Zanuso Marco
Zanuso Marco
Marco Zanuso, Italian architect and designer, studied architecture from 1935 until 1939 at Milan Polytechnic. From 1945 Marco Zanuso had a practice in Milan and worked as an architect, urban planner and designer. Marco Zanuso is regarded as a leading light in postwar Italian design.
In 1946-47 Marco Zanuso was editor of “Domus”, then until 1949 editor of “Casabella”. In 1948 Marco Zanuso experimented on foam latex as seat upholstery material for Pirelli. In the process, Marco Zanuso designed several pieces of furniture, which were made by Arflex, including the “Antropus” armchair (1949), “Lady”, another armchair, and the “Triennale” sofa (both 1951).
From 1958 until 1977, the German designer Richard Sapper worked in Marco Zanuso’s practice and the two collaborated on a great many extremely imaginative and original designs for furniture, lamps, and electrical appliances. For Gavina, Zanuso and Sapper designed the “Lambda” chair of diecast steel (1959-64). For Kartell, Marco Zanuso and Richard Sapper 1961-64 designed the “4999/S” (1961-64), a stackable children’s chair of injection-molded polyethelene. In 1964 Zanuso and Sapper created the world-famous, block-like “TS502” radio that opens out for Brionvega, as well as the “Doney” (1964), “Algol” (1965), and “Black Box” (1969) portable televisions. In 1966 Marco Zanuso and Richard Sapper designed the “Grillo” for Siemens.
In 1956 Marco Zanuso co-founded the Associazione per il Disegno Industriale (ADI), of which he was president from 1966 until 1969.
Zu Marco Zanuso’s most important architectural projects include the Olivetti factory buildings in Buenos Aires and São Paulo (1955-57), and the Necchi office building in Pavia (1961-62), as well as IBM factory buildings in Segrate, Milan, and Palomba between 1974 and 1982.