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Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni Furniture

Italian

Milanese industrial designer-architects Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni (1918–2002; 1913-68) created some of the most iconic furniture designs in the world, particularly those that originated in the realm of mid-century modern lighting. 

In the late 1930s, after graduating from the acclaimed Polytechnic University of Milan, Pier Giacomo opened a design studio with his brother Livio and likeminded architect Luigi Caccia Dominioni. Achille, also a graduate of Milan Polytechnic, joined the group after completing his studies in 1944. The era’s architects were encountering difficulty in their attempts to secure building commissions, so the group focused on designing practical everyday objects such as the Model 547, a tabletop radio for Phonola that was encased in Bakelite

The Castiglioni brothers produced wildly popular and innovative designs throughout the 20th century. While Livio departed the practice in 1952 to pursue lighting design and sound technology on his own, Pier Giacomo and Achille would continue to collaborate on a wealth of projects in the ensuing years. 

Vintage furniture collectors may be familiar with Livio and Italian designer Gianfranco Frattini’s serpent-like Boalum lamp, while Achille’s Taraxacum hanging lamp — created for FLOS with sprayed plastic polymers originally intended for military use — as well as the Arco, Snoopy and Toio lamps, which were the result of the collaboration between Pier Giacomo and Achille, are milestones in modernist lighting design

Also for FLOS, Pier Giacomo and Achille created a series of metal frames that, wrapped in the polymer, became floor lamps (Gatto) or pendant lights (Viscontea and Taraxacum), all released in 1960. The Gatto floor lamp takes its name from the Italian word for “cat” and the inspiration for its aesthetic from lighting that George Nelson developed for legendary American furniture manufacturer Howard Miller during the 1940s. Around the same time, the designer Tobia Scarpa (son of the famed Italian architect Carlo Scarpa and one-half of the widely revered postmodern husband-and-wife design duo Afra and Tobia Scarpa) created a floor lamp called Fantasma (1961) using the polymers technique. FLOS continues to make the Castiglionis’ innovative pieces today.

In addition to their provocative lighting works, Pier Giacomo and Achille also created stereo systems, decorative objects, seating, tables and other items for the likes of Brionvega, Alessi, Zanotta, Kartell and more.

Find vintage Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni floor lamps, table lamps, pendants, seating and other furniture on 1stDibs.

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Creator: Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni
Taraxacum Pendant Light by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Flos Italy 1960
By Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Flos
Located in Renens, CH
This a great exemplary of the iconic "Taraxacum" pendant lamp by Achille and Piero Castiglioni for Flos around 1960. Inspired by the shape of the dandelion flower this lamp was the first result of a series of experiments to apply a cocoon resin...
Category

1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni Furniture

Materials

Metal

Achille & Pier Castiglioni 'Saliscendi' Adjustable Pendant in Green for Stilnovo
By Stilnovo, Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni
Located in Glendale, CA
Achille & Pier Castiglioni 'Saliscendi' adjustable pendant in green for Stilnovo Founded in 1946 in Milan, Stilnovo was one of the most innovative lighting companies in Italy during...
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni Furniture

Materials

Steel

Achille & Pier Castiglioni 'Saliscendi' Adjustable Pendant in Red for Stilnovo
By Stilnovo, Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni
Located in Glendale, CA
Achille & Pier Castiglioni 'Saliscendi' adjustable pendant in red for Stilnovo Founded in 1946 in Milan, Stilnovo was one of the most innovative lighting companies in Italy during...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni Furniture

Materials

Steel

Achille & Pier Castiglioni 'Saliscendi' Adjustable Pendant in White for Stilnovo
By Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Stilnovo
Located in Glendale, CA
Achille & Pier Castiglioni 'Saliscendi' adjustable pendant in white for Stilnovo Founded in 1946 in Milan, Stilnovo was one of the most innovative lighting companies in Italy duri...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni Furniture

Materials

Steel

Castiglioni Snoopy 1st Edition Table Lamp 1967
By Achille Castiglioni, Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Flos
Located in Munich, DE
This is the very rare first Edition Snoopy table lamp from Flos of 1967. The Snoopy lamp was originally designed in 1967 by Achille & Pier Giacomo Castigli...
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1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni Furniture

Materials

Carrara Marble, Aluminum

Italian Mid-Century Cocoon Table Lamp Gatto by Castiglioni for Flos, 1960s
By Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Flos
Located in MIlano, IT
Italian mid-century Cocoon table lamp Gatto by Castiglioni for Flos, 1960s Table lamp mod. Gatto (Cat) in beige cocoon. The structure is given by a series of thin metal tubes, entire...
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1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni Furniture

