Concrete Art and

Neorealism (1948-1957)

Movimento Arte Concreta

Founded 1948 in Milan by Gillo Dorfles, Gianni Monnet,

Bruno Munari and Atanasio Soldati

Gillo Dorfles | Change on Two Wheels | 1950

Gianni Monnet | Metamorfosi | 1949

Bruno Munari | original serigraph | 1953

Atanasio Soldati | Doppio |1952

“[Concrete art] is based solely on the

implementation and the

objectification of the insights of the

artist…far from any symbolic meaning,

any formal abstraction, and aiming to

capture only those rhythms… [and]

those agreements, which are

abundant in the world of color. "

-Gillo Dorfles

Neorealism

OssessioneLucino Visconte

1943

Roma, Citta ApertaRoberto Rossellini

1944

Umberto DVittorio De Sica

1952

A New Awareness the Role of Italian Design

1951-1957

MASS PRODUCTION

RESEARCH prototypes with innovative components

TYPOLOGY is the study of types

TECHNOLOGY is the usage and knowledge of tools, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization

MORPHOLOGY deals with the study of the form or the structure of organisms and their specific structural features the study of shape, size, texture and phase

distribution of physical objects.

Milan Triennial Art Exhibition

1951, 1954, 1957

1923 Founded in Monza

1933 Moved to Milan

The Triennale aims to stimulate interaction between industry, production and

applied arts. In this context, during the year, the Triennale has assumed a role

of buffer media for innovative Italian environment, also catalyzing the comparison between the various trends that were gradually growing.

The focus of the current reality has also involved the Triennale in rebuilding post-

war period, during which he played a leading role in the creation of the

district QT8 Milan. It is from this experience was born the interest of the

Triennial for urban planning and technical innovations applied to building,

which will become one of the main themes of the fifties

Milan Triennial Art Exhibition

1951, 1954, 1957

1951 IX TrienalleGoods-standard: International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and

Industrial Arts and Modern Architecture

1954 X TrienallePrefabrication - Industrial Design: International Exhibition of Modern

Decorative and Industrial Arts and Modern Architecture

--This exhibition pushed industrialization and prefabrication to the

center of the cultural debate.

1957 XI TrienalleEclecticism-formalism: International exhibition of modern decorative

and industrial arts and modern architecture

Associazione per il Disegno Industriale

ADI

www.adi-design.org

The ADI 1956 meeting from designers, companies, researchers, teachers, critics,

journalists around the themes of design: design, energy consumption, recycling

and training. ADI is an agent of development of industrial design as a cultural

and economic.

The ADI design is the design culturally aware, the interface between the

individual and society's collective demand and supply manufacturers. Involved

in designing products, services, visual communication, packaging, interior architecture, and environmental design.

Compasso d’Oro

Set-up in 1954 by Gio Ponti.

First design prize awarded in Europe.

Awards are granted by qualified international juries to design projects ranging

form the interiors of cars, tools, machines, sports items, electric appliance down

to editorial graphic and Web design.

The prize is strongly focused on Italian products: the items have to be produced

by Italian Companies if the designer is foreign; or the designer has to be Italian if

the producing company is not an Italian one.

www.adi-design.org

Compasso d’Oro

1954 Aldo Bassetti, Cesare Brustio, Gio Ponti, Alberto Rosselli, Marco Zanuso

1955 Aldo Bassetti, Cesare Brustio, E. N. Rogers, Alberto Rosselli, Marco Zanuso

1956 Aldo Bassetti, Cesare Brustio, Franco Albini, Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Alberto Rosselli

1957 Aldo Bassetti, Cesare Brustio, Franco Albini, Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Ignazio Gardella

www.adi-design.org

Stile Industria

www.mordernism101.com

Launched in 1954 under Alberto Rosselli, it quickly became the platform for discussion of aesthetic and the meaning of modern design in an international context.

Reinforced the special role for the mass-produced object

Promoted design as one of the most important cultural forces in modern Italy

Aimed to open a dialogue between design and industry and stimulate debate around the aesthetics and technologies appropriate for contemporary design.

Folded during the difficult political and economic climate in Italy in the early 1960s.

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Gio Ponti18 November 1891-16 September 1979

Gio PontiItalian Architect

Industrial Designer

Furniture Designer

Artist

Publisher/ Editor

• Graduated from Milan

Polytechnic as an architect

• But he began his career as an art director of a ceramics manufacturer Richard-Ginori.

• He decorated simple ceramics with ornate neoclassical motifs.

• In 1928, Ponti founded the

magazine Domus.

• At that time Italy was a country heavily influenced by academic classicism.

• World War I had killed off most of the futurist movement, and the only significant architectural movement in Italy was the Novecento.

• Novecento was a movement towards a reforming of Post war Italy.

• It called for a return to the classical style of design.

•The Domus became a central tool used by the Novecento to

push the movement.

