Achille Castiglioni

Born in 1918 in Milan into a family that was passionate about design and creativity. His father was a famous sculpture artist and his brother was a design academic. Due to his lively and passionate upbringing, Achille Castiglioni has always had a fascination with design and a unique personality. These two characteristics have made Castiglioni a well-known designer and a keen mentor to many talented individuals. After graduating with an architecture degree from the Politecnico University of Milan in 1944, he joined his brother and friend at the renowned Studio Castiglioni, which they established together in 1938. Here, Castiglioni developed his designer identity and worked on projects ranging from urban planning to furniture design and then to lighting design.

From 1980 to 1993, at the Politecnico University of Milan, Castiglioni mentored some of the world's classic designers such as Patricia Urquiola and Giancarlo Mattioli. During his 68 year career, he won multiple awards and recognitions. This has led him to work with some of the most iconic brands in the world such as Flos and Kartell. Throughout his career, Castiglioni was not only known for his skilled designs but also for his loud and ironic personality. His students tend to comment on his positive attitude and the understanding that life shouldn't be taken so seriously. He likes to 'keep it simple and useful' when designing lighting. He says “My method is to take out again and over again, until I will find the main design component: a minimum sign or a minimum shape required by the function. I want to get to say: less than this, I can’t do it.”