He had a technical training, she had an artistic education. What can come from the union of two such talents? The answer is: modern Design of the 20th century.
Here is what the professional and even emotional synergy (being married since 1941) of Charles and Ray Eames generated. Together they created modern design and dictated the style rules of what we know as the modern house. Charles e Ray si incontrano non a caso in una delle scuole di arte più avanguardistiche d’America, la Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. Charles and Ray met not surprisingly in one of America's most avant-garde art schools, the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. The important influences in the formation of these two artists are, among others, Eero Saarinen for Charles, a colleague and a friend thanks to whom he will have the opportunity to deepen and become a Scandinavian design expert and Lu Duble (sculptress) and Hans Hofmann (artist) for Ray.
From this powerful union of technique, art and ingenuity, iconic pieces such as the Eames Lounge Chair and Puff will be born. It is still produced by Vitra in collaboration with the Eames Office. The armchair is widely considered one of the most important design objects of the 20th century. The Lounge Chair is a timeless armchair that adapts perfectly to both classic lines and the modern extreme.
Achille Castiglioni
One of the most important Italian designers does not need major presentations, having as many as 14 works included in the permanent exhibition of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Achille Castiglioni, born in Milan, helped define the taste and style of the 20th century. His Studio Museum in Piazza Castello, which also houses the Achille Castiglioni Foundation, is a reference for the history of Italian industrial design.
Among the iconic, indispensable and everywhere recognizable pieces, the famous Arco Lamp from 1962 still produced today by Flos.
MICHELE DE LUCCHI
Michele de Lucchi is known throughout the world for having designed the Tolomeo Lamp by Artemide. A lamp that earned him the Compasso d'Oro Award in 1987.
Together with Ettore Sottsass, with whom he founded the Memphis group, De Lucchi contributed to the renewal of Italian design in the second half of the 20th century. The primary objective of these new movements was to recover the best of the 20th century, stripping it of the rationalist fundamentalism that until then had established the Italian style in the world. Thanks to them the New Modern is born.
De Lucchi designed products for Artemide, Dada Cucine, Kartell, Mauser, Poltrona Frau, Olivetti (with whom he collaborated from 1981 to 2002). He developed experimental projects for Compaq Computers, Philips, Siemens and Vitra.
Verner Panton
An all-round artist who has never stopped his research on color and materials.
Panton is the first designer to break with traditional Danish design, adopting a completely alternative technique to organic shapes and natural materials. His "visions" turn into a completely original language that reaches its peak with the Panton Chair, produced in series by Vitra since 1967. The famous plastic chair made of a single piece will become its distinctive brand. Panton has not only experimented and provided a new interpretation in the world of design but has also rethought the way of living and shaping spaces, outlining the new era of pop culture in the 60s. Today his works are exhibited in the most important international design museums.
Jean Nouvel
Jean Nouvel does not like to call himself a designer, but a "designer architect".
Jean Nouvel's stellar career has indeed been marked by important achievements with his architectural works and his famous design pieces. The French archistar, who wanted to become a painter, can be called the last of the existentialists. Inspired by cinema in his works, Jean Nouvel won the Grand Prix National D'Architecture, the gold medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects and the Golden Lion in Venice. In 2008 it was the turn of the Nobel Prize for architecture, the famous Pritzker Prize.
The revolutionary idea of Nouvel was to create an "architecture design" for his architectural projects. Not by chance his most famous piece is the Less Table, produced by Molteni & C. It was originally thought for the Parisian headquarters of the Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain designed by him.
Philippe Stark
Philippe Starck is unanimously called the number one of European designers.
The son of an aeronautical builder, Starck began his career designing inflatable furniture. In 1990, the international success came with the design of the "Juicy Salif" juicer for Alessi. The series of everyday objects will then follow, from toothbrushes to scooters, designed for the biggest brands. Famous his Navy Chair designed for the American Navy and present in many Hollywood films, or the Kartell chairs series that have now become an icon. His architectural projects include bars, restaurants, various Parisian clubs, Paramount hotels and Mitterand's presidential apartments in the Elysée.
