La Danese was founded in Milan by Bruno Danese and Jacqueline Vodoz. The company specialises in editing, designing, and marketing well-designed everyday products with a modern aesthetic. There were three significant focus areas: domestic and office products, artistic editions, children’s games and creative play stimuli.
Designers employed
The company employed many well‐known avant‐garde designers, including Enzo Mari and Bruno Munari (responsible for much of its output), Achille Castiglione, and Angelo Mangiarotti.
Works
Danese produced ceramics, wood, glass, plastic and children’s games. Amongst the most celebrated Danese products were;
- Munari’s melamine Cube Ashtray (1957)
- Mari’s aluminium and PVC Formosa desk calendar (1963).
- Triangular lamp (1961)
- Set of Hemispherical bowls (1969)
Exhibitions
The company’s history was celebrated in a 1988–89 travelling exhibition entitled Objects Danesi: profil d’une collection. Danese was sold to the French company Strafor/Facom in 1992, was acquired by Carlotta de Bevilacqua in 1999 and is now part of the Artemide group, which caters for a sophisticated metropolitan clientele.
Sources
Byars, M., & Riley, T. (2004). The design encyclopedia. Laurence King Publishing.
Woodham, J. M. (2006). A dictionary of modern design. Oxford University Press.
Design Store
Books| Product Design
Audrey Hepburn: The Illustrated World of a Fashion Icon
Signature Houses: Private Homes by Great Italian Designers
Fashion House Special Edition: Illustrated Interiors from the Icons of Style
Inside Milan: Colorfully Creative Italian Interiors
Italian Notebook: Italian Flag Journal 100 Blank Lined Page Matte Soft Cover Notebook, College Ruled (6 x 9 inch) Blank Lined Italian Flag Design Cover Notebook
Iconic: The Masters of Italian Fashion
Italian Glamour: The Essence of Italian Fashion, From the Postwar Years to the Present Day
Caviar: The Hollywood Star: World of Claris (The World of Claris)
Grace Kelly: The Illustrated World of a Fashion Icon
The World of Federico Forquet: Italian Fashion, Interiors, Gardens
Megan Hess: The Shoe (The Ultimate Fashion Wardrobe)
Radical: Italian Design 1965–1985, The Dennis Freedman Collection
Paris: Through a Fashion Eye
Claris: The Chicest Mouse in Paris
Claris: The Secret Crown: The Chicest Mouse in Paris (Claris, 6)
Megan Hess: The Little Black Dress (The Ultimate Fashion Wardrobe)
Claris: A Très Chic Activity Book: Claris: The Chicest Mouse in Paris
Claris: Fashion Show Fiasco: The Chicest Mouse in Paris (The Claris Collection)
Italian Gardens of Lake Como
Megan Hess: The Bag
Italian Tailoring: A Glimpse into the World of Sartorial Masters
La Dolce Vita University: An Unconventional Guide to Italian Culture from A to Z
La Vita e Bella: The elegant art of living in the Italian style
La Dolce Vita University: An Unconventional Guide to Italian Culture from A to Z
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Mezzadro Chair – a nod to Italian Agriculture
Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni were not the first twentieth-century designers to consider the tractor seat in relation to sophisticated furniture production: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe used it for the Conchoidal chairs he conceived during the early 1940s. Read More →
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Lino Sabattani (1925 – 2016) Italian Metal Smith
Sabbatini worked as a silversmith from a very early age. He learned metalworking techniques and became interested in shapes derived from natural materials. The Boule teapot and example of his early work was designed for T. Wolff in Germany.Read More →
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Patrizia Ranzo Italian architect and designer
Patrizia Ranzo is an Italian architect and designer. She was born and active in Naples. She studied architecture in Naples to 1981. Read More →
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Cini Boeri Italian Furniture & Industrial Designer
She worked as an interior and furniture designer in the studio of Marco Zanuso, Milan, 1952—63. In 1963, she set up her studio, specializing in civil and interior architecture and industrial design. She was associated with ADI (Associazione per il Disegno Industriale). In 1979, she formed Cini Boeri Associati, Milan. Read More →
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Paolo Venini (1895 – 1959) Italian Glassware Designer
Murano glassware was historically decorated with opulent rubies and gold and fanciful forms in vibrant colours. He hired freelance designers like Martinuzzi and Fulvio Bianconi regularly. Gio Ponti from 1927, Carlo Scarpa from 1932, Eugene Berman from 1951, Ken Scott from 1951, Franco Albini from 1954, and Massimo Vignelli from 1956 were the designers he…
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Massimo Vignelli designer of subway maps to corporate logos
Massimo Vignelli and his wife Leila, an architect, were considered a husband and wife team credited with introducing restrained, European fashion and taste in America in the 1970s.Read More →
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Adalberto Dal Lago (b.1937) – Italian Architect and designer
Adalberto Dal Lago is an Italian architect and designer: born and active Milan. He was an assistant, Facolta di Architettura, Politecnico di Milano from 1964-70 and subsequently chair of interior design and then of the elements of composition. He published books on design and Modern architecture. The European Council commissioned him and architect Marco Zanus…
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Piero Polato (b.1936) Italian Industrial Designer
At ISIA, Urbano, Polato taught metallurgy. He wrote books about design education. Saiet, Avancart, Pellizzari, RAI, Televisione Svizzera Italiana, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Franco Rosso International, Fratelli Coppola, Furla, Mursia Editore, Robots, Zucchi, Il Bustese, and Muncherner Ruck were among his clientele. He was an ADI member (Associazione per il Disegno Industriale).Read More →
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Jacqueline Groag Czech textile designer – Encyclopedia of Design
Jacqueline Groag (1903 – 1986) was a Czech textile designer and ceramicist. Born in Prague she studied in Vienna at the Kunstgewerbeschule during the 1920s. In 1937 she moved to Paris where she designed dress prints for Jeanne Lanvin, Elsa Schiparelli and others. She escaped to Britian with her husband in 1939.
Olivetti design standard-bearer – Encyclopedia of Design
Olivetti is an Italian office machinery and furniture firm, located in Ivrea, Northern Italy. Olivetti Lexikon, Poster 1953 For a large part of its history, Olivetti has followed the highest aesthetic standards in its business activities: architecture, interiors, advertising, graphics, corporate branding, as well as its manufactured products-office and computer equipment and office furniture.