Materials

Metal

Castiglioni MidCentury Chromed Metal "Light Ball" Italian Sconce for Flos, 1960s
By Flos, Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni
Located in Roma, IT
Amazing mid-century "Light Ball' sconce chrome metal and opaline glass for Flos. This fantastic item was designed by Achille Castiglioni and manufactured in Italy for Flos during the 1960s. This amazing piece is unique because of the materials, as it is made of chromed metal and opaline glass. Each light takes one E27 75w maximum bulb. A great sconce that will smarten a midcentury living room or bathroom. Literature: Casa Amica, 27 June 1972, p. 105 Octagon 30 September 1973, p. 149 Sergio Polano, Achille Castiglioni all the works, Electa, Milano, 2001, p. 224 Giuliana Gramigna, repertoire 1950-2000, Allemandi, Torino, 2003, p. 121. The beginnings of Flos (meaning “flower” in Latin) blossomed from a brilliant idea: to create objects, starting with a light bulb, that would change the way of life for both the Italian market and the foreign markets. Dino Gavina and the small Eisenkeil manufacturing facility in Merano, had already been creating furniture alongside design masters such as Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Afra and Tobia Scarpa. But by the early ‘60s, Gavina became convinced the time had come to create new lamps. Using the same technology – conceived in the USA and tested at Eisenkeil – used for the Cocoon lampthe Castiglioni brothers and the Scarpa duo began creating lamps such as the Taraxacum or the Fantasma, with many other beautiful and surprising lamps to follow. And so, from day one, Flos was already reinventing the idea of artificial lighting. Achille Castiglioni (born February 16, 1918, Milan–died December 2, 2002, Milan) was a prolific furniture, lighting, and product Italian designer renown for his ironic, joyful, creative and functional designs that, at times, intersected with ideas explored by conceptual artists. Achille Castiglioni was born into a family with deep appreciation for the arts, as he was the third son of sculptor and coin engraver Giannino Castiglioni and his wife Livia Bolla. He first studied the classics at the Liceo Classico Giuseppe Parini, but then switched to study art at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan. In 1937, he decided to follow the steps of his two elder brothers, architects Livio and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, by enrolling in the Faculty of Architecture at the Politecnico di Milano, graduating in 1944–after having to interrupt his studies when he was stationed in Greece and Sicily during World War II. In 1944, immediately after graduating, Achille Castiglioni joined his brothers Livio and Pier Giacomo in the design studio that they had founded with Livio’s classmate Luigi Caccia Dominioni in 1937 in Milan. Fortunately for Achille, from the very beginning Livio and Pier Giacomo decided to focus almost entirely on designing exhibitions, furniture, housewares, and appliances since architectural commissions were difficult to come by during the war. This product-design focus, and the deep fraternal bound among the three brothers, would later allow the young Achille to experiment early in his career with emerging techniques and new materials that could communicate a fresh aesthetic sensibility suited for the positive outlook of the post-war European market. The Castiglioni brothers’ important collaboration with Phonola and Brionvega In 1940, Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Livio Castiglioni, and Luigi Caccia Dominioni, in collaboration withe the Phonola company, presented in the VII Triennale di Milano (Milan Triennial), titled Exhibition of the Radio, a research study of radio devices that included the Fimi Phonola 547 radio, the first radio encased in Bakelite instead of wood. Shortly after the exhibition, Luigi Caccia Dominioni suspended his professional activity to serve in the military during World War II and left the studio. The development of the FImi Phonola 547 radio would prove fruitful for the three brothers, as it allowed Livio Castiglioni to cement his role as the leading design consultant for Phonola from 1940 until 1960, and for Brionvega, from 1960 until 1964. These relationships brought in further collaboration among the three brothers, and would eventually result in several designs for radio and sound appliances with innovative materials and shapes for which Achille Castiglioni played a key role, such as the RR 226 stereo system for Brinovega (1965), the radio phonograph...
Category

1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni Furniture

Materials

Metal, Chrome

Servofumo Ashtray by Castiglioni Steel Alluminium Italy 80s-90s
By Zanotta, Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni
Located in Milano, IT
Servofumo is an ashtray that belongs to the \"Servi\" series by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni. Ashtray with polypropylene base, steel support rod and sand tray in painted alum...
Category

20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni Furniture

Materials

Aluminum, Steel

Castiglioni Midcentury Blue Metal "Light Ball" Italian Sconce for Flos, 1960s
By Flos, Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni
Located in Roma, IT
Amazing midcentury "Light Ball' sconce blue metal and opaline glass for Flos. This fantastic item was designed by Achille Castiglioni and manufactured in Italy for Flos during the 19...
Category

1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni Furniture

Materials

Metal

Set of Four "Relemme" Pendant Lamps by Castiglioni for Flos
By Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Flos
Located in Milan, IT
Rare set of four "Relemme" pendant lamps by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni for Flos. Enameled spun aluminium shade, fitted with a silver domed reflection bulb. Lower rim of s...
Category

1960s Italian Vintage Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni Furniture

Materials

Metal

Achille And Pier Giacomo Castiglioni furniture for sale on 1stDibs.

Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni furniture are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of metal and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni furniture, although brown editions of this piece are particularly popular. We have 148 vintage editions of these items in-stock, while there is 49 modern edition to choose from as well. Many of the original furniture by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni were created in the mid-century modern style in europe during the 20th century. If you’re looking for additional options, many customers also consider furniture by Achille Castiglioni, Angelo Brotto, and Marcello Fantoni. Prices for Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni furniture can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $310 and can go as high as $33,374, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $1,880.

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