Achille Castiglioni & Pio Manzù

Pio Manzù was the son of the great sculptor Giacomo Manzù. 1959 he began his studies as an industrial designer joining the Hochschule für Gestaltung at Ulm graduating with a thesis on the “safe tractor”. Since 1967 he worked as a consultant for Fiat, designing the City Taxi, the Autobianchi Coupé and the Fiat 127. He also focused on creating other objects, like Cronotime produced by the Ritz Italora; the Parentesi lamp for Flos and the “physiological armchair” designed in 1967 for La Rinascente and launched by Alias in 2011 as manzù armchair.

Achille Castiglioni was born in Milan in 1918. He graduated from Politecnico di Milano University with a degree in architecture in the late 1930s and, shortly after, set up a design office with his brothers Livio and Pier Giacomo in Milan.

Career

There, he dedicated himself to experimenting with industrial products. Achille, along with his brothers, went on to become one of the most renowned industrial designers in post-war Italy. He was one of the founding members of Association for Industrial Design (Associazione per il Disegno Industriale, ADI), established in 1956.

His works are included in permanent collections in museums all around the world, including 14 pieces at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

The designer has won nine “Compasso d′Oro” awards, including a special mention as an individual dedicated to industrial design who, by means of his incomparable experience, “elevated industrial design to the highest levels of culture,” in 1989.