Anna Castelli Ferrieri

Anna Castelli Ferrieri (6 August 1918 – 22 June 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.

Early life and education Ferrieri was born on 6 August 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. whose work and theory focused on reduction, function, and rigorous beauty.

Career After her studies, from 1946 to 1947, 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Anna Ferrieri won numerous awards, including the Compasso d’Oro, an industrial design award given by ADI to acknowledge and promote high quality designs. However, her work is still in production which speaks the highest praise.

Exhibitions • Design Italian Style, Hallmark Gallery, New York, 1968 • Italy: The New Domestic Landscape, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1972• Design and Design, Palazzo delle Stelline, Milan, 1979• Italienisches Moebel Design, Stadtmuseum, Cologne, 1980• Dal Cucchiaio alla Città, Milan Triennale, 1983• Italian Women Designers, Takashimaya Stores, Tokyo, 1985 • Anna Castelli Ferrieri per Kartell, Galliano, Turin, 1985• Anna Castelli Ferrieri at Gallery Modus, Berlin, 1986• Sedersi Kartell, La Rinascente, Milan, 1988• Industrial Elegance, Pacific Design Center, Los Angeles, 1992 • Design Award, American Societies of Industrial Design, Museum of Art, San Diego, 1981• Gold Medal, BIO9, Llubljana, 1982; Furniture Fair Design Award, Clogne, 1982 and 1987• Industrial Design Magazine Annual Award, New York, 1983• Fine Furniture of the Year Award, Hamburg, 1984. was a well-known journalist, Her husband, Giulio Castelli, was a chemical engineer and she later became his Kartell business partner. In 1988, the couple sold their company to Claudio Luti, their son in law, and retired. Even after retirement, Ferrieri remained active in the design field. She taught at the Milan Domus Academy from 1987 – 1992. She also took on a variety of commissions, including: “a sofa design for Arflex, a chair for Matteo Grassi, and flatware for Sambonet”

Death

Ferrieri died on 22 June 2006. in her home in Milan, at the age of 87, from complications of lung disease. She was survived by her husband, Giulio Castelli; daughter, Maria Castelli; and son, Valerio Castelli. Giulio Castelli died four months later at the age of 86.