Designers

Refinement and simplicity

Design and sensitivity

A Master of Design

A young talent

A great name of design

Essentiality and Balance

A varied career

Ellen Bernhardt and Paola Vella met at a design studio in Milan and started a strict collaboration based on a common vision of design developed during their individual international working experiences.
Since 2008 they collaborate with important furniture companies, developing products and acting as artistic directors.

 "There must be No art detached from life: beautiful things to look at and bad things to use. "

Between Logic and creativity

“Do more with less” Charles Eames

Glasgow/London, 1868/1928
Charles Rennie Mackintosh was born in Glasgow in 1868 and died in London on 10th December 1928. His personality is one of those that characterize the period immediately preceding the Modern Movement. His name is mainly connected with the design for the Glasgow School of Art: he was the animator and most authoritative exponent of the group known as the “Glasgow School” and he distinguished himself principally because he recovered the most authentic values of the Scottish idiom and of neo-Gothic taste. The group, also named “the School of Ghosts”, became known throughout Europe – in Liege in 1895, London in 1896, Vienna in 1900, Turin in 1902, Moscow in 1903, Budapest etc.Besides the School of Art, the most interesting works are undoubtedly: the “Windyhill” house at Kilmacolm (1900), the “Hill House” at Helensburgh (1902-3), the arrangement of the Derngate house, Northampton (1916-20), and the decorative work in Miss Cranston’s Tea-Rooms in Glasgow. Among the furnishings of his decorative interiors, it is above all the chair – an object of special attention in the “Cassina I Maestri” collection – which represents the focal point for coordinated spatial action. Within it, the controlling force of the composition is always resolved, sometimes articulated in fluent and delicate forms, at other times in severely geometric forms.

Parigi/Parigi, 1903/1999
Charlotte Perriand full membership of that avant-garde cultural movement which, from the first decades of the twentieth century, brought about a profound change in aesthetic values and gave birth to a truly modern sensitivity towards everyday life. In this context, her specific contribution focuses on interior composition, conceived as creating a new way of living, still today at the heart of contemporary lifestyle. In the sphere of twentieth century furnishing history, the advent of modernity made possible the entrepreneurial audacity of this true reformer of interior design. At the beginning of her professional career she was acclaimed by critics for her Bar under the roof, exhibited at the Salon d’Automne in 1927 and constructed entirely in nickel-plated copper and anodized aluminium. In the same year, when she was just twenty-four years old, she began a decade-long collaboration with Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret, at the famous design studios at 35, rue de Sèvres in Paris. Her presence in the Le Corbusier studio is visible in all the furnishings designed with him and with Pierre Jeanneret: and so Charlotte Perriand becomes a cornerstone in the reformation project promoted by the architect, adding a distinct dimension of humaneness to the often cold rationalism of Le Corbusier. In her creations she manages to animate the fundamental substance of daily life with new aesthetic values: in particular her talent and intuition in the discovery and use of new materials manifest themselves to their full extent. The ten-year long collaboration with Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret, and her Japanese experience, represent periods of intense creative effervescence in the life of the artist. During her long stay in the Far East (‘40-‘46), she reveals her artistic talent to the full, through a reinterpretation of the reality of life to echo both tradition and modernity. By way of example, worthy of mention are the furnishings produced using traditional bamboo processing techniques, capable of enhancing the new forms already experimented using steel-tubing. After her work as a professional, she concentrates on a series of original and balanced productions, commissioned by top-level authorities and leading companies of the calibre of Air France, and by a number of foreign organizations, authenticating the fame she had by now gained on the international scene. The distinguishing factor of Charlotte Perriand’s personality is a sincere loyalty to the principles of humane and innovative rationalism, preserved intact in her projects, on which she worked with such passion, also in readiness for their revival in the “Cassina I Maestri” collection.

An eclectic personality

One of the most influential figures in the world of design

A creative and multidisciplinary approach

Research and Design

"The basic rule that I’ve set for everything I do and that I’ve instilled in my collaborators is to put your heart and soul into what you’re doing"

A leading designer, theoretician, and educator, Ezri Tarazi started his studio in 1996 after managing design projects in Bezalel R&D Company. From 1998 to 2001 he was a partner at IDEO Israel, an affiliated office of the famous Palo Alto based design company. Between 1996-2004 Ezri was the chair of the industrial design program at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem, nominated by design leaders as one of the best design schools today. In 2002 he founded the Masters Program in Industrial Design (M.Des), and in 2005 he founded a Masters Program in Design Management. In 2004 Ezri Tarazi founded the Israeli Design Center. In 2002 Ezri Tarazi has been honored by the Israeli government for his activity. The jury has decided to honor Ezri Tarazi for his activity as a designer and theoretician of design, and for his commitment to promoting design and education of design among the industry. Ezri Tarazi’s large body of works includes industrial design projects, experimental designs, design installations, educational programs, curatorial activity and design theory writing.

