spring, also taken from a tractor but reversed, to absorb the jolting.
Toio Floor lamp 1962
An American car headlight set on a stem modeled after a fishing rod furnished the inspiration for this indirect light lamp.
Lampadina Table or wall lamp 1972
A large bulb with a "cap" silvered on one side to diminish the glare, a bulb fitting with a switch and a base made our of a reel of aluminum, to roll up the lead and hang the lamp on the wall.

REDESIGNED OBJECTS

Castiglioni had a passion in redesigning objects they were traditional objects that he perfected or updated to suit the technological developments and the needs of modern life, enhancing and glorifying the value of the principal component of their design.

Tric folding chair 1965
Castiglioni redesigned a chair by Michael Thonet no longer in production: he introduced two variants, the higher back, for better support, and a layer of red felt covering both seat and back.
Spirale Ashtray 1971
The ingenious redesign of an existing ashtray; a steel bowl is fitted with a spring, also of steel, which acts as a support for the cigarette.
Cumano Folding café table in iron 1979
Castiglioni simply set a hole in the table top to add the idea of "hanging" to the idea of "putting away" already present in the original design, so that the folded table could also be hung up as a decoration.

MINIMALIST OBJECTS

Castiglioni concept was always aimed to raise design to an ever-higher level of synthesis, achieving the formal essence of the object by eliminating everything superfluous to the design.

Tubino Table lamp 1951
When he first small fluorescent tubes arrived from the United States in 1949, Castiglioni decided to design a lamp that would embody this new technology with the smallest possible number of elements.
Luminator floor lamp 1955
The principal body of the lamp is a tube sufficiently large to contain the bulb fitting and resting on three slender rods. The lead emerges like a tail from below.
Hanging bookcase Wall-mounted bookcase 1966
Seeking to pare down the structure of a bookcase to the minimum, Castiglioni decided to hang the shelves on knots in two cords fixed to a single point on the wall.

EXPRESSIONISTIC OBJECTS

Castiglioni in 1965 started creating objects from a new prospective where the expressive and formal quality was then accentuated to the maximum of its dominant component. In this way it became the primary characteristic on which he worked, without neglecting the other functional and constructional elements, though in this case they should also enhance the form.

Rr 126 Stereo 1965
In this project the components of a stereo are assembled so as to form the "face" of an animal, with the easy-to-move loudspeakers forming the ears, while the tuning knobs are two big eyes.
Cacciavite Table 1966
The name means "screwdriver", an allusion to the legs of the table, which screw into the top and can be removed for easy transport.
Snoopy Table lamp 1967
So called for its resemblance to the head of the beagle, the lamp rests on a vertical base in marble fitted with a dimmer switch.

INTEGRAL DESIGN

Integral Design was the new term that Castiglioni applied to all those projects that involved continuous interdisciplinary influence between all those involved in work on the separate parts of the project and when the designer intervened actively in every phase.

Spalter vacuum cleaner 1956
Spalter = spalla+terra (i.e. "shoulder + floor"). The vacuum cleaner can be slung over the shoulder or slide along the floor. It is innovative in form and in its use of the materials.
Filodiffusore Cable radio set 1967
The arrangement of the inner components of this cable radio set was designed so as to create an elongated form, easy to place on a shelf already crammed with other things. It can be placed either on its long or short side, set horizontally or vertically.
 

ACHILLE CASTIGLIONI ICONIC PICES.

ARCO Direct light floor lamp 1962
This lamp offers the incredible opportunity to illuminate the top of a table without having to hang the light source from a pre-established point of the ceiling. This makes it possible to move the table at will: a table lamp that does not need holes made in the ceiling.The light source is projected two meters from the marble base, which can be moved easily by slotting a broom handle into the hole.
SWITCH Lead switch 1968
Inspired by the form of a stone, this switch boasts a highly complex technology, developed by Castiglioni with great skill; it was designed to produce a perfect click.
PARENTESI Lamp 1971
A spotlight that can be adjusted by moving it up and down a cable attached to the ceiling by a hook and held taut by a counterweight that barely skims the floor.
NOCE Floor or shelf lamp 1972
A glowing stone, sufficiently solid to be kicked into position and even used outdoor. It consists of a shell divided in two, containing two spotlights that rotate around an axis, creating underlighting with a powerful scenic impact.

