Antonia Astori (b.1940) co-founded Driade

Biography

She worked as a project coordinator and designed furniture. She was able to create a unique network of furniture designers, galleries, and shops. Oikos I, Oikos II, and Pantos were her forerunner containment structures. Antonia Astori adds individual parts to such schemes, still keeping the sense of life at the forefront. She created Aforismi, the San Souci Collection, and, later, the Virginia writing desk and Eileen bookcase in this spirit.

Since then, Astori has collaborated with international designers such as Achille Castiglioni, Philippe Starck, Borek Sipek, Ross Lovegrove, Alfredo Haberii, and Paola Navona to create its collections, which have become a fashion barometer and a point of reference for the new design.

Prototype Kitchen (homage to McDonalds) Antonia Astori for Driade 1982

Oikos-due designed by Antonia Astori for Driade. Pressed wood with melamine covering

Didymos Oval Table with Black Marble Top by Antonia Astori for Driade

Antonia Astori Wood Dione Driade Italian Desk Writing Table

Antonia Astori’s work for Driade spans the office and the domestic sector. Her kitchen storage device designs were ideal. Astori’s background is as an architect. Adelaide Acerbi, an eminent graphic designer and her sister-in-law, claims that Italian design is popular because it is in the hands of architects “Industrial design is similar to the creation of individual sculptures, while architecture is concerned with the creation of structures. It’s the difference between a set of isolated ideas and the creation of a complete philosophy.”

Oikos

Oikos is a complex architectural concept for the design of living rooms, workspaces, bedrooms, baths, and kitchens created in 1972. It uses a simple cube as the essential element of a complex architectural concept to design living rooms, workspaces, bedrooms, baths, and kitchens. On the strength of its simple geometry, high formal precision, and minimalist elegance, Oikos stands as a classic of its genre nearly three decades later. Kaos, introduced in the 1980s, and Pantos, introduced in 1993, are two other popular furniture systems from Astori.

She has worked on Driade’s visual identity and graphics software and designed various individual pieces of furniture. She has also worked as a trade show demonstration, workplace, and exhibition designer for foreign corporations.

Commit Yourself to Design

Sources

Abendroth, U., & Polster, B. (2000). World design: the best in classic and contemporary furniture, fashion, graphics and more. Chronicle Books.

Antonia Astori. Driade – USA. (n.d.). https://www.driade.com/us/antonia-astori.

Byars, M., & Riley, T. (2004). The Design Encyclopedia. Laurence King Publishing.

Dormer, P. (1987). The New Furniture: Trends + Traditions. Thames and Hudson.

Neumann, C. (1999). Design directory Italy. Universe.

Design Books – Amazon

* This website may contain affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission when you click on links at no additional cost. As an Amazon and Sovrn affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

More Italian Designers

A Glimpse of David Palterer an Israeli Designer

David Palterer is an Israeli designer born in Haifa. He is professionally active in Florence.Read More →
Benedikt Bolza – Italian Nobleman, Architect, Interior Designer

Trained as an architect in London, he and a team of 120 transform centuries-old stone ruins into exquisite dwellings at Castello di Reschio, a 3,000-acre private community in Umbria, Italy, on land originally purchased by his parents.Read More →
Arteluce Italian Lighting Firm (1939)

Arteluce Italian Lighting Firm it was one of the modest businesses that contributed to Italian design’s international success in the 1950s. READ MORERead More →
Antonia Astori (b.1940) co-founded Driade

Antonia Astori co-founded Driade with her brother Enrico and Adelaide Acerbi in 1968. She was able to create a unique network of furniture designers, galleries, and shops.Read More →
Agostino Lauro (1861 – 1924) Italian Designer

Agostino Lauro was an Italian designer and entrepreneur with a reputation for private commissions and public buildings.Read More →
Ennio Lucini (b.1934) Italian, packaging, product, graphic designer

He executed small objects for the home in ceramics and glass produced by Gabbianelli and metalware by Barazzoni. He designed the hemispherical Ponte di Brera drinking glasses (from 1965 by Ponte di Brera, 1968—75 by Gabbianelli) and 1968 Tummy range of stainless-steel cookware by Barazoni. Read More →
Harry Bertoia (1915 – 1978) Italian sculptor, furniture designer

Harry Bertoia was a sculptor, printmaker, jeweller, and furniture designer. He was born in San Lorenzo, Udine, and worked in the United States professionally. During World War Two he worked with Ray and Charles Eames on moulded-plywood technology. He worked primarily as a sculptor from the mid-1950s onwards. His sculpture was prominently featured in many…
Gio Ponti (1891-1979) Italian designer, writer and teacher

