Italian architect, designer, teacher and urban planner Angelo Mangiarotti was a leading light in the international design community from the 1960s onward. While he was an adherent of the rationalist principles of purity of line and simplicity of construction, he sought to imbue his designs for coffee tables, dining chairs, sconces and other furnishings with a sense of character and lightness of spirit that was often lacking in late-20th-century modernist architecture and design.
Born in Milan, Mangiarotti studied architecture at Milan Polytechnic, graduating in 1948. Five years later, he won a visiting professorship at the Illinois Institute of Technology — beginning a peripatetic academic career that would see him teaching in numerous Italian institutions as well as in schools as far afield as Hawaii and Australia. He worked with Bauhaus eminences Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and met such greats as Frank Lloyd Wright and Walter Gropius. He returned to Italy in 1955 and would go on to work on numerous industrial, residential, commercial and civic projects in his home country, most notably a group of six railway stations in Milan.
As a designer, Mangiarotti and the development of his career embodies the evolution of modernism in the latter decades of the 20th century. In the late 1950s and early ’60s, after early experiments in plywood furniture and one-piece foam-core seating — including the 1110 lounge chair for Cassina — Mangiarotti began to design using more classic materials, from delicate, curvaceous blown-glass table lamps for Artemide to chandeliers with crystal links for Vistosi.
In 1971, Mangiarotti introduced what became his signature designs: a series of tables in marble and other stones that featured “gravity joints,” their legs held in place by the weight of the tabletop. Tables in his Eros collection have muscular proportions that anticipate the robust, overscaled lines of postmodern works that would appear 10 years later: His Eccentrico table, for example, is a striking assemblage in marble featuring a top that is cantilevered dramatically on a canted columnar base.
But simplicity and practicality were consistently the primary watchwords of Mangiarotti’s designs. The purity and elegance of the objects he created offer a graceful counterpoint to a traditional decor, yet they have a singular sculptural presence that allows them to stand out powerfully in a modern interior.
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Angelo Mangiarotti Pair Marble Vases
By Angelo Mangiarotti, Knoll
Located in New York, NY
Pair of Angelo Mangiarotti Marble Vases for Knoll.
Marble
Exceptional Sculpture "Monumental Cambiamiento" by Angelo Mangiarotti, 2006
By Angelo Mangiarotti
Located in Girona, Spain
Exceptional sculpture by Angelo Mangiarotti, Italy, circa 2006 Unique piece. Provenance : Special order for Mangiarotti editor. Carrara marble. Mangiarotti has worked for Cassina...
Carrara Marble
Angelo Mangiarotti Calacatta Marble Vase, Mid-Century Modern, 1960s
By Angelo Mangiarotti
Located in Dallas, TX
Angelo Mangiarotti (1921-2012) was an Italian designer and architect who focused on industrial process and design production. Mangiarotti believed strongly in the correct use of technique and manner and built his reputation on the idea that one should never forget the real needs of users. He graduated from the Architecture School of Politecnico di Milano in 1948, moved to the U.S. in 1953 and worked as a visiting professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology where me met the likes of Konrad...
Marble
Angelo Mangiarotti Gray Marble Vase
By Angelo Mangiarotti
Located in Dallas, TX
Angelo Mangiarotti (1921-2012) was an Italian designer and architect who focused on industrial process and design production. Mangiarotti believed strongly in the correct use of technique and manner and built his reputation on the idea that one should never forget the real needs of users. He graduated from the Architecture School of Politecnico di Milano in 1948, moved to the U.S. in 1953 and worked as a visiting professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology where me met the likes of Konrad Wachsmann, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright and Walter Gropius. In 1955, Mangiarotti returned to Italy and opened his own firm in Milan with Bruno Morassutti...
Marble
Angelo Mangiarotti Gray Marble Vase, Mid-Century Modern, Italy, 1960s
By Angelo Mangiarotti
Located in Dallas, TX
Angelo Mangiarotti (1921-2012) was an Italian designer and architect who focused on industrial process and design production. Mangiarotti believed strongly in the correct use of technique and manner and built his reputation on the idea that one should never forget the real needs of users. He graduated from the Architecture School of Politecnico di Milano in 1948, moved to the U.S. in 1953 and worked as a visiting professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology where me met the likes of Konrad...
Marble
Angelo Mangiarotti Calacatta Marble Vase, Mid-Century Modern, 1960s
By Angelo Mangiarotti
Located in Dallas, TX
Angelo Mangiarotti (1921-2012) was an Italian designer and architect who focused on industrial process and design production. Mangiarotti believed strongly in the correct use of technique and manner and built his reputation on the idea that one should never forget the real needs of users. He graduated from the Architecture School of Politecnico di Milano in 1948, moved to the U.S. in 1953 and worked as a visiting professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology where me met the likes of Konrad...
Marble
Multifaced Ceramic Vase by Angelo Mangiarotti for Brambilla
By Angelo Mangiarotti, Fratelli Brambilla
Located in Barcelona, ES
Multifaced vase designed in 1968 by Angelo Mangiarotti for Brambilla Ceramiche, Italy. Glazed ceramic in different tones. Labelled.
Ceramic
Angelo Mangiarotti Vase for Knoll
By Angelo Mangiarotti
Located in Greensboro, NC
Iconic Knoll marble vase designed by Angelo Mangiarotti. This vessel came from the estate of the Director of the Boston Knoll showroom in the 1960s/70s.
Marble
Italian Black Marble Cup/Ashtray by Angelo Mangiarotti, 1970s
By Angelo Mangiarotti
Located in Brussels, BE
Italian black marble cup/ashtray by Angelo Mangiarotti, 1970s.
Marble
Angelo Mangiarotti, marble vase, mod. 8532, for Knoll, 1968
By Angelo Mangiarotti
Located in Como, CO
Angelo Mangiarotti (1921 - 2012) Mondragone marble vase Mod. 8532 Made for Knoll International in 1968 Measurements: 20.5x7.5 cm Weight: 4540 gr.
Marble