Exploring the boundaries between art, design, craft, and mass production. 

Artistic process and design research.

Como/Milano, 1905/1977
He was a major figure in the Rationalist Movement, excelling in architectural, furniture, industrial and museum design.
After receiving a degree in architecture from the Politecnico di Milano in 1929, he worked with the Ponti and Lancia design studios. His work for the magazine Casabella also played a key part in his development, marking his conversion to the Rationalist Movement and his becoming its spokesman on the Italian cultural scene. When he set up his own practice in Milan in 1931, he took on the challenge of workers’ housing and continued in this vein after the war, thanks to the opportunities offered by the reconstruction projects he worked on with Franca Helg from 1952. During the 1940’s, Albini expanded his collaboration with Cassina, which started with chair designs that paved the way for his signature style. He also pursued his furniture designs with other firms, such as Poggi.  Milan and Genoa form the geographical axis where Albini left his strongest imprint. For the Lombard capital, he planned the development of the stations on Line 1 of the city’s subway system (1962/63), in collaboration with graphic designer Bob Noorda. His numerous urban development and building projects for Genoa include the Palazzo Bianco (1949/51), Palazzo Rosso (1952/62), and Tesoro di San Lorenzo (1952/56) museums. Franco Albini was the recipient of many honors in recognition of the importance of his cultural contributions. Among others, he is a member of the INU, the CIAM, the Accademia Ligustica di Genova, MOMA in New York, the ADI, the Accademico di S. Luca, the Fondazione Pagano and the London Royal Society of Arts. He also received numerous prizes, including the La Rinascente-Compasso d’Oro for the design of the Luisa chair (1955), the Bronze Medal from the Parson School in New York (1956) for his contribution to industrial design, the Olivetti Award for Architecture (1957), the Gran Premio Nazionale La Rinascente-Compasso d’Oro (1958), the La Rinascente-Compasso d’Oro Award for the Milan Line 1 Subway project (1964), and the Royal Designer for Industry title awarded by the London Royal Society of Arts (1971).
In all his work, from home furnishings to industrial and museum design projects, Franco Albini always instilled a logical consistency, an extreme purity of expression and exceptional ethical and historical integrity. The architectural and design work of Franco Albini represents a keystone of the Italian architectonic culture from the early 20th century through his intense activity revolving around a creative and rigorous approach to composition and building that expresses a particularly high degree of estheticism.

A great architect and designer

Richland Center/Phoenix, 1867/1959
Wright was born on June 8th, 1867 in Richland Center, Wisconsin, USA. Before his birth, his mother was determined that the child she was carrying would become the greatest architect of all time. A teacher herself, she discovered the Froebel system of education, known as the “kindergarten gifts”, according to which a child was taught to draw using basic geometric shapes and forms. His father was a preacher and musician and taught his son to listen to music as “an edifice of sound”. At the age of twenty he ran away from home and travelled to Chicago in pursuit of architecture, where he discovered the work of Adler and Sullivan, applied for a job, and worked directly under Louis Sullivan for nearly seven years. In 1893 he established his own practice. His work in and around Chicago from 1893 to 1909 heralded a new concept in architecture. The “Larkin Building” and “Unity Temple” saw innovations in design and engineering, made possible by the technology and materials of the twentieth century. By means of reinforced concrete, glass, steel, sheet metal and the cantilever (a support moved in from the edge), he developed an architecture in which the reality of the building was the space within. This evasive element - almost mystical by nature - of liberated interior space, is the pervading quality in everything he built. In 1932 Wright and his wife Olgivanna founded the Taliesin Fellowship, a school of architecture at their own home. Soon came the famous commissions for Fallingwater and the Johnson Wax Administration Building. As his work increased so did the power of his creative genius.
There seemed to be no end to the variety of forms, ideas, shapes, spaces, concepts and innovations that poured forth from him. He left behind him a group of people dedicated to the conception of organic architecture: drawing upon the people of the Taliesin Fellowship, he established the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, which continue to preserve and safeguard the work, archives and principles of this great Master.

