Fifteen Italian Designers of the 70s and Their Pieces

Fifteen Italian Designers of the 70s and Their Pieces

The Italian 1970s were not a homogeneous decade. Three currents run through it at once: an industrial functionalism inherited from the Castiglionis and Magistretti, a radical research practice carried by Superstudio and Archizoom, and a more expressive, sculptural line in the work of Gaetano Pesce or Gabriella Crespi. The editors (Cassina, B&B Italia, Kartell, Artemide, Flos, Arflex, Zanotta) ran prototypes, small series and mass production side by side. On the vintage market, this makes for a dense but still readable field, where prices vary widely with editor and edition. What follows are fifteen short portraits, centred on the pieces that marked the decade.

Production context

The Italian seventies extended the previous decade, already marked by the Milan Triennale and by the rise of the major editors. The 1973 oil shock changed the availability of injected plastic, the material that had made Kartell and Artemide, and slowed or stopped certain production lines. In parallel, the Florentine radical groups (Superstudio, Archizoom, later Memphis) questioned the modern project and opened the way to a narrative form of design. Pieces in circulation today come from both movements, and it helps to tell them apart.

Fifteen figures to know

Joe Colombo (1930-1971). His career was short, but his influence has lasted. He designed the Boby trolley (1970, now produced by B-Line), the Tube chair (Flexform, 1969-1970) and the Universale chair (Kartell). His modular pieces were conceived for compact interiors.

Gae Aulenti (1927-2012). As much an interior architect as a designer, she created the Pipistrello lamp (Martinelli Luce, 1965, still produced through the seventies), the Locus Solus furniture (Poltronova), and tables and sconces for Fontana Arte. Her vocabulary is geometric and plays on reflective surfaces.

Mario Bellini (b. 1935). Le Bambole (B&B Italia, 1972), a sofa with no visible frame, essentially a foam bag dressed in upholstery, earned him a Compasso d'Oro in 1979. He also designed the Cab chair (Cassina, 1977), whose leather is stretched and zipped over a steel frame.

Vico Magistretti (1920-2006). He is remembered for the Maralunga sofa (Cassina, 1973) and the Atollo lamp (Oluce, 1977). The Maralunga introduced an articulated headrest that became his signature, and the Atollo is among the most copied lamps of the century.

Achille Castiglioni (1918-2002). After working with his brother Pier Giacomo in the previous decade, he continued alone in the seventies. The Parentesi (Flos, 1971, with Pio Manzù) is a counterweighted pendant that slides along a cable; the Frisbi (Flos) dates from 1978.

Gaetano Pesce (1939-2024). His Up series (B&B Italia, 1969, produced through the seventies) consists of compressed-foam armchairs sold vacuum-packed and flat. He also designed the Sit Down (Cassina, 1975). His sensibility is organic and openly polemical; the Up series has been read as a feminist statement.

Ettore Sottsass (1917-2007). Before Memphis (1981), Sottsass was already a major figure: the Valentine typewriter for Olivetti (1969, sold throughout the seventies), ceramics for Bitossi, furniture for Poltronova. His work anticipates the postmodern break.

Tobia Scarpa (b. 1935) and Afra Scarpa (1937-2011). Their work is shared. They designed the Soriana sofa (Cassina, 1969-1970, Compasso d'Oro), the 925 armchair (Cassina, 1965, still produced in the seventies), the Bastiano sofa, and lighting for Flos.

Anna Castelli Ferrieri (1918-2006). She designed the Componibili modular storage units (Kartell, 1967), which were widely distributed in the seventies. Co-founder of Kartell with Giulio Castelli, she pioneered injected plastic in the home.

Gabriella Crespi (1922-2017). She worked independently, almost without an editor, in brass, bamboo and Lucite: Plurimi tables, the Z bar table, Yang Yin. Her output is small, and prices are high and vary a great deal from piece to piece.

Cini Boeri (1924-2020). The Serpentone (Arflex, 1971) is a foam sofa sold by the metre, and the Strips chair (Arflex, 1972) received the Compasso d'Oro in 1979. Her Ghost chair in curved glass, produced by Fiam, came later (1987).

Marco Zanuso (1916-2001). With Richard Sapper, he designed the TS502 radio and the Grillo telephone in the previous decade; in the seventies he worked alone on office furniture and seating, with geometric bases and exposed mechanics.

Carlo Scarpa (1906-1978). An architect first, he designed little furniture, often as part of specific commissions (Banca Popolare di Verona, Fondazione Querini Stampalia). His Doge table (1968) was originally produced by Simon. The Cassina 925 armchair, often linked to his name, is in fact by Afra and Tobia Scarpa (1965).

Enzo Mari (1932-2020). A theorist as much as a designer, he published Autoprogettazione in 1974, a set of furniture plans anyone can build. His pieces were produced by Danese (vases, the Timor and Formosa calendars) and by Driade. He argued for accessible design and took an openly political position.

Superstudio (1966-1978) and Archizoom (1966-1974). These were collectives rather than individual designers, but the decade makes no sense without them. The Quaderna table (Superstudio, 1971, Zanotta) carries their black-on-white grid, and the Mies chair (Archizoom, 1969) was produced by Poltronova. These critical pieces were conceived as manifestos.

Reading the market

The first reference point is the original editor. A 1970s Cassina Maralunga is not the same object as a contemporary re-edition, and Cassina labels (serial numbers, metal plates) help date the piece. Material comes next: the original injection-moulded plastic of the Componibili has a matte, slightly grainy tone that more recent ABS re-editions smooth out. For rare pieces (Crespi, an original Up series by Pesce, Quaderna), provenance should be documented by an editor's catalogue, a period photograph or a gallery archive. Finally, watch for shared signatures: the Scarpas worked as a couple, Castiglioni with his brother and then with Manzù, and a serious description reflects those collaborations.

What it means for a buyer

The Italian seventies remain the last decade in which mass-market industrial design and radical research coexisted within the same scene. Cassina was producing Maralunga sofas in large series at the same time as pieces that bordered on the experimental. An Italian piece from the seventies can therefore be an everyday object or a witness to a critical debate, and prices follow: reasonable for mass-market pieces, very high for radical ones.

When an Italian piece from the decade joins our selection, it appears on our 1970s page; the Cassina and Kartell pages group those by these two editors.