Vico Magistretti

Born in a middle-class family in Milan, Vico Magistretti attended the Parini High School (specialising in classical subjects) before enrolling in the Faculty of Architecture at the Regio Politecnico of Milan in autumn 1939. He left the country from 1943-1944 and moved to Switzerland, where he took some academic courses at the Champ Universitarie Italien in Lausanne. That was when he spent time with Ernesto Nathan Rogers, a key influence on his intellectual education.

He returned to Milan in 1945 where he graduated in Architecture from the Polytechnic. He immediately began working for his father's firm, the architect Piergiulio Magistretti, in via Conservatorio.

He designed and constructed about 14 projects for INA-Casa from 1949-1959 and, working with Mario Tedeschi, took part in the QT8 community project to construct houses for veterans returning from Africa and then later on the Church of Santa Maria Nascente. During the period of the Milan Triennials and blossoming design industry, his involvement in the 8th, 9th (Gold Medal) and 10th (Grand Prix) editions was particularly significant and he even went on to organise some exhibitions as part of more recent events staged by this Milanese institution (most notably during the 12th Triennial in 1960 in conjunction with Ignazio Gardella). The 1950s were a very busy and fruitful period for the young architect, who came up with lots of innovative ideas and, very quickly, emerged as one of the most brilliant exponents of the "third generation". That was the time when Magistretti designed two of his most significant buildings in Milan: the Torre al Parco in via Revere (1953-56, working with Franco Longoni) and the office block in corso Europa (1955-57); over subsequent years he completed lots of other highly significant projects, including the towers in piazzale Aquileia (1961-64).

Over the next few years he began working a lot more as a designer as well as an architect, creating furniture and objects which will always be "classics" of modern-day production. This was the period of the Cusano Milanino Town Hall (1966-1969) Milano-San Felice neighbourhood (1966-69, working with Luigi Caccia Dominioni), the house in piazza San Marco (1970-73); and it is also when he was awarded a Golden Compass for the Eclisse lamp (1966), Atollo lamp (1977, prize awarded in1979) and Maralunga sofa (1973, prize awarded in 1979). This was also when he started working with important companies, such as Artemide, Campeggi, Cassina, De Padova, Flou, Fontana Arte, Fritz Hansen, Kartell, Olivari, Oluce, Poggi, Schiffini Mobili Cucine, and Gebrüder Thonet Vienna.

His design works are on display in MoMA’s permanent collection in New York and in lots of other museums in America and Europe. In the field of architecture it is worth mentioning his appointment as an honorary member of the Royal College of Art in London, where he was also a "visiting professor". He has also taken part in exhibitions and conferences in Europe, Japan and the USA.

His most recent works of architecture include the Biology Department in Milan (1978-81, working with Francesco Soro), Tanimoto House in Tokyo (1985-86), the Cavagnari Centre at the Cassa di Risparmio in Parma (1982-85), the Famagosta Depot for the Milan Underground Railway Company (1989-2000), the Esselunga Supermarket in Pantigliate (1997-2001), the house in Saint Barth in the French Antilles (2002) and, one of the last projects he built, the house in Epalinges, near Lausanne (2005).

Products designed by Vico Magistretti