Icons of mid-century modernism

Utrecht/Utrecht, 1888/1964
Gerrit Thomas Rietveld, born in Utrecht on 24 June 1888, seems possessed of two personalities, each so distinct that one might take his work to be that of more than one artist. The first personality is that seen in the craftsman cabinet-maker working in a primordial idiom, re-inventing chairs and other furniture as if no one had ever built them before him and following a structural code all of his own; the second is that of the architect working with elegant formulas, determined to drive home the rationalist and neoplastic message in the context of European architecture. The two activities alternate, overlap, and fuse in a perfect osmosis unfolding then into a logical sequence. In 1918 Rietveld joined the “De Stijl” movement which had sprung up around the review of that name founded the year before by Theo van Doesburg. The group assimilated and translated into ideology certain laws on the dynamic breakdown of compositions (carrying them to an extreme) that had already been expressed in painting by the cubists: the “De Stijl” artists also carefully studied the architectonic lesson taught by the great Frank Lloyd Wright, whose influence was widely felt in Europe at that time.
Collaborating first with Robert van’t Hoff and Vilmos Huszar, then with Theo van Doesburg and Cornelius van Eesteren, Rietveld soon became one of the most distinguished interpreters of the neoplastic message. Among his most important works are: the Schröder house at Utrecht (1924); the “Row Houses” at Utrecht (1931-34); the Dutch pavilion at the Venice Biennial (1954); the sculpture pavilion in the Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller at Otterloo and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam (1955). Out of his equally important furniture, Cassina has chosen for its own production: the “Red and Blue” (1918), the “Zig-Zag” (1934), the “Schröder 1” (1923), the “Utrecht” (1935)

Designer, architect, urban planner, portraitist

The History of Design

Born in Vicenza , Gino Carollo begins  in 1990 his activity in the industrial design sector, also collaborating as an Art Director with prestigeous Italian and International enterprises in the furniture branch. By commission of Assarredo, he plans the realisation and the coordinated image for the Padiglione Italia at the International Furniture Fair in Cologne in 1992 and 1993, as well as the Italian Pavillon at the Interieur Fair in Vienna in 1992. He participates to the Dirattan Exposition in Milan in 1993 and to the exposition "Progetti e Territori" at the Fair "Abitare il Tempo" in Verona in 1994. In the same years, he is awarded the "Du Pont" prize in Cologne, the "Young Design" prize in Milan and the "Casaidea" prize in Rome, and some of his products are exposed at the MoMA in New York. In 2012 he receives  the Interior Innovation Award in Cologne for the product "Bookless" of Interlübke. In 1999 he opens STUDIO28 GINO CAROLLO, with the objective of establishing a qualified support team to the companies in the furniture branch. The design of products connected to the engineering and realisation of models and prototypes revealed themselves over the years as the main tools which let the studio acquire important results and establish long-term collaborations. The industrial design activity of Studio 28 was developed and expanded in the last years to include novel sectors of expertise, in particular covering the field of architectural planning of exposition spaces, showrooms and corporate identity.

Milan/Milan, 1891/1979
An architect, a designer and an artist, Gio Ponti (Milano 1891-1979) graduated in Milan in 1921 and initially entered into partnership with Emilio Lancia and Mino Fiocchi from 1927 to 1933. In 1927 he founded Il Labirinto with Lancia, Buzzi, Marelli, Venini and Chiesa in order to produce high-quality furniture and objects. From 1923 to 1930 he has been Richard Ginori’s artistic director. Thanks to the creation of Domus magazine in 1928 (which he presided over almost constantly until his death), Ponti made an intensive contribution to the renewal of the Italian production in the sector, giving it new impetus. Ponti has been a strong supporter of the Monza Biennale, then the Milan Triennale, of the Compasso d’Oro awards and of ADI (Association of Industrial Design). As an architect, he created the symbol of modern Milan, the Pirelli skyscraper, designed with Fornaroli, Rosselli and Nervi in 1956. In 1951, he realised the second Palazzo Montecatini (his first office building dates back to 1938-39). In 1957 he designed the super-celebrated Superleggera chair for Cassina, the crowning achievement of a long and fruitful working association. To his planning activities, he added educational activities, teaching at the Faculty of Architecture in Milan from 1936 to 1961.

