A. G. Fronzoni

“We need to aim at essential things, to remove every redundant effects, every useless flowering, to elaborate a concept on mathematical bases, on fundamental ideas, on elementary structures; we strongly need to avoid waste and excess”. Starting from these main points, the graphic designer born in Pistoia devoted himself to communicate through the content. He has been strongly active in the redaction of magazines such as Punta and Casabella, in the interior design, in graphics, exhibitions and didactics.He worked as a teacher first at the Società Umanitaria, then in the Istituto d’ Arte of Monza and the Istituto delle Industrie Artistiche in Urbino, finally in his own school in Milan. Brno, Buenos Aires, Lion, Milan and New York were the sets of his several personal exhibitions; many of his graphics works are part of the most important museum worldwide.

A. Mendini

Born in 1931, as an architect and a designer he mainly cares about neo-modern and contemporary design; in this area he designs furniture and environments. In the past, he directed magazines such as Casabella, Modo and Domus; many essays have been published in different languages about his work and his “Atelier Mendini”. For Alessi, Philips, Swarovski and Swatch he designed items now considered icons of the worldwide contemporary design overview

Achille Castiglioni

Achille Castiglioni, an internationally acknowledged master of design, was born in Milan in 1918.

Soon after graduating in architecture from the Milan Polytechnic, he joined his elder brothers, Livio and Pier Giacomo, who had founded their practice in studio premises opposite the Castello Sforzesco in Milan.

As has happened with other gifted architects, the shortage of substantial architectural commissions led the Castiglioni brothers to design smaller items.

To better understand their distinctive approach to design, it's worth to remember the cultural situation in which they worked.
Like many others in that generation, the Castiglioni brothers had the good fortune to meet with ambitious industrialists, who wanted to bring their companies up to date and enter new fields. Above all, they were ready to take risks by embracing innovative ideas.
This was a period that saw the creation of enduring and fertile relations between designers and industrialists, based on their shared creative outlook and a similar perception of the future.

At the same time, the Italian postwar boom meant that the production and dissemination of this new kind of design became a reality.

Alexander Taylor

Born in 1975 in the North East of England Alexander Taylor went on to study Furniture and Product Design at Nottingham Trent University and began his career with London based architects Procter:Rihl. In 2002 Taylor decided  to realise his own designs and set up a studio.

Since then Alexander Taylor developed furniture and lighting for some of Europe’s leading design manufacturers such as Zanotta,
Established & Sons and Thorsten an Elten and now ClassiCon.

In 2004 the “Antlers” coat hook won the Elle Decoration ‘Home accessory of the year’ award. The following year saw Alexander winning Elle Decoration‘s ’Young Designer of the Year’ and ‘Best in Lighting’ award for the family of ‘Fold’ lamps. Late 2006 it was announced, that the Museum of Modern Art, New York acquired ‘Fold’ lamp for the permanent design collection. Whilst the ‘Butterfly’ table for Zanotta received the Chicago Athenaeum Museum:Good Design Award.

Andrea Branzi

Architect and designer, Andrea Branzi was born in Florence in 1938, where he graduated in 1967. He now lives and works in Milan. From 1964 to 1974 he was part of the group working under the name Archizoom Associates, the first avantgarde group to gain international fame, whose projects are kept today in the Study and Archive Centre of the University of Parma, and of the Georges Pompidou Centre in Paris. Since 1967 he has been working with industrial and experimental design, architecture, urban planning, teaching and cultural promotion. He is Associate Professor at the Third Faculty of Architecture and Industrial Design at Milan Polytechnic.

E. Barber & J. Osgerby (*1969)

Both born in 1969, Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby studied together at the Royal College of Art in London and established Barber Osgerby in 1996. In 1998 the “Loop table”, their first piece, was shown by Cappellini in Milan. Featured widely the table is now in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the V&A in London, along with their “Flight Stool” and most recent addition, a landmark commission for one of Britain’s modernist masterpieces – The De La Warr Pavilion. The De La Warr Pavilion chair, designed for both inside and outside the Pavilion, was launched to critical acclaim in Milan 2006.
Barber Osgerby has been developing collections of distinctive designs for leading manufacturers such as Magis, Authentics, ClassiCon, Isokon Plus and Stella McCartney. Among the many prestigious accolades won by Barber Osgerby  there is to named especially the nomination for the Compasso d’Oro in 2004 or the award as best Furniture Designers of the year in 2005 by the Blueprint magazine.

Birgit Lohmann

Birgit Lohmann was born in Hamburg, Germany.

After completing her studies in Florence she moved to Milan, where she lives and works.

Since 1987 she has been working with De Padova on the development of products in the collection. At the same time she is working with Enzo Mari on a range of projects to develop porcelain for the German producer Koenigliche Porzellan Manufaktur (KPM) in Berlin.
Among the most important products she has designed there is the line of children's furniture for Hänsel & G. and Interflex/Flou.
A historian, she has worked as a design expert for law courts and international auction houses.

She has conducted various seminars as Senior Lecturer in Industrial Design in a large number of prestigious European universities.
In 1999, with Massimo Mini, she founded the online magazine Designboom.

Bouroullec

Born in France in the Seventies, the Bouroullec brothers began to care about design with a first important cooperation with Issey Miyake in 2000. In few years already two books, the “Catalogue de Raison” and the 2003 Phaidon issue, have been published to collect images of their projects. Ronan and Erwan are seen among the raising stars of the design world, bold and reflective, poetic and in the same time passionate; their creations are “micro architectures” with different functional applications, able to characterize and make different the places in which they are put.

C. Colombo

Born in Carimate, he is one of Cappellini’s favourite Italian designers: he graduated in Milan in 1993 and imediately started working with this brand designing Archimede bed and Zigo Zago carpet. Besides his activity as consultant for furniture brands, Carlo Colombo took part in the renovation of public and private showrooms, offices, restaurants and villas; one of the most recent and interesting project is the Hong Kong Louvre Gallery, a space open to highest quality design items. Nowadays, Carlo Colombo works for several brands such as Moroso, Poliform, Varenna, Poltrona Frau and Flou; in 2004 he also received the “Designer of the Year” award in Tokyo.