Achille Castiglioni

Castiglioni described his process with these words: "Start from scratch. Stick to common sense. Know your goals and means."

Achille Castiglioni was born in Milan in 1918. He graduated in architecture in 1944. Since 1940, he dedicated himself to experimenting on industrial products with his brothers Livio (1911-1979) and Pier Giacomo (1913-1968).

Their interests were directed towards Urban Planning, Architecture and Design; they performed analysis and research on new forms, techniques and materials. The trio worked from the viewpoint that design must restructure an object's function, form and production process. They applied this maxim to every work that they produced.

Castiglioni described this process with these words: "Start from scratch. Stick to common sense. Know your goals and means". With his brothers, Achille was integral to Italy's postwar design renaissance. Many of Castiglioni's products for Flos and others are considered design classics, and MoMA’s permanent collection in New York hosts 14 of his works.