Achille Castiglioni

Born in Milan in 1918, Achille Castiglioni was a renowned 20th-century Italian designer. Born into a family where his father was a sculptor, it was his father’s influence that led him to study architecture at the Polytechnic University of Milan. After completing his studies, he joined his two brothers, Livio (1911–1979) and Pier Giacomo (1913–1968), at their design studio in Milan. They turned to design due to a lack of architectural commissions. The brothers then began to develop design projects for Italian manufacturers keen to revive their businesses after the war.

Some of Achille’s creations have become design classics and are exhibited in renowned museums such as the MoMA in New York. The trio’s aim was to achieve a design that was as minimalist as possible whilst still enabling the object to fulfil its required functions. They sought to reach a point where it was no longer possible to do any less. Their work has proved timeless, with designs still in production today, two decades after Achille’s death. The designer was renowned for adding a touch of humour to his furniture, as seen, for example, in the Sella stool, where the seat was a bicycle saddle, or the Mezzadro stool, made from a tractor seat.

During the 1950s and 1960s (until Pier Giacomo’s death in 1968), the brothers Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni created a large number of objects for manufacturers such as Flos and Zanotta.

Indeed, they designed a large number of light fittings for the Italian brand Flos. Many of these have since become iconic, such as the Arco lamp, which is a vision of an indoor floor lamp comprising a 65 kg block of marble. The Gibigiana desk lamp, with its adjustable mirror designed to direct the light output, allows the light to be directed by adjusting the angle of the mirror.