Explore the 20th century in design: Bauhaus, Art Deco, Mid Century Modern, Pop and beyond: the golden age of creative innovation.
Essence and Philosophy: Understanding Minimalism At the turn of the 1990s, in a world saturated with postmodern ornamentation and decorative excess, a silent revolution was taking place. In Manhattan lofts, Tokyo galleries, and London studios, a new generation of creators was rediscovering the power of emptiness, the eloquence of spatial silence, the force of radical…
The UP Chair by Gaetano Pesce: When a Seat Becomes a Revolution If you’ve ever come across it, it’s impossible to forget. But beyond its spectacular feminine form, the UP chair represents an unprecedented innovation in many ways. You know my obsession with all kinds of armchairs… After recently encountering “La Donna” again at the…
Cocoon, egg, bubble and capsule chairs vintage or contemporary The egg chair embodies the very essence of organic design and the spirit of the 1960s. With its enveloping forms and futuristic appearance inspired by the Space Age, this iconic seat has fascinated for over six decades. Passionate about designer furniture, I have always been captivated…
In 1958, Danish designer Poul Henningsen created what would become one of the most iconic light fixtures of the 20th century: the Artichoke lamp. This pendant, composed of 72 precisely arranged copper leaves, transcends its utilitarian function to become a sculptural work of art. More than a simple lamp, the Artichoke embodies the marriage of…
On September 18, 1981, in a Milanese showroom in the fashion district, an aesthetic bomb exploded. The first collection of the Memphis Group astonished, shocked, and fascinated: furniture in garish colors, lamps defying the laws of balance, surfaces covered with psychedelic patterns, a formal exuberance that seemed to openly mock fifty years of modernist good…
Why the Atollo, born in 1977, is still an absolute icon? There are lamps that you replace. And then there’s the Atollo. An icon of Italian design created in 1977 by the Milanese designer Vico Magistretti for Oluce, it has never been retouched, modified or “reissued”. It is sold today exactly as in 1977, or…
New York, 1950. The Museum of Modern Art inaugurates its first “Good Design” exhibition, organized by Edgar Kaufmann Jr. In the MoMA galleries, Scandinavian furniture, Japanese objects, and American ceramics coexist according to a single criterion: the intrinsic quality of design, regardless of price or prestige. While Mid-Century Modern celebrates American prosperity and Europe rebuilds,…
Los Angeles, 1949. In the hills of Pacific Palisades, Charles and Ray Eames complete their Case Study House #8, an architectural manifesto of postwar America. Steel, glass, and vibrant colors assemble into a lightweight structure open to the California landscape. While Europe laboriously rebuilds and the Bauhaus dissolves into emigration, America invents a new aesthetic…
Paris, 1925. The International Exhibition of Decorative Arts and Modern Industries unveiled a revolutionary aesthetic language to the world. Gone were the vegetal curves of Art Nouveau, replaced by geometric lines, precious materials, and assumed modernity. Art Deco was born, carrying the optimism of an era fascinated by speed, technological progress, and urban elegance. Art…
Florence, 1966. A group of young Italian architects found Archizoom Associati and begin producing provocative projects that question every certainty of modern design. While Good Design champions rationality and the Ulm School systematizes methodology, an Italian avant-garde radically rejects functionalism. Radical Design emerges—oppositional, conceptual, provocative. This movement, which dominates Italy from 1966 to 1975, does…
Brutalism, an emblematic architectural movement of the second half of the 20th century, continues to fascinate and divide nearly sixty years after its first stirrings. Characterized by the massive use of raw concrete and imposing geometric forms, this architectural style embodies both post-war social utopias and a radical aesthetic that still marks our urban landscapes…
Between the oil shocks of the 1970s and the technological euphoria of the late 1980s, an aesthetic revolution transformed architecture and design: the High-Tech movement elevated technology into a creative manifesto. Far from concealing pipes, wiring, or metal structures behind decorative cladding, this radical avant-garde proudly exposed them, transforming infrastructure into ornament and technical performance…
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