Art and expressiveness

A creative spirit

Inspiration and knowledge

Union between the free Dutch spirit and the Latin sensuality

Love for color and materials

Rigor and compositional freedom

Universal talent

Mazes of threads in an elegant intertwining of colors

Spanish artist-designer Jaime Hayon was born in Madrid in 1974. After studying industrial design in Madrid and Paris he joined Fabrica – the Benetton-funded design and communication academy in Italy- in 1997 where he directed the design department until 2003. Hayon set up his own studio practice in the year 2000 and dedicated himself fully to his personal projects from 2003 onward, today he is one of the most acclaimed creators worldwide.His singular vision was first fully exposed in ‘Mediterranean Digital Baroque’ at London’s David Gill Gallery, followed by many exhibitions and installations set up in major galleries and museums worldwide in venues like the: Vivid Gallery, Mak Vienna, Groninger Museum, Aram Gallery, London’s Design Museum, Mudac museum, Gallery Thomas in Munich, Walker art center, Centre Pompidou, as well as the Basel Art Fair, to name a few, attracting the attention of prestigious art collectors worldwide. Today his works are in the permanent collections of some of these institutions.Hayon’s esteem and knowledge of artisan skills and his inherent creativity has allowed him to push the boundaries of many mediums and functions, resulting in collections for very diverse clients. His concern for the conservation of craft skills has joined his path with high-end traditional companies concerned with the evolution of their work. Examples of this are his collaborations with Baccarat, Choemon in Japan, Bosa Ceramiche and Lladro.He has created furniture ranges for iconic danish company Fritz Hansen, Magis, Established and Sons, Bisazza, B.D. Barcelona, Se London, Bernhardt Design, Ceccotti and Moooi. Hayon has designed various lighting fixtures collections for Metalarte and also in collaboration with Swarovski and Baccarat. He has created accessories for Piper Heidsieck, Gaia and Gino, The Rug Company.  These collections have put Jaime at the forefront a new wave of creators that blurred the lines between art, decoration and design and a renaissance in finely-crafted, intricate objects within the context of contemporary design culture.Adding to his acclaimed intramurals for Madrid’s La Terraza del Casino restaurant and Camper footwear stores, Jaime is currently working on interiors for leading hotels, restaurants and retail establishments around the world that have become platforms to create special objects and functional and non functional elements.Most recently, he has completed Octium, a jewelry shop in Kuwait, the Faberge Salon in Geneva, Switzerland and the Info Center for the Groninger Museum in the Netherlands. Hayon's latest Restaurant, Le Sergeant Recruteur in Paris, is a good example of elegance and artistic approach to the interior worldHis work has appeared in the most prestigious art and design publications worldwide. He has won numerous awards including ‘Best Installation’ by Icon Magazine, ‘Breakthrough Creator’ by Wallpaper Magazine, Elle Deco International Award 2006 and 2012, Elle Deco Germany: 'Best International Designer' 2008,  'BEST DESIGNER' for ELLE DECO JAPAN in 2008, AD RUSSIA 'DESIGNER OF THE YEAR' 2009, MAISON OBJET DESIGNER OF THE YEAR 2010, among many others. In 2008, Jaime was guest of honor at Belgium’s Interieur Biennial, the youngest person ever to receive the accolade.Times magazine included Hayon as one of the 100 most relevant creators of these times and Wallpaper magazine has listed him as one of the most influential creators too.With offices in Italy, Spain and Japan, Hayon's main interest is to find challenges and new perspectives continuously.

Known for thinking outside the box

Famous and award-winning

Aesthetics and functionality

A great personality of the 20th Century design

A promising career

Passion for Design

Chaux-de Fonds/Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, 1887/1965
Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, known as Le Corbusier, was born at La Chaux-de-Fonds, in the Swiss Jura, in 1887; he died in France, at Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, on the French Côte d’Azur, in 1965.
Early in his career his work met with some resistance owing to its alleged «revolutionary» nature and the radical look it acquired from its «purist» experiments; in time , however, it won the recognition it deserved and it is still widely admired. His message is still being assimilated by an ever increasing number of people in the profession, but his far-out avant-garde attitudes should be interpreted with due consideration for the use of rational systems in his planning method, evidenced by extremely simple modules and formes based on the functional logic.
«Functionalism tending not so much to an exaltation of the mechanical function at the expense of the symbolic, as to the rejection of symbol that he now considers outmoded and insignificant and the restoration of the pratical function as a symbol of new values»
In his activities as town-planner, architect and designer, his method of research continued to develop, at times going to the opposite extremes of a rich plastic idiom.
Instances of this are:
Unité d’Habitation, Marseille (1946-52);
the Chapel at Ronchamp (1950-55);
the Dominican Monastery «La Tourette» (1951-56);
the Centre of Zurich (1964-65)
the Hospital in Venice (1965).
Much the same commitment will be found in the furniture of the Equipement intérieur de l’habitation (tables, chairs, armchairs, sofas) designed for the Salon d’Automne, 1928, with Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand and “Casiers Standard”, system of container units designed for the Pavillon of the Esprit Nouveau, 1925, with Pierre Jeanneret.
Cassina reproposes this furniture considered “up-to-date”; its clear and essential “form” is highly adaptable to change in time and in environment, constantly providing new significance.

In 1922, Le Corbusier began working in the new rue de Sèvres, Paris, atelier with his cousin Pierre Jeanneret with whom he shared research projects and design criteria in a profound and life-long professional relationship.
In October 1927, the pair decided to draw on the contribution of a young architect who had already begun to establish a reputation on the architectural scene of the time: Charlotte Perriand.
Their collaboration lasted through to 1937 and was extremely fruitful, especially in the field of furniture design. The partnership was highly significant, both in terms of the cultural weight of their achievements and their professional successes.
It was together with Charlotte Perriand that the pair tackled the innovative project for “l’équipement d'intérieur de l’habitation”. The resulting designs were of great intellectual value and considerable commercial success.
Thanks to Cassina’s ongoing production, there is continued interest in the conceptual contents of the work and the level of quality attained. Due to these characteristics, each item in the collection is eagerly awaited.

