Andrea Branzi passed away on 9 October. Born in Florence in 1938, he had been one of the protagonists of a memorable season, full of ideas and revolutionary energy. Freshly graduated in Architecture, together with Gilberto Coretti, Paolo Deganello and Massimo Morozzi (whose sister Nicoletta he later married) he had founded the Archizoom Associati studio in 1966. The group disbanded after eight years, but in the meantime had created pieces that are still revolutionary today in their ability to unite a strong theoretical content with a playful aspect that invites interaction (such as the Superonda sofa or the Mies armchair, both born from the collaboration with Poltronova).
Armchair and footrest ”Mies“ by Poltronova, design Archizoom Associati
He has done a lot in his life, including teaching: he was a professor at the Faculty of Design at the Politecnico di Milano and one of the founders of the Domus Academy. He designed for Cassina, Alessi, Qeeboo, Zanotta, Olivari and other companies – in recent years, alongside industrial production, he had turned his attention to more intimate work, halfway between art and design, collaborating with various galleries (Nilufar, Luisa Delle Piane, Carpenters Workshop). He wrote for Domus, Interni, Casabella and Modo. He curated exhibitions – many for the Triennale in Milan, his adopted city.
“Plank Cabinet 5”, design Andrea Branzi – courtesy Carpenters Workshop Gallery
A few days ago, on 3 October, the Milanese gallery Antonia Jannone inaugurated an exhibition of his drawings, including an unpublished series created just this year and dedicated to the Torre Velasca, a building-manifesto of the Milanese landscape and symbol of an era, the post-war period, marked by a push towards modernity.
Vases from the “Fuzzy” collection, design Andrea Branzi – courtesy Nilufar
In a career spanning almost sixty years, Branzi’s has been an authoritative but never patronising voice. Stefano Boeri, President of Triennale Milano has defined him “a giant of radical thinking on human spaces, a sophisticated historian of Italian design, a visionary designer capable of ironically inhabiting other universes and parallel worlds”.
Drawing for the set design of Bela Bartok’s opera “Bluebeard’s Castle”, lithograph – courtesy Antonia Jannone
It is precisely the Triennale that has decided to exhibit a selection of his projects, part of the permanent collection, at the entrance to the Museo del Design Italiano. And for Friday 13 October, from 6 p.m., it has organised a public screening of Andrea Branzi. Mostra in forma di prosa (Andrea Branzi. Exhibition in prose form), a medium-length film produced by the institution and presented in 2022 on the occasion of its 23rd International Exhibition.