•Even though Ponti was surrounded by futurists and rationalists, his architecture sought a harmony between form and function, rationalism and the ornament of neoclassicism.

Pirelli Tower, Milan 1959

Denver Art Museum 1971

Distex 1954 Ponti Superleggera 1957 Ponti

Furniture Designs

•Gio Ponti showed through his furniture designs that everyday objects could express individuality and an idea of the present.

La Pavoni 1948 Ponti

•He encouraged good design to be a means of enjoying life, much like Peter Behrens did a few years earlier in Germany.

Electric Kettle 1909Peter Behrens

"Love architecture, be it ancient or modern. Love it for its fantastic, adventurous

and solemn creations; for its inventions; for the abstract, allusive and figurative

forms that enchant our spirit and enrapture our thoughts. Love architecture, the

stage and support of our lives.“

Amate L'Architettura, and in English as In Praise of Architecture Gio Ponti

Dormitio

Villa Planchart 1956

The Castiglioni Brothers

Achille Castiglioni Pier Giacomo Castiglioni Livio Castiglioni

http://www.depadova.it/it/People/Ritratti/0054/00112/articolo_c.html

http://www.livio-castiglioni.com/http://www.pier-giacomo-castiglioni.com/

Achille CastiglioniTimeline1918: Born in Milan, Italy

1940: Began experimenting with Industrial design with

his older brothers

1944: Graduated Milan Polytechnic With a

Degree in Architecture

1956: Co-Founder of ADI (Association for Design

Industry).

1985: Honorary Member of the "Committee of

Advisors" at Art Center College of Design

(Pasadena, California and Montreaux,

Switzerland).

1986 : Honorary Member of the Faculty of Royal

Designers for Industry, Royal Society of Art

(London).

1987: Honorary Degree from the Royal College of

Art (London).

2001: Industrial Design Honoris Causa Degree from the

Polytechnic of Milan.

2002: Died Dec 2, in Milan Italy.

http://www.stylepark.com/en/designer/achille-castiglioni

Pier Giacomo

Castiglioni Timeline

1913: Born in Milan, Italy

1937: Graduated Milan Polytechnic With a

Degree in Architecture

1938: Founded an Architecture firm with older

brother, Livio

1944: Began to produce most notable work of

his career after ounger brother Achille

joined firm

1968: Died in Milan, Italy

http://www.stylepark.com/en/designer/pier-giacomo-castiglioni

Livio Castiglioni

Timeline

1918: Born Milan,Italy

1936: Graduated Milan Polytechnic With a

Degree in Architecture

1938: Founded an Architecture firm with

younger brother, Pier Giacomo.

1952: Left firm, and became a consultant for

Phonola

1960: Became a consultant for BrionVega

1979: Died in Milan Italy.

http://www.livio-castiglioni.com/

Design Style

The Castiglioni Brothers, though graduated as architects, became popular for

their Industrial Design.

"So sophisticated and so simple - I like that!"

-Achille Castiglioni’s

They were strong advocates of the minimalist design style, shying away from

excssive ornament to focus on strong lines and simple forms

Function ranks above aesthetics although form is never neglected

Major Works

Arco

Floor Lamp– 1962

Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni

Retail Price: $2,190.00

http://www.achillecastiglioni.it/it/projects/id-23.html

SANLUCAR

Chair– 1960

Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglionihttp://www.achillecastiglioni.it/en/projects/id-28.html

RR126

Radiofonografo Stereofonico -1965

Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglionihttp://www.achillecastiglioni.it/en/projects/id-45.html

SELLA

Stool -1957

Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglionihttp://www.achillecastiglioni.it/en/projects/id-30.html

MEZZADRO

Stool -1957

Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni

http://www.achillecastiglioni.it/en/projects/id-29.html

PARO

Chalice-1983

Achille Castiglioni

http://www.achillecastiglioni.it/en/projects/id-30.html

T95

Table-1995

Achille Castiglionihttp://www.achillecastiglioni.it/en/projects/id-6.html

TARAXACUM 88

Hanging wall lamp-1988

Achille Castiglioni

http://www.achillecastiglioni.it/en/projects/id-11.html

OMEGA

Shop for watches, silverware, jewelry Piazza Duomo, Milan – 1968

Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglionihttp://www.achillecastiglioni.it/it/projects/arch-2.html

Splügen BRAU

Brewery restaurant – 1960

Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni

Awards1955: Compasso d’Oro (Luminator floor lamp)

1960: Compasso d’Oro (T 12 Palini chair)

1962: Compasso d’Oro (Pitagora espresso machine)

1964: Compasso d’Oro (Spinamatic beer spigot)

1967: Compasso d’Oro (translator’s earphones)

1979: Compasso d’Oro (Parentesi lamp)

1979: Compasso d’Oro (Omsa hospital bed)

1984: Compasso d’Oro (Dry cutlery)

1999: Wins the Enel "Sostegni per l´Ambiente" competition along with Michele De

Lucchi.

