Biography of Achille Castiglioni

Achille Castiglioni is an Italian architect and Designer, Achille Gastiglioni, who lived and worked in his hometown of Milan until his death, is still primarily associated with a stool reminiscent of a tractor seat. This very stool, the Mezzadro, was created somewhat by chance in the 1950s. Gastiglioni worked in architecture, curated exhibitions, and made a name for himself primarily in interior design. His designs for furniture, lighting, and home accessories are design classics and are still produced today by manufacturers such as DePadova, Dino Gavina, Zanotti, and Alessi., Stilnovo and Flos produced and are at TAGWERC Available as licensed originals.

Castiglioni Architects

On February 16, 1918, Lithuania declared its independence. The Republic of Lithuania was born. Some two thousand kilometers southwest, Achille Castiglioni was born in Milan. Achille was the third son of the sculptor, painter, and architect Giannino Castiglioni and his wife Livia Bolla. He completed his architectural studies at the Polytechnic University of Milan in 1944 and aspired to a career as an independent architect and designer. At the age of 26, full of energy and determination, he joined the architectural firm of his older brothers Livio (1911-1979) and Pier Giacomo (1913-1968), ready to revolutionize and thoroughly modernize architecture. The Castiglioni Architetti were born.

From architecture to industrial design

When Livio left the architectural firm in 1952 to work for a radio station, Achille and Pier Giacomo continued without him. Building commissions were scarce in this post-war period, although the Castiglioni brothers, together with Luigi Fratino, prevailed against 16 other designs with their concept for the reconstruction of the Palazzo della Permanente. The building on Via Filippo Turati, originally designed in 1881 by Luca Beltrami in the Neoclassical style, was expanded by the Castiglioni brothers with an office tower in the Functionalist style and inaugurated in 1953. Three years later, they completed the Chiesa di San Gabriele Arcangelo in Mater Dei, a Catholic parish church and one of the few architectural projects undertaken by Castiglioni Architetti. Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni not only the building, but also parts of the interior design. This is how the Saliscendi A pendant lamp conceived through intuition: A system of rollers allows the lamp to be moved up or down. Changing its position alters the light intensity – both on the table and in the surrounding area. The Saliscendi pendant lamp is currently manufactured by Stilnovo and is available from TAGWERC.

Castiglioni's Credo

The Castiglioni brothers recognized the signs of the times and turned to designing home accessories and interiors. A quote from Achille Castiglioni aptly describes his design maxim: "Less is often more, especially when it comes to design," echoing the idea of "less is more" coined by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, director of the Bauhaus in Weimar and a leading architect of Classical Modernism in the 20th century. This led to the creation of unconventional stools like Sella and Mezzadro (both 1957), which transformed everyday objects—a bicycle saddle and a tractor seat—into new and surprising forms, increasing their utility for the general public. Achille Castiglioni himself stated: "Design is not just about aesthetics; it's also about solving problems and improving people's lives." Throughout his life, Achille Castiglioni collected unusual everyday objects, such as special tools and toys, for his studies and inspiration; these collections have survived to this day. In the „Studio Museo Achille Castiglioni“, the museum dedicated to the work of the Milanese artist and run by the „Fondazione Achille Castiglioni“ foundation, his collection fills entire wall cabinets.

Dynamic sitting

Design as a means to solve problems – Achille Castiglioni is known for immersing himself in his designs and adopting the user's perspective. The Sella stool, for example, is one of the first dynamic seating options that encourages active sitting – long before dynamic seating like the Swopper, Sitness, fitness stools, and the like. When the Castiglionis set up their exhibition 'Colori e forme nella casa d'oggi' (Colors and Forms in the Home Today) in 1957 at the Villa Olmo in Como on Lake Como, it was a simple red tractor seat, mounted on a frame, which – almost as a visitor's chair – was placed in front of a desk. What at the time appeared as a kind of home accessory or quirky decorative object and met with little understanding from visitors would, twenty years later, go into mass production at Zanotta and enter history as the 'essence of Castiglioni'.

Late 1950s, early 1960s

Undoubtedly the most creative period for the Castiglioni brothers has begun, and it is also the time in which several Italian interior design manufacturers have their roots: Martinelli Luce (1950), Zanotta (1954), Flos (1962) – to name just a few. Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni are particularly closely associated with Flos, as their designs produced by Flos are the driving force behind the Italian company's reputation for innovative lighting design.

