Designers

After his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Brera (Milan), in the early ‘50s he became part of the nuclear painting movement with Enrico Baj. Shortly thereafter, at the beginning of the ‘60s, he turned his attention to architecture and interior design and started working as a product developer. Colombo’s works are highly distinguishable not only for the great attention paid to materials, but also for their extreme flexibility and versatility. The Tube Chair and the Multi Chair are excellent proof of this, as they are very simple and modular, and lend themselves to infinite ways of being used. Colombo’s creativity is also expressed through the design of expo fair booths, as well as in several other design pieces like cars, watches, glasses and much more.
His latest pieces are multifunctional, residential and interior design projects where Colombo makes all conventional pieces of furniture redundant, developing a new concept able to offer the best comfort and the highest functionality.
The impressive and stunning work of Joe Colombo, who died in 1971 on the day of his forty-first birthday, is the fruit of a decade of work characterized by an obsessive search for new ideas and projects.

Carlo Colombo is considered one of the most important Italian architects and designers. From the very start, he designed for top-level brands. From that moment, he has been collaborating with hundreds of the most important brands of Italian design and Made in Italy. In addition to designing products and furniture, Colombo also collaborates with companies on marketing strategies, graphic designs and designing exhibits; he also works as a consultant and art director. His design work initially concentrated on interiors, and progressively extended to the building sector, in Italy and abroad. In 2004, he won the title of Designer of the Year; in 2009, he won an international competition for designing the two poly-functional towers in Abu Dhabi and in 2011 taught design at the De Tao Masters Academy in Beijing, China. Among his many recognitions are the Elle Décor International Design Award (2005, 2008, 2010, 2011), the Good Design Award from the European Centre for Architecture Art Design (2009), and The Chicago Athenaeum, the Red Dot Design Award (2012 and 2014), the Interior Innovation Award and the iF design award with Teuco. Today the firm designs on a large scale throughout the world, from interior design to architecture.

Born in 1952, he graduated with honors in architecture from the Milan Polytechnic. He has collaborated with various institutions including the University of Milan, the University of Pavia, the Venice Biennale, the Comprensorio 8 in Como, the Intercomunale of Pordenone, the Casino of Campione and he collaborates with important Italian and foreign companies in the furniture sector. Winner of the Leonardo Prize from the Museum of Science and Technology in Milan with the “Riletto”, and of the Professional Design Award in Valencia. Holder of numerous Italian and European patents for inventions, he works prevalently in the field of industrial design, with special attention to the study of poly-functional products and new technologies.

Paolo Nava was born in Seregno in 1943; he graduated from the Faculty of Architecture, Milan Polytechnic, and attended the Upper Course in Industrial Design in Florence, qualifying in 1966. He completed his training in England, working with industrial design studios. In 1972 he founded the Citterio & Nava studio with Antonio Citterio, drawing together some iconic products of Italian design. From 1982 on, Paolo Nava autonomously continues in his studio/atelier the activity of designer, focusing on the design for products and furnishings for many prestigious Italian and international brands.
In the projects of Paolo Nava, the continuous search is underscored for possible dialogue between his own poetic vision and the concrete industrial and productive needs, through a personal conceptual approach regarding the home, generating a profound transformation of use, building new relationships between materials and technologies where the shape of its objects is often only the natural consequence of a precise design process.
The Paolo Nava design studio has to its credit the development of numerous products for the furniture industry with particular attention to the world of kitchens. The activity of the firm extends to the design of consumer products, to exhibitions and communication. 
Paolo Nava is frequently invited to lecture and teach in many countries. The firm, over the course of its activity, has won numerous international design awards and recognition.

After a degree in architecture at the Milan Polytechnic, he trained for the profession in the Milan of the ‘50s and was an assistant professor of interior design in architecture (1953-1958).
In the area of Industrial Design in the ‘50s, he was one of the first to deal with this problem. He is among the founders of ADI of which he is currently an honorary member. He was part of the various Executive Committees and Working Boards of the same association. He has taught Industrial Design at the 
Istituto Superiore d’Arte of Venice and abroad at the Experimental Insitute of Shizuoka in Japan. He has held numerous conferences and participated in Round Table discussions in Italy and abroad, especially in France, Germany, Portugal, the United States, Japan, China, India and Thailand. He participated in numerous juries for architectural and industrial design competitions in Italy and abroad. Many objects designed by Sergio Asti are present in collections of the most important museums and in private collections in italy and abroad. He has received important recognition on various occasions: Triennale of Milano, Compasso d'Oro, MoMA in New York, Philadelphia Museum, Bienale Industrijskega Oblikovanja inLubiana, and received prizes abroad in France and Japan. He has held many personal shows as well as collective shows in Italy, Canada, the United States, Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Brazil and France.