Acceptable Face of Modernism

Award-winning veteran Antonio Citterio creates influential modern designs

For many lovers of traditional design, modern design can seem confusing, intimidating or just downright boring because of its lack of ornament. But if there's an acceptable face to modern design, it may belong to veteran Milan architect and designer Antonio Citterio.
For more than 30 years, Citterio has designed products, interiors and buildings that emphasize the properties of the materials he chooses to work with. Plastic is often celebrated in his product designs, and his spare building designs feature elemental uses of concrete, glass and steel. His best work is whittled down to an esssence, capturing a sense of magic without detracting from function.
A long-time Citterio client is higher-end furniture manufacturer B&B Italia, and the designer recently completed a new Milan showroom for the furniture company. " We wanted an impressive space, created with simple materials," says Citterio of the B&B Italia showroom project, though this goal is a good summation of the whole of the designer's interior work. The new Milan showroom features a simple, black floor accented with a series of glass cubes in various colours, which serve as containers for B&B Italia's furniture designs and may include many Citterio products. The new showroom is " a stage set, more than straight architecture," the designer says. The furniture company's Novedrate factory - originally designed by Tobia Scarpa in the 1970s - also exhibits Citterio's trademark minimalist approach in a research and development centre expansion that makes poetic use of concrete and steel.
Twice the veteran Milan designer has been the recipient of the coveted Compasso d'Oro award, including his win for the Sity seating system for B&B Italia in the late 1980s. Citterio collaborated with plastics specialist Kartell to create the Mobil storage system a decade ago, and it is now a modern design classic. His product designs are included in permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Centre Pompidou in Paris.
Citterio was born and raised north of Milan, an area which is home to many furniture manufacturers. His father had a furniture-design business, so his destiny was perhaps assured. After graduation from the Politecnico di Milano, Citterio established his practice with product designs before moving on to include architectural work in his portfolio. His influences include the Italian Rationalist movement of the 1930s, as well as furniture designers Charles and Ray Eames and architects Louis Kahn and Tadao Ando.
His recent architectural output includes projects for the subways of Milan and Rome, and Citterio has also become a favourite with chic fashion houses. He has designed European and American showrooms for Cerruti, Emanuel Ungaro and Valentino. While projects such as these and a new luxury hotel in Milan hardly hail Citterio as a modern designer for the masses, his position and influence as one of Italy's leading designers may make modernism more acceptable for even the most loyal followers of traditional design.

Publication Date: 2005-01-30
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=4872