Floor lamp and pendant lamp in one

With the Castiglion-designed Arco arc lamp, Flos made a sensational start in 1962. floor lamp It is also a pendant lamp. A hybrid, its expansive metal arc is held by a 60-kilogram block of marble from the Carrara quarries. The Taccia table lamp and the Toio floor lamp are dated to the same year. The latter consists of a car headlight mounted on a steel rod, as well as the Pitagora espresso machine for the renowned portafilter machine manufacturer La Cimbali. Further lighting designs produced by Flos followed: Parenthesi (1970), the Lampadina table lamp, the table and wall light Noce (both 1972), Aoy (1975), Bibip (1976), Frisbi (1978), Gibigiana (1980), Moni and Giovi (both 1982), Stylos (1984), Traxacum (1988), Brera (1992), Fucsia (1996) and Diabolo (1998).

Milan – a stronghold of design

Castiglioni's hometown of Milan, the second-largest city in Lombardy, undoubtedly stands out as a center for design, hosting the Salone del Mobile Milano, the world's leading trade fair for interior design. When the Associazione per il Disegno Industriale (ADI), the Association for Industrial Design, was founded in Milan in 1956, Achille Castiglioni was among its founding members. But Castiglioni's contributions to the field of design extend beyond this. Having received a teaching license for "artistic design for industry" from the Ministry of Public Education, Castiglioni taught at the Politecnico di Torino from 1969 to 1980. This was followed by a full-time professorship in industrial design at the Politecnico di Milano, which he held until 1993.

Honorary doctorate in industrial design

Achille Castiglioni has received numerous awards, including nine Compasso d'Oro alone. He has been awarded honorary prizes, is an honorary member of various international design faculties, and in 2001 received an honorary doctorate in industrial design from the Politecnico di Milano. The Museum of Modern Art alone (MoMAThe Museum of Fine Arts in New York owns 14 of his design classics. Design museums around the world showcase Achille Castiglioni's designs: the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Museum of Applied Arts in Zurich, the State Museum of Applied Arts in Monaco, the Museo del Design in Prato, Umeleckoprumyslove Museo in Prague, Israel Museum in Jerusalem, The Denver Art Museum in the Texan capital, Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, the Museum of Applied Arts in Cologne and Hamburg.

Two heads on one body

In the midst of their success, 1968 brought a shock: one of the most devastating blows for Achille Castiglioni was undoubtedly the early death of his brother, Pier Giacomo. Just as Castiglioni Architetti was gaining momentum, Pier Giacomo died in 1968 at the age of only 55. "Like two heads on one body," is how the 'Corriere della Sera', Italy's highest-circulation daily newspaper, described the relationship between the two brothers – not only familial, but especially professional. Achille showed no sign of grief, simply carried on, and acted as if Pier Giacomo were still there, sitting by his side as he had been all those years before.

Career as a lecturer and professor

What many didn't know at the time: At this point, Achille wanted to give up. "It came so suddenly! And I didn't know how I was supposed to organize my work alone, without my counterpart, without him as a conversation partner," the designer explained. For a long time, he coped by "simply pretending he was still there." But secretly, he had been considering quitting, as Achille revealed many years later. It was at this point in Castiglioni's life that he embarked on a career as a lecturer, passing on his visions and visionary design approaches to aspiring architects and industrial designers in vivid and practical lectures. The auditorium was packed when Castiglioni—armed only with a broom handle—demonstrated how to move a block of marble weighing several hundred pounds with effortless ease. His lectures were popular, and, as he had done previously with Pier Giacomo, he now engaged in dialogues—albeit with a different intensity—with his students. „Design is a collaborative effort and it is important to include the opinions and suggestions of others,“ said Achille Castiglioni.

Essence of Gastiglioni

When the grand master of industrial design died in Milan on December 6, 2002, the who's who of the architecture and design scene worldwide offered their condolences: Michele De Lucchi, Philippe Starck, Sir Norman Foster, Ross Lovegrove, Ettore Sottsass —to name just a few. His visionary designs remain legendary to this day. Achille Castiglioni's designs are immortalized in leading design museums—and at TAGWERC, you'll find original Achille Castiglioni designs for both private and professional settings, embodying his credo: "We wanted to arrive at the essential, the essence, by omitting elements."„

Achille Castiglioni design classics at TAGWERC

At TAGWERC, you'll find the Achille Castiglioni design classics collection. Explore a curated selection of Achille Castiglioni design objects online in the TAGWERC Design STORE. For any Achille Castiglioni objects not listed here, we would be happy to provide you with a personalized offer.