Vico Magistretti

Vico Magistretti, Italian architect and designer, has projected the coffee table in curved glass Gemini by FIAM.

He was born in 1920 in Milan in a family whose members have been architects for generations. He earned his degree in Architecture in 1945 at the Politecnico University in Milan and stared working in his father’s studio.

In the ’50s, thanks to his several innovative projects, such as the building of the Torre al Parco in via Revere and the office Tower in corso Europa in Milan, Vico Magistretti became one of the most impressive figures among the members of the “third generations”. Always in those years he is one of the founding members of the ADI index and he is also selected as a jury member of the Compasso d’ Oro award.

A career full of important works and accolades; nevertheless he found the time to dedicate himself to teaching. Since the end of the ’70 he has been teaching as a visiting professor at the Royal College of Art in London, of which he was appointed as an honorary member is 1983.

The beginning of his career as industrial designer, the partnerships and the expositions

The first product designed by Mr. Magistretti dated back to the ’60s: the chair Carimate by Cassina.

From that moment on, he started a series of partnerships with several successful companies such as: Artemide, Conrar, FIAM, Fritz Hansen, Oluce, Fontana Arte, De Padova, Flou and Kartell.

The awards he received are many, among which the Grand Prize VIII Milan Triennial, the Gold Medal IX Milan Triennial,the Grand Prize X Milan Triennial, the Golden Compass for the Eclisse lamp, the Golden Compass for the Atollo Lamp and the Golden Compass, for the Maralunga armchair.

Many of his works are included in the collections of important museums all over the world, such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Design Museum in London, the Die Neue Sammlung museum in Monaco and the Museum fuer Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg.