A leading figure in 20th-century industrial design,
Vico Magistretti was considered a master of his art. Undeniably, Vico Magistretti elevated the sketches captured in his sketchbook to an artistic level, both for objects and architectural projects. Creator of his own unmistakable language, he was one of the founders of the Italian Association of Industrial Design.
Born in Milan to a middle-class family in 1920, he graduated as an architect from the Milan Polytechnic in 1945. Shortly after, he began working in his father's architectural office. From then on, urban planning and industrial design remained his fields of interest and passion. In 1948, he won his first prize at the 8th Triennale. After this, he received numerous awards for his work in industrial design. He is the designer of now-iconic pieces, such as the Eclisse lamp. With Eclisse, one of the many milestones of his career, Vico would revolutionize the way lighting is designed. Eclisse is a table lamp consisting of a spherical piece of lacquered aluminum with a rotating cover. The movement of the cover allows the light emission to be adjusted until it is hidden. Atollo, the lamp that won him the Compasso D'Oro in 1979, is on display in the permanent collection of the MoMA in New York.
In 1984, Vico Magistretti was named an honorary member of the Royal College of Art in London. A collaborator with numerous companies (such as Artemide and Oluce), he created the Ananas and Bruco wall lights for FontanaArte, as well as the Margaret lamp and the Morocco pendant light. Numerous objects of his design are part of the permanent collections of prestigious museums. Furniture, lighting, and a variety of accessories bearing his signature can be found around the world. His pieces remain undisputed bestsellers and have been imitated and reproduced time and again across the globe.