Gradual Lounge Sofa in Black Leather by Cini Boeri for Knoll / Gavina, 1971

Born in 1924 in Milan, Cini Boeri is an award-winning industrial designer, architect, and interior designer. Along with Gae Aulenti, she was one of the few female Italian designers to enjoy international success in the postwar era. Her work has consistently underscored the psychological connection between humans and their environment.

After graduating from the Polytechnic University in Milan in 1951, she interned at Giò Ponti’s architectural firm before working for many years with designer Marco Zanuso. In 1963, Boeri founded her eponymous architecture studio, focusing on industrial design as well as civil architecture. She created many modern Italian design classics, including the Bobo Lounge (1967), which was the first exclusively foam Monobloc seat; the 602 Table Lamp (1968); the polyurethane Serpentone Lounge (1971) that was sold by the meter; the modular Strips Series (1972, awarded the Compasso D’Oro in 1979); the sculpted glass Cibi Tumbler (1973), the Ghost Armchair (1987 in collaboration with Tomu Katayanagi); and the Bortolo Chair (2014).

Over the course of her career, Boeri has collaborated with some of the biggest Italian and international brands including Arflex, Artemide, Rosenthal, Knoll, Magis , Venini, Fiam, Misawa Homes, Tre-P Tre-Piu, Tronconi, and Philips. Her most celebrated architectural projects include The Domestic Project, first exhibited at the 1986 Triennale; The Bunker House (1967) on the island of La Maddalena; Casa nel Bosco (1969) near Lago Maggiore; and the Apartment on Three Levels in central Milan (2006).

As well as winning the Compasso d’Oro for the Strip Series, Boeri has been the recipient of many prestigious international prizes, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Italian Cultural Institute of Los Angeles in 2008; she was nominated as an honorary member of ADI in 2012. She has held many esteemed positions at several international institutions and universities, including the Politecnico di Milano, UC Berkeley, UCLA, and the University of Lugano in Switzerland. Her work can be found in Milan Triennale Design Museum and New York's MoMA.

For more information about Boeri's unique design philosophy, check out The Human Dimension of Home Living (Franco Angeli: Milan, 1980).

* Images courtesy of Cini Boeri Architetti