Franco Albini

1905

1929

1930

1945

1952

1955

1961

1977

Born in Robbiate, Italy

Earns degree in

architecture from

Politecnico di Milano

Began working with Gio

Ponti

Opens his own practice

Works for Italian magazine

Casabella as writer and

editor

Designs “Fiorenza”

armchair

Designs “Luisa” Chair

Designs Rinascente

building in Rome

Death in Milanhttp://www.designophy.com/designpedia/design-designer-1000000067-franco-albini.htm

Margherita | 1951 Fiorenza | 1952

“Luisa” | 1955

Desk | 1958

PS 16 Rocking Chair | 1956

Spiral Staircase at Palazzo

Rosso

La Rinascente store in Rome

BBPR

Gianluigi Banfi

Lodovico Belgioioso

Enrico Peressutti

Ernesto Nathan Rogers

BBPR

Torre Velasca, Milan, 1954-1958

"Design as a union of utility and beauty ... function conceived as a

synthesis between rational projection and the technique of

execution, between invention and environmental pre-existence ...

architecture as an actual experience and as a theory that can only

be verified at the building site".

BBPR

Chase Manhattan Bank, Milan, 1969

Exploiting the possibilities of exposed steelwork and glass similar to

that in the Torre Velasca, a curved façade was experimented with

in the CMB in Milan.

BBPR

Furniture for OLIVETTI, 1959, 1960 Coat rack for KARTELL

Vico MagistrettiOctober 6, 1920 - September 19, 2006

Vico MagistrettiItalian Architect

Industrial Designer

Furniture Designer

• Magistretti graduated from Milan Polytechnic as an architect like GioPonti.

• He was influenced much by the

work and ideals of Ernesto Nathan Rogers.

• His designs, especially his early architectural works became known for their emphasis on humanism.

Nuvola Rossa bookcase 1950 (Cassina)

http://www.architonic.com

•Magistretti had a significant influence on postwar Italian design with his simple approach to his designs.

• But much of his architecture is

overshadowed by his industrial design and furniture design.

•Magistretti became widely known for his furniture designs.

Caramite Lounge Chair 1960

Maralunga sofa 1973

Plastic

• Magistretti strength and fluidity of plastic to produce pieces that were sculptural, comfortable and affordable.

• The smooth lines of his designs became famous world wide.

• The simplicity of his concepts

for his designs created his work.

Selene Chair 1969

Dalu Lamp 1969

Gaudi Chair 1970

Oluce 1977

Artemide Eclisse 1965

Marco Zanuso

Marco Zanuso Timeline

1916: Born in Milan, Italy.

1935 -1939: Studied architecture at Milan

Polytechnic.

1941-1945: Served in Italian Navy during WWII

1945: Opened his own firm in Milan.

1946 -1947: Editor of Domus Magazine

1947 – 1949: Editor of Casabella Magazine

2001: Died 9th July in Milanhttp://www.alessi.it/it/1/146/marco-zanuso

Inspiration

“ My studies have taught me little” – Mario Zanuso

Zanuso divulged that his time spent on technologically advanced warships during

the WWII directly influenced his design style

Design Style

Zanuso was one of a group of Italian designers from Milan shaping the

international idea of "good design" in the postwar years.

He pioneered the use of accessible materials in furniture, bringing more people

`in touch` with good design.

One of the interesting points of his career in industrial design is the affordability of

the articles of mass production.

Antropus Chair – 1949

Retail Price: euro 1,763.00

Major Works

http://atcasa.corriere.it/catalogo/prodotti/Arflex/Antropus.shtml

Lady Chair- 1951

Retail Price : euro 1,076.35

http://www.kirkgallery.com/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=99

Doney 14 Television Set-1962

Price – euro 1,500.00

http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O:AD:E:6544&page_number=3&template_id=1&sort_order=1

Lambda Chair – 1959

Price – 1000-1500 USD

http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O:AD:E:6544&page_number=2&template_id=1&sort_order=1

Radio - 1963

Price – euro 259.00

http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O:AD:E:6544&page_number=4&template_id=1&sort_order=1

Child’s Stackable Chair - 1964

http://www.1stdibs.com/furniture_item_detail.php?id=234440

Grillo Folding Telephone - 1965

http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O:AD:E:6544&page_number=8&template_id=1&sort_order=1

Awards1948 and 1954: The Grand Prix.

1951, 1954, 1957 and 1964: The gold medal of the Milan Triennale.

1960: Silver medal of the Milan Triennale.

1956, 1962, 1964, 1967 and 1979: The Golden Compass Award (Milan)

1965: The Interplas Award (London)

1966 :The two gold medals and the Honor Award of the Biennial of Industrial

Design (Ljubljana)

1969: The gold medal of 'International Design Congress (Yverdon),

1972: The premium Bolaffi (Torino),

1984: The medal of the town of Milan

1984:the medal of the President of the Republic (Rome).