Vico Magistretti (I)

In collaboration with a team of authors from ECAL and Fondazione Vico Magistretti, Anniina Koivu analysed Vico Magistretti’s extensive oeuvre.

The Milanese architect who worked as an industrial designer from the 1960s onwards created more than 300 products and items of furniture. Only seventy are currently still being manufactured. The publication explains why companies stopped manufacturing design classics.

Researching in the Magistretti archive, analysing specialist journals and interviews with furniture brands and in-house product designers leads to a number of surprising findings:
Sometimes products were so successful that they gave rise to cheap copies, thus eventually forcing the brand to take the product out of their own catalogue; sometimes they were too expensive to carry on manufacturing; other times they simply did not succeed on the market. Twelve iconic products are the subject of this in-depth analysis.

Essays on the use of photography in marketing design products and on media coverage of furniture in the 1960s to 2000s accompany the presentation of selected projects by Vico Magistretti. Two photo essays by ECAL alumni showcase his products and his studio in Milan.

With contributions and interviews by Maddalena Dalla Mura, Davide Fornari, Anniina Koivu, Carolien Niebling, Rosanna Pavoni, Francesco Zanot.
Interviews with Julia Bimmerlein, Pierangelo Borgonovo, Andrea Corti, Luca De Padova, Carlo Forcolini, Ernesto Gismondi, Paolo Imperatori, Barbara Lehmann, Manuela Messina, Giovanna Moretti, Francesco Oliva, Sergio Quazzola, Enrico Schiffini, Goran Topalovitch.