In 1922, Le Corbusier began working in the new rue de Sèvres, Paris, atelier with his cousin Pierre Jeanneret with whom he shared research projects and design criteria in a profound and life-long professional relationship.
In October 1927, the pair decided to draw on the contribution of a young architect who had already begun to establish a reputation on the architectural scene of the time: Charlotte Perriand.  Their collaboration lasted through to 1937 and was extremely fruitful, especially in the field of furniture design. The partnership was highly significant, both in terms of the cultural weight of their achievements and their professional successes. It was together with Charlotte Perriand that the pair tackled the innovative project for “l’équipement d'intérieur de l’habitation”.  The resulting designs were of great intellectual value and considerable commercial success.
Thanks to Cassina’s ongoing production, there is continued interest in the conceptual contents of the work and the level of quality attained

Refinement and linearity

A great collaboration

Great personality

Eclectic personality

The "Good Design"

Technological and stylistic Research

Great Insights

Architect, designer and university lecturer, Marco Zanuso (1916-2001) was one of the leading interpreters of the Modern Movement. Trained at the Polytechnic University of Milan and, in the immediate post-war years, co-editor of the Domus magazine with Ernesto N. Rogers, he was awarded the Medaglia d'oro and the Gran Premio at the Milan Triennale on a number of occasions (VIII, IX, X, XI and XIII editions), and won five Compassi d’Oro between 1956 and 1985.Zanuso was one of the first designers in Italy to take an interest in the problems of product industrialisation, going beyond aesthetic issues to incorporate technological, industrial, distribution and communication variables.According to Zanuso, the form of an object destined for serial reproduction is an amalgam of opportunities, experimentation and innovation in the concrete process that connects creativity, production and the social and cultural context.“Through my projects I want to give form to what I call complexity”, Marco Zanuso.

Milan 1935
Mario Bellini is internationally renowned as an architect and designer. He has received the Golden Compass Award eight times, and other prestigious architecture awards including the Medaglia d’oro awarded by the President of the Italian Republic for his contribution to furthering design and architecture in the world (2004) and the Ambrogino d’oro for civic merit awarded by the City of Milan (2011).
He has given talks in many of the world’s great cultural centres and was the editor of the magazine Domus from 1985 to 1991. He has 25 of his works in the permanent design collection of the New York Museum of Modern Art, which dedicated a personal retrospective to him in 1987. He has held countless art, design and architecture exhibitions over the years, both in Italy and abroad. Since the 1980’s, dedicating himself almost entirely to architecture, the manifold projects he has designed include the Portello Trade Fair district in Milan, the Villa Erba Exhibition Centre in Cernobbio (Como), the Tokyo Design Centre in Japan, the Natuzzi America Headquarters in the United States, the Essen Expo Centre in Germany, the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, the headquarters of the Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt, the Verona Forum complex, the City History Museum in Bologna, the Department of Islamic Art at the Louvre in Paris, and the new Milan Convention Centre, the largest in Europe. Projects currently underway include the refurbishing works on the Brera Pinacoteca in Milan, while others nearing completion include the Erzelli Science and Technology Park in Genoa and the Civic Marble’s Square in Carrara. He has various projects at the design stage, which include the “New Eco-City” of Zhenjiang in China and a large Residential, Cultural and Sports Complex in Qatar.