Many of his works may be found in the following museums:

Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Kunstgewerbe Museum in Zurich, Staatliches Museum für Angewandte Kunst in Munich, Design Museum in Prato, Uneleckoprumyslove Museum in Prague, Israel Museum in Jerusalem, The Denver Art Museum, Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Angewandte Kunst Museum in Hamburg and Koln.

He earned nine “Compasso d’Oro” awards:

• “Compasso d’Oro” 1955 (Luminator floor lamp)
• “Compasso d’Oro” 1960 (T 12 Palini chair)
• “Compasso d’Oro” 1962 (Pitagora espresso machine)
• “Compasso d’Oro” 1964 (Spinamatic beer spigot)
• “Compasso d’Oro” 1967 (translator’s earphones)
• “Compasso d’Oro” 1979 (Parentesi lamp)
• “Compasso d’Oro” 1979 (Omsa hospital bed)
• “Compasso d’Oro” 1984 (Dry cutlery)
• “Compasso d’Oro” 1989 (special mention to a profession dedicated to industrial design on the following grounds  (”For he elevated industrial design, by means of his irreplaceable experience, to the highest levels of culture”).

Between 1984 and 1986 the Österreichisches Museum für Angewandte of Wien hosted his itinerant “personal” exhibition, which was then successfully repeated at the Akademie der Kunst in Berlin, at the Triennale in Milan, at the Kunstgewerbe Museum in Zurich, at the Haags Gemeentemuseum in The Hague, at the Circulo de Bellas Artes in Madrid and at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris

• 1985 - Honorary Member of the "Committee of Advisors" at Art Center College of Design (Pasadena, California and Montreaux, Switzerland).
• 1986 - Honorary Member of the Faculty of Royal Designers for Industry, Royal Society of Art (London).
• 1987 - Honorary Degree from the Royal College of Art (London).
• 1993 - Annual award from "The Chartered Society of Designers" (London).
• 1994 - "Primavera del Design" Award from the Department of Culture (Catalonia).
• 1995 - "Art sur Table" Award from the Conseil National des Art Culinaire (Paris).
• 1996 - "IF Design Wettbewerb" Award from Industrie Forum Design (Hanover).
• 1996 - "Longevity-Langlebigkeit" Award from Design Center (Stuttgart).
• 1999 - "Domus/INARCH 1998” Award from INARCH.
• 1999 - "Targa d´Oro Unione Italiana per il Disegno" Award from the Faculty of Architecture of Genoa.
• 1999 - Wins the Enel "Sostegni per l´Ambiente" competition along with Michele De Lucchi.
• 2001 - Industrial Design Honoris Causa Degree from the Polytechnic of Milan.

In 1995 on the occasion of the award “Primavera del Design”, his “personal” exhibition “A la Castiglioni” was organized in Barcelona and then again at the Furniture Fair in Milan, at the Modern and Contemporary Art Gallery in Bergamo, in 1997 at the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, at the MoMA in New York, in 1998 at the Living Design Center Ozone in Tokyo, at the Art Museum in Niitsu and at the De Beyerd Museum in Breda.

Very many objects designed by Achille Castiglioni have been produced by remarkable companies such as: Aerotecnica Italiana, Alessi, Aura, Brionvega, Bernini, B&B Italia, BBB Bonacina, Cedit, Cimbali, Danese, Driade, Feg, Flos, Fusital, Cassina, Gavina, Ideal Standard, Italtel, Il Coccio Umidificatori, Interflex, Lancia Auto, Longoni, Marcatrè, Moroso, Nagano, Olivetti Synthesis, Omsa, Ortotecnica, Phonola Radio, Poltrona Frau, Poggi, Phoebus Alter, Perani Fonderie, Rem, San Giorgio elettrodomestici, Teorema, Kartell, Up & Up, VLM, Zanotta.
 

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