Achille Castiglioni

One hundred years later, and it still feels like it was yesterday. It’s one hundred years since the birth of what was probably the greatest work of all time, the peak and “tutelary deity” of Italian and international design. Achille Castiglioni, who worked alongside his brother Piergiacomo until 1968, is the creator of fourteen works now showcased in the collections at the MoMa in New York and of numerous others displayed at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rheine, and dozens of other museums worldwide. He also won nine Compasso d’Oro awards - an award hosted by the Associazione per il Disegno Industriale and of which he was amongst the founders - eight of which were for a range of different projects, such as lamps and beer dispensers, and one of which was for career achievement, “for elevating design to higher cultural levels through his invaluable experience”. Achille Castiglioni’s achievements also include other awards, exhibitions, honorary degrees, architectural and urban works, and a long list of teaching positions in cities such as Turin, Milan and Paris. An unparalleled genius who left behind a rich heritage, kept alive by the Aldo Rossi Foundation in order to uncatalogued, recount and share it with the public of today and tomorrow.