Born in Rimini in 1958, Mario Cananzi studied architecture in Florence and received his degree in 1985. His thesis was based on a prototype for a motorcycle. Within a few years he had earned a Master's degree in Industrial Design from Domus Academy in Milan. Since 1988, working as a freelancer in Milan, he has focused on both architectural and industrial design projects. Among his industrial furniture design clients are Edra, Vittorio Bonacina, Disform, Metals, Oliko, Masterly, Steel, Morphos, Mimo and Sawaya&Moroni. Recently he has begun collaborating with international motorcycle companies such as Piaggio, Bimota, Yamaha and KTM. He has worked as a consultant in the planning of commercial spaces in the fashion industry for both Fiorucci and Basile. In 1992 Mario Cananzi won the "Forum Design Prize" at the Milan Furniture Show for his armchair "Quadronda' produced with Vittorio Bonacina & c. The following year he received the "Top Ten Prize" for the sofa entitled "Tatlin" at the Cologne Furniture Fair sponsored by Dupont International.
Born in Rimini in 1959, Roberto Semprini studied architecture in Florence. In 1987 he joined the Bolidismo Movement which expresses design in a futuristic way. After moving from Florence to Milan, he started working as a freelance journalist for several design magazines like Modo,Vouge Italia, L’Atelier (Paris) and ARDI (Barcelona). In 1989 he designed the sofa “Tatlin” which was produced by Edra and it was among the winners of the prestigious TOP TEN in Dusseldorf. In 1994 he designed the table “Manta” produced by Fiam. It was one of the winners of the Young & Design awards. His products are part of the permanent collection of the Montreal Museum of Decorative Arts in Canada and the New Museum of Design in London. In 2000 he moved to Rimini, where he opened “RM 12 Art & Design” which is a gallery and studio of Design. Since 2006, the studio has realised high-impact projects in both domestic and public spaces. Some of these projects include the design of stands at the following exhibitions: Sia in Rimini, the Fuori Salone in Milano, the Abitare il Tempo in Verona, the Sun in Rimini. In 2007 he was invited by the Seoul Living Design Fair (Korea) to exhibit “The Italian / Korean house“. He has collaborated with numerous design firms like Fiam, Moroso, Alivar, Rede Guzzini, Edra, Slide, Contempo, Dilmos, Pedrali, Morelato, Morfeus, Scab, Valdichienti, Edilco Scale, L2, Mastella, Marchetti Illuminazioni, ect… He has given lectures and seminars in various faculties of design such as the Faculty of Architecture of Florence, at Milan Polytechnic, the School of Engineering, University of Bologna, the IED Milan, the I. A.V. of Orleans and the School Elisava Barcelona, LABA Brescia, Politecnico of Milan and Tsingua University of Beijin. It ‘been a tenured professor at the Academy of Fine Arts of Brera from 1996 to 2016 and is currently professor  and Coordinator of the Course of Product design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna. From 2015 is a professor for Clear Reputation at the Politecnico di Milano.

Masanori Umeda è nato nel 1941 a Kanagawa in Giappone. Si è diplomato presso la Kuwasawa School of Design di Tokio nel 1962. Nel 1967 è andato a vivere a Milano e ha lavorato nello studio di Achille Piergiacomo Castiglioni. Dal 1970 al 1979 è stato consulente di design per Olivetti. Nel 1980 è tornato in Giappone e ha aperto il suo studio. U-Metadesign Inc. Tra i suoi progetti più importanti del 1981 è il letto Tawaraya per Memphis e le sedute Getsuen, Rose Chaie e Soshun per Edra. Ha partecipato a diverse mostre internazionali e ha vinto il premio Braun in Germania nel 1968, il premio giapponese per il design commerciale associato nel 1984 e il primo premio per il design del vetro nel 1986.

Massimo Lorusso nasce a Bari nel 1967. Nel 1986 si trasferisce a Firenze, dove vive e lavora ancora oggi, per frequentare gli studi alla facoltà di Architettura. Fondamentale per la sua formazione professionale il periodo trascorso all'interno del Centro Ricerche e Sviluppo di B&B Italia, dove viene a contatto diretto con la realtà produttiva ed organizzativa dell'industrial design. Dal 1992 per tre anni, collabora con il dott. Arch. Francesco Quinterio elaborando graficamente numerose pubblicazioni e svolgendo attività di assistente al suo corso di Storia dell'Architettura a Firenze. All'esperienza universitaria, affianca nello stesso periodo, collaborazioni con lo Studio Miranda Ferrara. Nel 1999 entra in Arketipo in qualità di responsabile dell'ufficio tecnico, progettazione ed allestimento degli stand fieristici per il Salone Internazionale del Mobile di Milano e del Salone del Mobile di Colonia. Oltre a questa sua attività, dal 2006 collabora come designer con Arketipo.

Protagonist of the Italian design scene

Creative Minds

Essential shapes and clear lines

Muse of Surrealism

Michael Anastassiades is a Cypriot designer, based in London. He launched his studio in 1994 to explore contemporary notions of culture and aesthetics through a combination of product, furniture and environmental design. Positioned between fine art and design, his work aims to provoke dialogue, participation and interaction. He creates objects that are minimal, utilitarian and almost mundane yet full of a vitality one might not expect. Anastassiades’ work is featured in permanent collections at the Museum Of Modern Art in New York, the Victoria and Albert museum, the Crafts Council in London, the FRAC Centre in Orleans France and the MAK in Vienna. Recent solo exhibitions include Time And Again at the Geymüllerschlössel/MAK in Vienna, To Be Perfectly Frank at Svenskt Tenn in Stockholm, Norfolk House music room at the Victoria & Albert museum in London, Cyprus Presidency at the European Parliament in Brussels Belgium, Atelier Jesper Brussels . He has designed products with various leading manufacturers including Flos, Puiforcat, Lobmeyr and Svenskt Tenn. In 2007 he set up Michael Anastassiades the company to produce his signature pieces, a collection of lighting, furniture, jewellery and tabletop objects. The studio’s philosophy is a continuous search for eclecticism, individuality and timeless qualities in design. Michael trained as a civil engineer at London’s Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine before taking a masters degree in industrial design at the Royal College of Art.

