Picking Italian Mushrooms

Massimo Vignelli was born in Milan in 1931. At the age of 14 he decided he wanted to be an architect and at 16 he started working as an architectural draftsman before attending Università di Architettura in Venice. Here he met his future wife and business partner Lella Vignelli, herself coming from a family of architects.

In 1956 Massimo Vignelli was commissioned by the already famous glass maker Venini to design a series of lamps. The company had already worked with Italian designers like Carlo Scarpa and Giò Ponti. This project was initially called 4040 Zaffiro a name that was later changed to Fungo thanks to the lamps mushroom shape. The collaboration with Venini lasted for a couple of years and the result was an incredible number of lamps in a vast array of colors.

In 1965 Massimo and Lella co-founded Unimark International with five other partners including Bob Noorda, famous for his Pirelli-posters. Two years later they started a branch in New York. Unimark soon rose to fame through their corporate identities for, amongst others, American Airlines, Ford, Gillette and Knoll and it quickly became one of the biggest design firms in the world. Being on top didn’t last for that long though. In 1970 the Vignelli’s left the company to start their own business, Vignelli Associate.

The Vignelli’s eventually changed focus to product and furniture design and in 1978 they founded a new company, Vignelli Designs.

During their entire career the Massimo and Lella complemented each other with Massimo mainly focusing on 2D projects like the New York subway map and corporate identities for American Airlines while Lella worked more with their 3D projects.

They both lived by the motto “If you can design one thing, you can design everything” and in the case of Massimo and Lella Vignelli they really could.

What To Drink During Milano Design Week Day 2

Count Camillo Negroni was the adventurous type. In 1892 he arrived from Italy to Ellis Island to try his fortunes in the US. There he supposedly worked as a banker, a cowboy and as a riverboat gambler before returning back to Florence.

In 1919, he stepped into his favorite bar, the Caffè Casoni in Florence, ready to try something new. His friend and bartender Fosco Scarselli substituted gin for soda from the Americano and thus created the perfect aperitivo cocktail, the Negroni.

Even though Negroni returned to Italy he was so influenced by his time in the US that when an American newsman bumped in to him on a trip to Italy in 1928, he walked around dressed in his cowboy attire.

The tumbler was designed by Massimo Vignelli in 1957 and produced by Venini on the island of Murano, just outside Venice, Italy.

December 2 – Negroni

In 1919 the Italian Count Camillo Negroni stepped into his favorite bar and wanted to try something new. His friend and bartender Fosco Scarselli substituted gin for soda from the Americano and thus created the perfect cocktail, the Negroni. Here served in a tumbler designed by Massimo Vignelli in 1957.