Gio Ponti was an influential writer, teacher, and practising architect who was one of the most influential figures in twentieth-century Italian design. In a long and illustrious career, he worked in a wide variety of design fields, from interiors to furniture and product design, understanding the value of craft traditions alongside creating a new aesthetic.Read…
Ico Parisi (1916 – 1996) Italian furniture designer

Ico Parisi was an Italian architect and designer of the modernist style who worked with Luisa Aiani and opened La Ruota in 1947. LEARN MORERead More →
Enzo Mari (1932 -2020) Italian modernist, industrial designer

Inventor of commonplace items whose radical politics were incorporated into their creations Enzo Mari (1932 – 2020) was an Italian modernist and furniture designer who lived from 1932 to 2020. TELL ME MORERead More →
Vico Magistretti (1920 – 2006) Italian architect/designer

In 1920 Vico Magistretti was born in Milan, Italy. First recognition of his work came in 1948, at the 8th Triennale. He started designing for Cassina in 1960, and from that date on his signature is to be found on many products.Read More →
Antonio Citterio ( b.1950 ) Italian furniture designer

Antonio Citterio is a leading Italian architect and interior designer, furniture and industrial designer. Citterio explored the possibilities of new materials and technologies rather than aligning himself with New Design’s more fashionable aesthetics.Read More →
Rodolfo Bonetto – Italian furniture & industrial designer

Rodolfo Bonetto (1929 – 1991) was Italian furniture and industrial designer. He began his design career at the Pininfarina automobile body design firm. In 1958, he founded his studio. Between 1963-69, was a member of ADI (Associazione per il Disegno Industriale) advisory committee and participated in numerous other professional organisations. Read More →
Eugenio Quarti (1867 – 1931) Italian furniture designer

Eugenio Quarto (1867 – 1931) was an Italian furniture designer who was born near Bergamo. He was professionally based in Milan.Read More →
Studio Alchimia Italian design collaborative

Studio Alchimia Italian design collaborative located in Milan. Alessandro Guerriero (b. 1943), an architect, created Studio Alchimia in 1976 as a gallery to show experimental work that was not limited by industrial production. Read More →
Memphis Group – it has little to do with Tennessee

Memphis was a movement in interior design introduced at the annual Milan Furniture Fair in 1981. It consisted of a group led by Memphis guru Ettore Sottass of avant-garde Italian designers. With outrageous interpretations of traditional furnishings and accessories, Memphis shocked the traditionally quiet industry.Read More →
Pietro Chiesa (1892 – 1948) 🇮🇹 Italian furniture and glassware

He was an apprentice in the studio of Giovan Battista Gianotti, painter, furniture designer, and decorator; in 1921, opened Bot- tega di Pietro Chiesa, Milan; in 1927, (with Gio Ponti, Michele Marelli, Tomaso Buzzi, Emilio Lancia, and Paolo Venini) founded Il Labirinto, which produced high-quality glassware. Read More →
Michele De Lucchi (b.1951) Italian architect and designer

At the Universita di Firenze, he experimented with new forms of art and film. In 1973, he created the Cavart group alongside Piero Brombin, Pier Paola Bortolami, Boris Pastrovicchio, and Valerio Tridenti, which was active in Architettura Radicale, filmmaking, written works, and happenings. Read More →
Davide Mercatali (b.1948) Italian Designer

He worked independently as a graphic and product designer and illustrator for advertising agencies, publishers, and his clients; he worked for the Societa Donchi Formart, Milan. In 1978, with Paolo Pedrizzetti, he set up an industrial design studio where he initially designed materials and tiles. He worked on promotional accessories, point-of-sale displays in retail stores,…
Fabio Lenci (b.1935) Italian Designer

Fabio Lenci (1935 – ) is an Italian Designer. He received his design education in Rome. He began his professional career in 1966. He set up a shop for contemporary furniture in Rome. Read More →

You may also be interested in

Fabio Lenci (1935 – ) Italian Designer – Encyclopedia of Design
Fabio Lenci (1935 – ) is an Italian Designer. He received his design education in Rome. He began his professional career in 1966. He set up a shop for contemporary furniture in Rome. He began to explore the use of new plastics and manufacturing techniques to produce his furniture designs, including his Chain armchair with suspended upholstered rolls between plate-glass sides.

Philippe Starck the artist-designer – Encyclopedia of Design
Embed from Getty Images Phillippe Starck is one of the most widely known artist‐designer ‘names’ in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, Starck is one of France’s most fêted designers who has worked across a wide range of media.