Luciano Baldessari (1896 – 1982) was an Italian designer. He was born in Rovereto (then Hapsburg Empire).
Education
He studied at the Politecnico di Milano until 1922.
Biography
As a young man, he collaborated with Futurist artist Fortunato Depero: in the 1920s, he made theatrical sets and was a painter. His widely published 1929 Luminator torchère was one of the few Rationalist furniture or lighting designs produced in Italy: inspired by German experimental work, it was intended to be an abstraction of an illuminated mannequin, with the curved tubular steel representing arms: foreshadowing later light sculptures.’ As an architect, Baldessari created the offices of De Angeli Frua (together with FIGINI and POLLINI). It was one of the most unpredictable manifestations of Italian Rationalism. In Milan, he designed the 1929-32 De Angeli Frua Press building (alongside Luigi Figini and Gino Pollini): 1930 Craja bar, Piazza P. Ferrari, Milan: Cima chocolate manufacture, 1932-33 (with Gio Ponti). Vesta Pavilion, Milan, 1933 (V) Milan Triennale: 1951 (IX) 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954 Triennale International Trade Fair, Breda Pavilion.
Bar Craja rationalist space
Bar Craja in Milan was the first ‘rationalist’ space in Milan and was designed by Luciano Baldessari and Gino Pollini. It was an oasis in Italy in the 1930s and was tuned in to the rest of Europe across the Alps. It was part of the same avant-garde scene of the Brera Academy, and the in-crowd sat down according to a fixed seating arrangement. (Cafes and Bars, 2007)
Recognition
His 1929 Luminator torchère was created for the Barnocchi display at the 1929 International Exhibition in Barcelona.
Cafes and Bars: The Architecture of Public Display. (2007). United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis.
Sources
Byars, M., & Riley, T. (2004). The design encyclopedia. Laurence King Publishing. https://amzn.to/3ElmSlL
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‘The New Domestic Landscape’ – MoMA’s ambitious design show 1972
THE NEW DOMESTIC LANDSCAPE was one of The Museum of Modern Art’s most ambitious design shows. The exhibition, directed and built by Emilio Ambasz, Curator of Design in the Museum’s Department of Architecture and Design, focused on current design trends in Italy with 180 items for everyday use and 11 environments commissioned by the Museum.Read More…
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Flavio Conti Italian architect and designer
Flavio Conti is an Italian architect and designer; born Legnago, Verona; active Milan. He studied architecture, Politecnico di Milano toRead More →
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Michele Provinciali (1921 – 2009) Italian Industrial Designer
He received the ADI’s Compasso d’Oro Award for his career in 2008. Michele Provinciali provides an alternative trend to the late rationalist approach typical of the postwar period in every art form. He is expressive, poetic, experimental, abnormal, and refined in every art form.Read More →
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Luigi Massoni (b.1930) Italian Industrial Designer
After a period of training at the Collettivo di Architettura in Milan and his first professional experiences between 1953 and 1955, he began his design career by making the cocktail shaker (1957, with Carlo Mazzeri) and the Serie 5 containers, which are still in production, for AlessiRead More →