Anna Castelli Ferrieri

Anna Castelli Ferrieri (August 6, 1918 - June 22, 2006) was an Italian architect and industrial designer.

She is most known for her influence in the use of plastics as a mainstream design material and her cofounding of Kartell, an Italian contemporary furniture company.

Ferrieri was born on August 6, 1918, in Milan, Italy.

She was one of the first women to study at Milan Polytechnic University, from which she graduated in 1943 with a degree in architecture.

During her studies, Ferrieri was influenced by Italian Rationalist architect Franco Albini, whose work and theory focused on reduction, function, and rigorous beauty.

She was also influenced by the simplicity and functionality championed by the Bauhaus school of art, architecture, and design in Germany.

In addition to her work, she founded and was a member of several organizations including; The Movement of Architecture Studies (MAS) of Milan, 1945; National Institution of Urban Planning (NIU), 1952-1956 and later became president from 1969-1971; Italian Industrial Design Association (IDA) in 1956.

After her studies, from 1946 to1947, she worked as an editor at the architecture magazine Costruzioni.

In 1949, Ferrieri joined her husband, Giulio Castelli, in founding the furniture company Kartell, which would become a leading company in the manufacture of high-quality plastic furniture, lighting, and homewares.

Plastic at this time was considered to be an industrial material and was not typically seen inside the home.

According to historian Catharine Rossi, Ferrieri experienced problems in partnership due to her trouble in balancing her role as a wife and as an architect designer.

She only agreed to work at Kartell, per her husband’s request, after two of his business partners left.

As the internal and leading designer at Kartell, Anna Ferreri lead the way for innovative designs that led the company.

In the 1960s and 1970s, furniture contributed more growth to the Kartell company over any other divisions of the company.

This innovative furniture became the image of the company and the products that represented this image were the colored fitted furniture, the flower boxes, and the stools designed by Anna Castelli Ferrieri.

Anna Ferrieri designed the first chair from a single mould in 1968.

Anna Castelli Ferrieri laid the Kartell foundations on geometric shapes, bold color, and highly polished finishes.

This exhibition featured her “Componobili” of 1969.

One of her best known works is the Componibili.

Componibilis are stacking module storage pieces.

These units have been described as, "Flexible, functional and practical".

and as "instantly endearing and slightly futuristic elegance that suits any situation with ease."

Today, even after 40 years of production the Componibili is still one of Kartell's best selling furniture items.

A more compiled list of all of Ferrieri’s exhibitions are listed below.

In 1972, Ferrieri and her husband exhibited artwork in the “Italy: The New Domestic Landscape” exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Ferrieri worked as art director for Kartell from 1976 to 1987, and is most known for her use of materials such as metal and polyurethane.

Through her use of plastics, a fairly unused furniture material at the time, she was able to create novel forms that were both elegant and functional.

She mediated between creativity of the designers and the needs of the technical project achievability – all while still creating her own designs.

Ferrieri married Giulio Castelli and the couple led the way in Italian modern design with Kartell throughout the 60s, 70s and 80s.

In 1982, she created the first table to be made of entirely injection molded plastic.

She also published two books; one in 1984, “From Project to Product: Plastic and Design”, and the second book was published in 1991, “The Interface of Material”, which explains the responsible behavior on the part of designers.

In addition, she also has published a profound list of articles.

Ferrieri was a pioneering architect, commonly associated with post war Italian Modern Design.

Her design focused on technological innovation through the use of new materials, like plastic.

Ferrieri created more than 50 architectural projects, but some of her most famous and iconic

works are as follow; the Kartell headquarters (with it being made from brilliant red blocks), a residential building on Via Marchiondi in Milan, and several offices and factories in Alfa Romeo.

All of these were created in collaboration with Ignazio Gardella.

Although, according to biographer Cristina Morozzi, Gardella took the recognition for projects that Ferrieri worked on because he wanted to be the master of his own studio.

In 1988, she created arm lounge chair that had a “marbleized” injection blend of plastic.

Anna Ferrieri won numerous awards, including the Compasso d’Oro, an industrial design award given by ADI to acknowledge and promote high quality designs.