Italian architect, designer, teacher and urban planner Angelo Mangiarotti was a leading light in the international design community from the 1960s onward. While he was an adherent of the rationalist principles of purity of line and simplicity of construction, he sought to imbue his designs for coffee tables, dining chairs, sconces and other furnishings with a sense of character and lightness of spirit that was often lacking in late-20th-century modernist architecture and design.
Born in Milan, Mangiarotti studied architecture at Milan Polytechnic, graduating in 1948. Five years later, he won a visiting professorship at the Illinois Institute of Technology — beginning a peripatetic academic career that would see him teaching in numerous Italian institutions as well as in schools as far afield as Hawaii and Australia. He worked with Bauhaus eminences Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and met such greats as Frank Lloyd Wright and Walter Gropius. He returned to Italy in 1955 and would go on to work on numerous industrial, residential, commercial and civic projects in his home country, most notably a group of six railway stations in Milan.
As a designer, Mangiarotti and the development of his career embodies the evolution of modernism in the latter decades of the 20th century. In the late 1950s and early ’60s, after early experiments in plywood furniture and one-piece foam-core seating — including the 1110 lounge chair for Cassina — Mangiarotti began to design using more classic materials, from delicate, curvaceous blown-glass table lamps for Artemide to chandeliers with crystal links for Vistosi.
In 1971, Mangiarotti introduced what became his signature designs: a series of tables in marble and other stones that featured “gravity joints,” their legs held in place by the weight of the tabletop. Tables in his Eros collection have muscular proportions that anticipate the robust, overscaled lines of postmodern works that would appear 10 years later: His Eccentrico table, for example, is a striking assemblage in marble featuring a top that is cantilevered dramatically on a canted columnar base.
But simplicity and practicality were consistently the primary watchwords of Mangiarotti’s designs. The purity and elegance of the objects he created offer a graceful counterpoint to a traditional decor, yet they have a singular sculptural presence that allows them to stand out powerfully in a modern interior.
Find vintage Angelo Mangiarotti furniture on 1stDibs.
TL30 Table by Franco Albini for Poggi
By Franco Albini
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Model TL30 marble table designed by Franco Albini for Poggi, Pavia. Made in Italy circa 1950s. Reference: G. Gramigna, "Repertorio del design italiano 1950-2000", p. 53, Allemandi, ...
Carrara Marble, Metal
Model 302 Table by Angelo Mangiarotti for Bernini
By Angelo Mangiarotti
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Carrara marble and cast bronze table designed by Italian architect and designer Angelo Mangiarotti and made by Italy by Fonderia Battaglia for Bernini in 1959. Base with manufacture...
Carrara Marble, Bronze
Jumbo Table by Gae Aulenti
By Gae Aulenti
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Carrara marble "Jumbo" table by Gae Aulenti for Knoll International. Made in Italy circa 1960s.
Carrara Marble
Table by Giulio Lazzotti for Mageia
By Giulio Lazzotti
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Table with etched grindstone base and marble top by Giulio Lazzotti for Mageia. Made in Italy circa 1981. The name of the town where Giulio Lazzotti lives and works, Pietrasanta, can be alternately translated as Saint Peter or “holy stone,” the latter being wholly appropriate for a designer and architect whose work in marble, metal and wood takes on a serene, sculptural presence. Lazzotti was educated at the prestigious University of Florence, where he later returned to teach architecture. Since 1975, Lazzotti has maintained a diverse practice encompassing architecture, interior design and furniture design, winning such awards as first prize for Design at the Moving Fair of Paris, the Torre Guinigi prize in Lucca for Urban Design for the historical center of Pietrasanta, a top ten in the International Chair Fair at Udine and, most recently, the Good Design prize from the Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization. Following in the tradition of classic Italian sculptors and craftsman, Lazzotti’s furniture is produced with an artisan’s eye for material nuance and imbued with modernist simplicity. Internationally recognized for his work with stone, Lazzotti has organized symposia on the material and taught courses like “Design in Marble” at the Academy of Fine Arts in Carrara, Italy (home to the famous white carrara marble quarries). Lazzotti has worked with many international companies, including Iveco, The Conran Shop...
Stone, Marble, Metal, Copper
Coffee Table by Angelo Bragalini
By Angelo Bragalini
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Coffee table with back painted glass top signed A. Bragalini. Made in Bologna circa 1940s.
Glass, Wood
Coffee Table by Angelo Mangiarotti for Bernini
By Angelo Mangiarotti
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Rare side table with bronze base and wood round top by Angelo Mangiarotti. Produced by Fonderie Battaglia for Bernini. Made in Italy circa 1960s. Bibliography I. De Guttry, M.P. Mai...
Bronze
Inca Console Table by Angelo Mangiarotti for Skipper, 1970s
By Angelo Mangiarotti
Located in Brussels, BE
Inca Console Table by Angelo Mangiarotti for Skipper, 1970s
Stone
Inca Console Table, Angelo Mangiarotti, Skipper, Italian Design, 1978
By Angelo Mangiarotti, Skipper
Located in Antwerp, BE
Development on the previous "Eros" system, the “Incas" range features the same structural idea in a different material, extra strong stone (initially proposed in Pietra Serena sandst...
Stone
Angelo Mangiarotti '' Inca'' Series Console Table for Skipper 1970s
By Angelo Mangiarotti
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This console table by Angelo Mangiarotti epitomizes his architectural approach to design, where structure and aesthetics merge seamlessly. Crafted in Italy during the 1970s, the piec...
Sandstone
20th Century Angelo Mangiarotti Console Table Mod. Incas for Skipper, 1970s
By Skipper, Angelo Mangiarotti
Located in Torino, Piemonte
Angelo Mangiarotti was a very important italian architect and designer, born in 1921 in Milan. He studied architecture at the Politecnico of Milan and gratuated in 1948. He then went...
Stone
Pietra Serena' Inca' Console by Angelo Mangiarotti for Skipper, Italy, 1978
By Angelo Mangiarotti, Skipper
Located in Almelo, NL
Pietra Serena' Inca' Console by Angelo Mangiarotti for Skipper, Italy, 1978 The "Inca" range represents an advancement of the previously established "Eros" system, maintaining the ...
Stone
Angelo Mangiarotti “Incas” Console for Skipper, 1978
By Skipper, Angelo Mangiarotti
Located in Lonigo, Veneto
Angelo Mangiarotti “Incas” console for Skipper, pietra serena, Italy, 1978. Mangiarotti designed the “Incas” console as a development of the “Eros” ...
Stone
