Large Floor Lamp in Double Glass by Antonio Citterio for Flos, 1990s

Born in 1950 in Meda, Italian designer-architect Antonio Citterio is admired for his multifaceted furniture designs, which span bold-colored plastic storage solutions for Kartell to luxury seating designs for B&B Italia and Maxalto.

Citterio opened his own studio in 1972, three years before he graduated from Milan’s Polytechnic School of Architecture. Since then, he has collaborated with major European design houses including Ansorg, Arclinea, Axor-Hansgrohe, B&B Italia, Flexform, Flos, Hermès, Iittala, Kartell, Sanitec Group, Technogym, Tre Più, and Vitra.

Citterio’s most notable furniture designs include the Sity Sofa (1986) for B&B Italia, which was awarded a Compasso d’Oro the following year; the extendable Battista Table (1991), Oxo Trolley (1992), and Mobil Container System (1993, Compasso d’Oro in 1994), all for Kartell, T-Chair (1996) for Vitra, Dolly Chair (1996) for Kartell, and the Luta and Ac Chairs (2006 and 2009) for B&B Italia. Since 1993, Antonio has worked as Head of Design at Maxalto, a subsidiary brand of B&B.

Between 1987 and 1996, he worked on many architectural projects in Europe and Japan with American architect Terry Dwan. Projects from this time include the redesign of a block in the historical center of Seregno, Italy (1987); the Esprit headquarters in Amsterdam, Antwerp, and Milan (1987); and industrial plants for Vitra in Germany (1992-2009) and Antonio Fusco in Milan (1993).

In 1999, he co-founded the architecture and design firm Antonio Citterio & Partners with Italian architect Patricia Viel (b. 1962). The firm—which was renamed Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel and Partners in 2009—specialises in the design of residential, commercial, hotel, office, and public spaces. Today, it remains the largest architectural firm in Italy, with an annual revenue of over 10 million euro. Notable projects include the premium passenger lounge at Qatar airport, Bulgari Hotels in Milan (2004), Bali (2006), and London (2012), Brooktorkai residential units and offices in Hamburg (2010), and the NOVE office building in Munich (2013-16).

Since 2006, Citterio has lectured in the Academy of Architecture in Mendrisio at the University of Lugano. Notably, Citterio has been the subject of three published biographies, Antonio Citterio Industrial Design (2004), Antonio Citterio (2005), and Antonio Citterio: Architettura e Design (2007). In 2008, he was honored by the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacture & Commerce of London, earning the prestigious title ‘Royal Designer for Industry’.

His Mobil Container System is part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, as is the Battista Table, Oxo Trolley, and Dolly Chair.

The roots of Italian lighting manufacturing company Flos can be traced to 1959. That is when Arturo Eisenkeil of Merano, Italy, began to look for new applications for a spray-on plastic coating he was importing from the United States. In the early 1960s, Eisenkeil had an auspicious meeting with two designer-entrepreneurs, Cesare Cassina (1909-1979) and Dino Gavina (1922-2007). Cassina was well versed in the vernacular of design, having founded his eponymous manufacturing company—often credited with introducing industrial design to Italy—along with his brother Umberto in 1927. Like Cassina, Gavina was also a design manufacturing impresario, having founded the Dino Gavina company in the 1950s and its subsidiary Gavina SpA in 1960. The three came together to launch Flos in Merano, Italy in 1962.

Flos’s mission was to revolutionize the lighting industry by exploiting new materials, starting with Eisenkeil’s “cocoon floss” polyamide. In the early years of Flos, design was overseen first by Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, followed by his brother Achille and Tobia Scarpa, and then Scarpa’s wife, Afra. The resulting products were intriguingly futuristic looking, such as the Castiglionis’ Viscontea Lamp (1960), Taraxacum Chandelier (1960), and Gato Table Light (1960), as well as the Scarpas’ Fantasma Floor Lamp (1960s). The effect of the cocoon allowed for a soft, ambient glow.

Other signature Flos pieces include the classic Arco Lamp (1962) by the Castiglioni brothers; the Parentesi Lamp (1971) by Achille Castiglioni and Pio Manzu, which was the first piece in the Flos collection to receive the Compasso d’Oro Award in 1979; the shaded Romeo Moon Table Lamp (1995) and Archimoon Soft Task Lamp (1998) by Philippe Starck; the portable work light May Day (1999) by Konstantin Grcic; and the opal glass Glo-Ball collection (1999) by Jasper Morrison. Other Flos collaborators include Michael Anastassiades, Barber Osgerby, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, Antonio Citterio, Ron Gilad, Marco Pezzolo, Paolo Rizzatto, Marc Sadler, Patricia Urquiola, Marcel Wanders, and Sebastian Wrong.

In 1964, the company moved to Brescia under the direction of Sergio Gandini. In the 1970s, Flos bought Arteluce, a well-known lighting manufacturer formerly led by Gino Sarfatti. In 1999, Gandini passed away, leaving Flos to his son Piero. In 2005, Flos acquired the Spanish architectural lighting brand Antares. In 2014, a significant portion of the company was sold to Investindustrial, which continues to support CEO Piero Gandini and Flos. Today, Flos offers a range of residential, commercial, and custom-made lighting products.

An ongoing dedication to innovation has ensured Flos a place in design history. Additionally, the brand continues to reap accolades for its collaborative legacy, working with iconic, award-winning designers. Flos designs can be found in museums around the world, including the permanent collection of the MoMA in New York and the Triennale Design Museum in Milan.