Between Milan and picturesque Lake Como is the small town of Meda. It's hard to imagine a better place of birth for an icon of modern Italian design, as Antonio Citterio undoubtedly is. His work can be found in the collections of major cultural institutions such as MoMA and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.
"Being simple does not mean being common."
This is what designer and architect Antonio Citterio says about himself. His work is dominated by simplicity and a love of natural materials. He draws inspiration from his hometown and childhood spent in the Italian countryside. It was there that the designer took his first professional steps, working for the Galimberti family at Flexform, a company with which he has been associated ever since.
He completed his architectural studies at the Politecnico di Milano. His technical background influences how he understands the context of the work. Citterio sees how an object fits into its immediate environment, and how that environment interacts with the larger design scheme. His realizations are an instant success every time. Ingenious yet simple forms are recognizable and appreciated by lovers of good design. Citterio sees himself primarily as an architect who treats space as the basis of his design.
Citterio collaborates with major international design companies such as Arclinea, B&B Italia, Flexform, Flos, Kartell, Vitra and Hermès. In 2000, together with Patricia Viel, he founded ACPV, an interdisciplinary architecture and interior design studio. The company operates internationally, developing complex projects at all scales and working with a network of specialized consultants. In 2012, the Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel (ACPV) studio achieved a turnover of 10 million 900 thousand euros. This demonstrates the scale of the designer's success and popularity.
© Geberit
Design is like spaghetti
Antonio Citterio, as befits a true Italian, compares his design process to preparing a delicious plate of spaghetti with tomato sauce. The key to this success is the proper selection of ingredients. Top-quality materials are the foundation. Nothing is random.
Each product should be handled according to its specifics. Just as it is obvious that pasta should be cooked for 360 seconds, seeing an object, its use should be obvious.
The designer has always sought the idea of intuitive recognition in the form. A person, seeing an object, should immediately say "Good. I take it!". Thoughtful design defends itself. His style is characterized by discretion and simplicity combined with a rather technical approach to design, which can be compared to the designs of Alberto Meda, who created simple design using technically sophisticated solutions.
Citterio draws inspiration from the work of architects such as Le Corbusier, Louis Kahn, Tadao Andō, Alvaro Siza and Charles Eames. From 2006 to 2016, he was a professor of architectural design at the Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio in Switzerland, where he infected young people with his approach to design.
© Geberit
Antonio Citterio for Geberit
Citterio's designs include furniture, seating, shelves, door handles, beds and kitchen equipment. In collaboration with Geberit, he created a series of premium bathrooms that combine unusual shapes with premium materials to create a unique design language. The entire collection is, of course, called Geberit Citterio. The Geberit Group operates worldwide. It is a European leader in the industry of top-quality bathroom fittings and sanitary products. The company's strong market position is a guarantee of offering exceptional technology and design at the highest level.
© Geberit
Geberit ceramics designed by Antonio Citterio are characterized by unique design - unusual shapes and exceptional materials. The collection includes two models of countertop washbasins - one in the form of a bowl with soft lines, the other externally straight, geometric, with wide rims. The washbasins, with their purist, organic shape, are reminiscent of Italian Proto-Renaissance. The basic idea behind the design of this series was to create timeless, elegant bathroom fixtures that combine originality of form. Invisible overflows and integrated ceramic drain covers add to their elegance. The surface of the washbasins is exceptionally smooth, making them easy to keep clean. Both models fit wonderfully into modern interiors.
© Geberit
It is worth noting that Antonio Citterio's first - and so far only - visit to our country was prompted by experts from the KOŁO company, who strived to ensure that the latest trends in global design are regularly presented and implemented on the Polish market. The culmination of the cooperation between the manufacturer and the designer was, among others, the stunning subtle elegance and precision of the KOŁO EGO collection.
For more information, visit the company's GEBERIT Sp. z o.o. page on the A&B portal.