Design and craftsmanship

Commitment and Passion

Eclectic Style

The essence of Design

A sculptor with a great personality

A global vision

Patricia Urquiola was born in Oviedo (Spain) in 1961. Lives and works in Milan. She attended the University of Architecture at Madrid Polytechnic and Milan Polytechnic, where she graduated in 1989 with Achille Castiglioni.  Assistant lecturer to Achille Castiglioni and Eugenio Bettinelli in Milan and Paris, responsible for the new product development office of DePadova, working with Vico Magistretti, head of Lissoni Associati’s design group. In 2001 she opened her own studio working on product design, architecture, and installations. Amongst her last projects of architecture: The museum of Jewel in Vicenza, Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Barcelona, das Stue Hotel in Berlin and the Spa of Four Seasons Hotel in Milan; showroom and installations for Gianvito Rossi, BMW, Cassina, Missoni, Moroso, Molteni,  Officine Panerai, H&M, Santoni and the general concept of Pitti Immagine Firenze. She realize design products for the most important Italian and international companies, such as : Agape,  Alessi, Axor-Hansgrohe, B&B Italia, Baccarat, Boffi, Budri, De Padova, Driade, Ferragamo, Flos, Gan, Georg Jensen, Glas Italia, Haworth, Kartell, Kettal, Kvadrat, Listone Giordano, Louis Vuitton, Molteni, Moroso, Mutina, Rosenthal and Verywood. Some of her products are exposed in various Museums and collections, such as MoMA in New York, Les arts decoratifs in Paris, the Museum of Design in Zurich, Vitra Design Museum in Basel, Victorian&Albert Museum in London, Stedelijk in Amsterdam and Triennale Museum in Milan. She has won several international prices and awards. Amongst others the Medalla de Oro al Mérito en las Bellas Artes (Gold Medal of fine arts) awarded by the Spanish Government; Order of Isabella the Catholic, awarded by His Majesty The King of Spain Juan Carlos I; “Designer of the decade” for two German magazines, Home and Häuser, “Designer of the Year” for Wallpaper, Ad Spain, Elle Decor International and Architektur und Wohnen Magazine. She is Ambassador of Expo Milano 2015. September 2015 Patricia Urquiola nominated Art Director of Cassina.

Nantes 1967
Patrick Jouin was born in Nantes in 1967, and received his diploma at Ensci-les Ateliers in 1992. He worked as designer for the Wagons-Lits company and in 1993 began a short collaboration with a company producing television sets, under the artistic direction of Philippe Starck, in whose studio he went on to work until 1999. Jouin has produced designs under his own name since 1998; chairs, sofas and beds, an automobile design and stands for various motor shows, in collaboration with Imaad Rahmouni. Working with Alain Ducasse, the famous French chef, brought him into the international limelight. Jouin designed the interiors and furnishings of restaurants in Paris and New York For Cassina, he designed a set of products (table, chairs, sofa and accessories) which was shown at the Cologne Furniture Fair in 2003.

Insights and emotions

Peter Traag is a furniture designer born in Tegelen in the Netherlands in 1979. He studied 3D Design in Arnhem and Design Products at the Royal College of Art in London, where he now lives and works. Since graduating from the RCA in 2003 he has been working as a product designer creating his own range of experimental furniture, shown in various exhibitions all over the world. His clients now include a.o. Edra, Pallucco and the British Council.

An Eclectic Personality

Powerful Insights

Technical innovation and pure design

Born in 1954, member of the Milanese tradition that generated designers such as Castiglioni, Zanuso, Magistretti and de Lucchi, graduated in architecture at the Politecnico of Milan in 1979. Since then, he has designed for most of the leading names in the furniture and lighting sectors. For some of these, as head of design, he sets and co-ordinates the strategy of the product. Since years, he worked as a designer and a consultant for high level brands, for product design with Artemide and Moroso, and for shops, showrooms and exhibitions with Panasonic and Dolce & Gabbana. He also designs housing projects, villas, industrial buildings, restaurants and hotels both in Italy and worldwide. In 2005 he founded, with Alessandro Acerbi and Luca Zaniboni, the Dordoni Architects Studio, which is dedicated specifically to architectural planning and interior design.
 

International Design

Rigorous and passionate

Synthesis between two cultures

Innovative and functional Design

1930
After graduating in Chemistry (1950) and his Masters’ in Business Administration in 1951 from Cornell, Theodore Waddell did his Master’s in Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania (1964) and took a first in Architecture at Florence (1968). He practised as architect and industrial designer in Italy for fifteen years, making a name for himself also as photographer. He returned to the USA and set up practice in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he now lives and works. Five of his lamps are to be seen in the Musée des Arts Decoratifs in Paris, and two are in the permanent collection at the MoMA in New York; this museum dedicated a special exhibition to him in 1969. The 713/714 Tensegrity tables designed for Cassina have been in the catalogue since 1972.

