Everyone has an object in their home made by the Castiglioni brothers. Unbeknownst to us, probably, but we have it. One example, the breaker switch, the classic system with which we turn on our lamps. This is certainly their most popular invention, but there are many others that have enabled them to become international design icons.
I Castiglioni brothersLivio, Pier Giacomo and Achille, have art in their DNA: the three, in fact, are the sons of Giannino, a 20th century painter and sculptor, author of numerous works including a monumental door for Milan Cathedral illustrating the religious and political work of St Ambrose (1950) and the tomb of Pius XI in the Vatican Grottoes in Rome (1941).
Inevitably, therefore, a love of art runs through the brothers' veins. Livio, Pier Giacomo and Achille's main skill was to transform a simple product into a design object, thanks to their creativity, aesthetic taste and ability to anticipate the times. The Arco lamp, created for the Flos brand in 1962, is the object that brought them to international prominence, becoming in fact one of the most famous and best-selling industrial design products in the world, so much so that it became part of the permanent collections of the Triennale Design Museum in Milan and the MoMa in New York.
But among the icons of Italian design by Castiglioni we also find the RR226 radio-phonograph for Brionvega, a revolutionary product at the time. Simplicity, practicality and refinement were the main features behind their designs, which were always aimed at researching new forms, techniques and materials.
A career spent signing work for major brands, from Flos to Olivetti, Siemens to Lancia, and which has earned them numerous awards including 14 Compassi d'Oro, the most prestigious award in the world of design.
A more than 100-year history of the family that changed the face of Italian industrial design.
