Alvise Floor Lamp by Massoni for Guzzini – Carrara Marble, Italian Minimalism

Luigi Massoni was one of Italy’s most prolific designers and instrumental in the growth of the country’s design industry in the postwar years through his products, advertising campaigns and journalistic work at Italian magazines.

Born in Milan, Massoni trained at the Collettivo di Architettura in Milan and worked as an architect and designer as well as a freelance journalist and consultant. He was involved with many of Italy’s most influential brands, such as Poltrona Frau, the Guzzini group and Alessi. Massoni was hired by Alessi, the legendary housewares and kitchen utensils manufacturer, which had been around since 1921, in the mid-1950s. In 1957, he collaborated with like-minded product designer Carlo Mazzeri on the universally renowned stainless-steel cocktail shaker 870, which, followed by other kitchen containers for the brand, was one of the first objects from Alessi that hadn’t been created in-house.

Together with architect Carlo De Carli, Massoni founded a magazine called Il Mobile Italiano and later Mobilia, an association of Italian furniture makers and one of the first organizations that focused on the promotion of Italian design. In the 1960s, Massoni began to design lamps and serveware for Guzzini, where he also consulted on design and company communications. He designed revolutionary furnishings for the kitchen at Boffi Cucine, producing modular kitchens, cabinets without traditional handles and more.

On 1stDibs, browse a collection of vintage Luigi Massoni vanity tables, sideboards, table lamps and more.

Milanese designer and architect Achille Castiglioni sought to inject personality into all of his work, and found deep inspiration in everyday objects. A legend of Italian mid-century modernism, he created iconic, universally loved table lamps, chairs and other lighting and furniture with his likeminded brothers during the postwar years. 

There was the Snoopy lamp, which brings to mind the unmistakable Peanuts character, while the shape of a common street lamp inspired the design behind the Arco floor lamp. Elsewhere, the Toio floor lamp — a provocative fixture in any living room — was made with automotive parts as well as run-of-the-mill recreational gear. 

Castiglioni studied the classics at Liceo Classico Giuseppe Parini, art at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera and finally architecture and design at the Polytechnic University of Milan. After graduating in 1944, Castiglioni began working with his brothers Pier Giacomo and Livio at the studio they cofounded with classmate Luigi Caccia Dominioni.

Livio left to pursue lighting design and sound technology, leaving Achille and Pier Giacomo to continue to collaborate on various projects. One such design was the iconic Taraxacum hanging lamp for FLOS which featured a resin “cocoon” created with sprayed plastic polymers that protects its steel core and allows for the diffusion of light.

Castiglioni won Italy’s highest award for industrial design — the Compasso d’Oro — seven times, and the Museum of Modern Art was home to his first individual retrospective in the United States. Castiglioni later taught at the Polytechnic University of Turin and at Polytechnic in Milan.

Castiglioni’s designs remain timeless. Some of them can be found in Tokyo’s Living Design Center Ozone, the Triennale di Milano and the Hangaram Art Museum at the Seoul Arts Center.

Find vintage Achille Castiglioni lighting, seating, tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.