Designer · Italy · 1905–1977
Franco Albini
Franco Albini (1905–1977) – Italian architect and designer, creator of the Luisa armchair (1949), awarded the Compasso d’Oro in 1955.
About the designer
- Lifetime
- 1905–1977
- Country
- Italy
- Manufacturers
- Tecta
Franco Albini was born on 17 October 1905 in Robbiate near Como. In 1929, he graduated in architecture from Politecnico di Milano. He began by collaborating with Gio Ponti and Emilio Lancia, and from 1931 he ran a practice with Renato Camus and Giancarlo Palanti. From 1952, he collaborated with Franca Helg; in 1965, his son Marco joined the practice.
Albini taught in Venice from 1949, as a professor in Turin from 1954, and at Politecnico di Milano from 1964. In Genoa, he designed the interiors of the museums in Palazzo Bianco and Palazzo Rosso, as well as the Museo del Tesoro di San Lorenzo. In 1948, he prepared furniture for MoMA and Knoll in New York.
His best-known piece of furniture is the Luisa armchair, designed in 1949 and awarded the Compasso d’Oro in 1955. At one of his lectures, Tobia & Afra Scarpa met. Albini died on 1 November 1977 in Milan.
Key designs
-
Luisa
Armchair; Compasso d’Oro award in 1955.
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Palazzo Bianco
Museum interior design.
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Museo del Tesoro di San Lorenzo
Cathedral treasury museum.
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Palazzo Rosso
Museum interior design.