Research on the technical and aesthetic possibilities of material

1942   Born in Osaka, Japan.
1964   Graduated in Industrial Design from Naniwa College, Osaka.
1969   Extend his creative field from Japan to Italy.
1975   Won the Japan Interior Designers Association Award.
1981   Won the Kitaro Kunii Industrial Design Award. "WINK" (chair) --selected for the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
1983   The KICK table, Best of Category in Residential Furnishing (table) by industrial Design Magazine of New York. Won the Product Design Award from the Institute of Business Designers and Contract Magazine in the United States. Lecture at DOMUS ACADEMY in Italy.
1984   "KICK" (table) --selected for the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York. "WINK" (chair), "KICK" (table) --selected for the permanent collections of the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg, Germany.
1985   Lectured at University of Washington( Seattle) in United States. Lectured at “Italian and American Symposium” in Los Angeles.
1987  "WINK" (chair), "KICK" (table) --selected for the permanent collections of the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg, Germany. Participated in the celebrations at the Centre Georges Pompidou's 10th Anniversary.  Exhibited "CEREMONIAL SPACE".
1988   Exhibition in Barcelona and Vienna.
1990   Exhibition in Milan. Won the Delta de Oro Award, Spain.
1991   Exhibition at Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art in Japan.
1992   Designed the chairs and interior for the rotating theatre at the Japanese Pavilion in Seville '92. Member of the Jury for DELTA ADI FAD, Spain. Exhibition in Helsinki, Finland.
1993   Guest professor at University of Applied Arts Vienna
1997   "MULTI LINGUAL CHAIR" --selected for the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York and for the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris.
1998   Member of the Jury of the Pro Finnish Design Competition, Helsinki. 13 of his works are selected for the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Saint-Etienne, France.
1999   Exhibition in Helsinki.
2001   Exhibition "L'anima del design" in Milan. Exhibition at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg, Germany. "LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY TV" and "WINK" (chair) --selected for the permanent collection of the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris.
2002   Exhibition at the show room Silvera in Paris. Exhibition and Lecture in the international Furniture Fair in China.
2003   Exhibition in Frankfurt, Barcelona, Milan and Verona. Exhibition in Milan.
2004   Lecture at Industrial Design Summit in China. Japan Good Design Award Chairperson. Inaugurated as the professor of the Osaka University of Arts (Chairman of Design Department)
2005   Exhibition "anima" in Amsterdam.
2006   Produced Exhibition "50th Japan GOOD DESIGN AWARD" in Milan.
2007   Exhibition "IL FUTURO DELLA TRADIZIONE" in Milan.
2008   Exhibition "Natura e Tecnologia" in Milan.
2009   Exhibition "KITA. FUTURA DELIGHT" in Milan. Exhibition "Timeless Future" in Shanghai, China. Produced  "Japan Creative Centre" in Singapore. Produced International trade fair "Living& Design" in Osaka, Japan.
2010   Exhibition "Timeless Future" in Milan. Invited Exhibition in Foshan, China. Invited Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Produced International trade fair "Living& Design" in Osaka, Japan
2011   Exhibition "Kita’s Collection”at MAISON&OBJET Awarded a prize carriera internazionale of Compasso d'Oro in July 2011 in Italy.

A Master of Design

 "Simplicity is the hardest thing in the world "

Zaha Hadid (1950-2016) was born in Baghdad Iraq and commenced her college studies at the American University in Beirut in the field of mathematics. She moved to London in 1972 to study architecture at the Architectural Association and upon graduation in 1977, she joined the Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA). She also taught at the Architectural Association (AA) with OMA collaborators Rem Koolhaas and Elia Zenghelis. She began her own practice in London in 1980 and won the prestigious competition for the Hong Kong Peak Club, a leisure and recreational center in 1983. Painting and drawing, especially in her early period, are important techniques of investigation for her design work. Ever since her 1983 retrospective exhibition at the AA in London, her architecture has been shown in exhibitions worldwide and many of her works are held in important museum collections. Known as an architect who consistently pushes the boundaries of architecture and urban design, her work experiments with new spatial concepts intensifying existing urban landscapes and encompassing all fields of design, from the urban scale to interiors and furniture. She is well-known for some of her seminal built works, such at the Vitra Fire Station (1993), Weil am Rhein, Germany, the Mind Zone at the Millennium Dome (1999) Greenwich, UK, a ski jump (2002) in Innsbruck, Austria and the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art (2003) in Cincinnati, Ohio. Parallel with her private practice, Hadid has continued to be involved in academics, holding chairs and guest professorships at Harvard University, Yale University, the University of Illinois at Chicago, Columbia University, the University of Visual Arts in Hamburg and the University of Applied Arts in Vienna.