Vico Magistretti

Vico Magistretti (1920–2006) was one of the great architects and designers of post-war Italy, and his work remains a byword for timeless, understated elegance. Born in Milan, he graduated in architecture from the Polytechnic of Milan in 1945 and played a key part in the city’s post-war rebuilding, contributing to urban planning, residential and commercial projects. Buildings such as the Torre al Parco in Milan reflect his belief that architecture and design should be rooted in cultural and historical awareness rather than passing fashion.

From the late 1950s Magistretti turned increasingly to furniture and lighting. He produced a remarkable body of work for companies including Artemide, Cassina, Fritz Hansen and Oluce. His classics include the Carimate chair and Maralunga sofa for Cassina, and the Atollo table lamp for Oluce, which won the Compasso d’Oro in 1979. Many of the designs he created from the 1960s onward are still in production today, and his work is held in the permanent collections of major museums including MoMA in New York. A dedicated teacher, he was also an honorary visiting professor at the Royal College of Art in London.

Magistretti’s partnership with Artemide was among the most fruitful of his career. His Eclisse table lamp, designed in 1965, won the Compasso d’Oro in 1967. Inspired by the phases of an eclipse, its inner shell rotates within the outer sphere to dim and direct the light with a simple turn of the hand. For Artemide he also designed the playful Dalù lamp and the Selene chair, an early icon of moulded plastic furniture. Together they demonstrate the elegant simplicity that defined his work.

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