
Salone del Mobile 2024 revealed itself as one of the greatest design tradeshows of the year so far, as expected, and it is still a reference for all interior design lovers and professionals around the world. This annual event is renowned for setting trends, inspiring creativity, and bringing together […]
The enchanting world of furniture for kids took center stage at Salone del Mobile 2024, a prestigious international furniture fair held in Milan. Amidst the grandeur of contemporary design and innovation, the spotlight shone brightly on a brand that redefines comfort and style for the little ones. Let’s have […]
Andrea Branzi | Italian charismatic icon on the international design – Andrea Branzi, the Italian architect and designer, is one of the most charismatic figures on the international design scene.
Andrea Branzi designs have a very special identity that is at the same time surreal and romantic. A leader of Italian’s cutting edge design and architecture, he was born in Florence in 1938 and studied as an architect at the Florence School of Architecture.
After graduating he became the most vivid example of the Florentine Radical movement, and one of the most respected and heard voices in the entire Radical Architecture movement.
In 1982, Branzi opened his own studio to concentrate on architecture, urban planning, interior design, and industrial design. Among the important architectural projects that he got involved in are the new Modern Art Gallery and the recovery plan of the block of San Francesco in Arezzo (1987); the Tokyo City X project for Mitsubishi Co. (1990); the research project for the offices of Vitra (1993).
In the field of industrial design, Branzi has collaborated with several other Italian manufacturers: Acerbis, Alessi, Artemide, Cassina, Interflex, Lapis, Pioneer, Unitalia, Up & Up, and Zanotta.
In 1985 the Italian architect, designer, and theorist Andrea Branzi, and his wife, Nicoletta, debuted a radical collection of objects, named “Domestic Animals”
“We had been investigating a new expressiveness of objects—objects that, like animals in the Amazon, were able to attract their partner through color, perfume, and decor,” reflects Branzi. “They didn’t try to interest everyone. They were experimental, artisanal prototypes that were destined (as it happened) to collectors and museums.”
It’s this sort of thinking that fuels the collectible design market. More than 30 years later, his works are part of the permanent collections of major museums including: the Center Georges Pompidou in Paris; the Victoria and Albert Museum in London; the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston; the Israel Museum in Jerusalem; and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, among others.
Here, considering today’s taste for strange material studies and futuristic riffs on craft, a lot of one-of-a-kind and limited edition design objects are sure to attract and repulse in equal measure.
At present, Andrea Branzi, lives and works in Milan where he is a professor of industrial design at the prestigious Politecnico di Milano University.