Vico Magistretti was born in Milan in 1920, where he studied architecture at the then Royal Polytechnic. During the war years, from 1943 to 1945, he sought refuge in Switzerland, where he met Ernesto Nathan Rogers, a pivotal figure in his intellectual and professional development. After returning to Milan in 1945, he graduated and immediately began working in his father’s studio, following his father’s death earlier that same year. In the small family studio opposite the Conservatory of Music, he would work for more than sixty years alongside Franco Montella, his trusted and invaluable collaborator from 1951 to 2003.
In the post-war period, Magistretti played an active role in Milan’s architectural and cultural scene. He contributed to the Mostra della Ricostruzione (Exhibition of Reconstruction) and to the Trienniali, designed and realised around fourteen housing schemes for INA-Casa in collaboration with other architects and, with Mario Tedeschi, took part in the collective QT8 project through the design of the church of Santa Maria Nascente (1947-55).
Among his most important projects in Milan are the Torre al Parco Sempione in Via Revere (1953–56, with Franco Longoni), the office building in Corso Europa (1955–57), the residential building in Piazzale Aquileia (1961–64), the house in Via Conservatorio (1963–66), the Milano San Felice district in Segrate (1966–69, with Luigi Caccia Dominioni), the building in Piazza San Marco (1969–71), the Faculty of Biology of the University of Milan (1978–81, with Franco Soro) and the MM Famagosta Depot (1989–2001).
Magistretti’s work also extended beyond Milan. Notable projects include Casa Arosio in Arenzano (1956–59), Casa Bassetti in Azzate (1959–62), Casa Cassina in Carimate (1964–65), the Locanda dell’Angelo in Amelia (1973–75), Casa Tanimoto in Tokyo (1985–86), the Cavagnari Service Centre for the Cassa di Risparmio in Parma (1983–85), the Tecnocentro for the Cassa di Risparmio of Bologna in Casalecchio di Reno (1986–88), the new Barilla offices in Pedrignano (1991–94) and the Esselunga supermarket in Pantigliate (1997–2001).
From the 1960s onwards, his architectural practice increasingly ran alongside his work as a designer, creating furniture and objects that would become enduring classics of contemporary design. He collaborated with a wide range of Italian and international companies, including Artemide, Campeggi, Cassina, De Padova, Flou, Fontana Arte, Fredericia, Fritz Hansen, Kartell, Olivari, Oluce, Poggi, Schiffini Mobili Cucine and Gebrüder Thonet Vienna.
In 1967 he received his first Compasso d’Oro for the Eclisse lamp for Artemide, followed in 1979 by awards for the Atollo lamp for Oluce and the Maralunga sofa for Cassina. In 2004 he was honoured with the Compasso d’Oro for lifetime achievement.
Magistretti was a member of the Accademia di San Luca and of the Royal College of Art in London, where he taught as a visiting professor in Furniture Design.
He died in Milan on 19 September 2006. His studio is now a studio museum that preserves and presents his archive of architectural and design projects.
