Achille Castiglioni

Born in Milan on 16 February 1918 and graduated in Architecture in 1944. In 1940 he started showing a keen interest in industrial production, along with his brothers Livio (1911-1979) and Pier Giacomo (1913-1968). After graduating in Architecture in 1944, he started experimenting with new forms, techniques and materials as he worked towards developing an integral design process. Between 1945 and 1962 he conducted his design work alongside his brother Pier Giacomo at the studio in Corso di Porta Nuova 57. However, in 1962, with the building due to be demolished, the studio moved to Piazza Castello 27 (in Milan) where he continued working with Pier Giacomo until his brother died in 1968. Between 1968 and 2002, the year of Achille’s death, he continued his work alone in the Piazza Castello studio. He gained the “Artistic Design for Industry” teaching qualification from the Italian Ministry of Education in 1969 and taught at the Polytechnic of Turin until 1980 and subsequently at the Polytechnic of Milan until 1993, where he was professor of “Industrial Design”. From 1950, he started working on and creating installations for exhibitions (Triennale di Milano, Montecatini, Agip, Rai). In 1956, he co-founded ADI (Associazione per il Disegno Industriale-Association of Industrial Design). Fourteen of hisworks are currently on display at MoMA in New York.