Reinventing Plastics #Ana Castelli

Italian architect Anna Castelli, née Anna Ferrieri, is best known for her work as a designer, especially for her innovative plastic furniture, and for her work as co-founder and artistic director of Kartell.

From her collaboration with Franco Albini, while studying architecture in Milan, Anna Ferrieri inherited the exact rigor and beauty of Rationalist architecture. She later became associated with another master of Italian architecture, Ignazio Gardella, with whom she carried out works such as the Alfa Romeo offices in Arese, the building in Via Marchiondi or the Kartell headquarters in Noviglio. She also worked as an editor for Casabella and Architectural Design magazines and designed various exhibitions for the Milan Triennale.

It is not true that what is useful is beautiful, but it is true that what is beautiful is useful. Beauty can improve people's lives Anna Castelli Ferrieri.

Like other Italian architects such as Vico Magistretti or Joe Colombo, product design gained importance in Anna Castelli’s work until it became her best-known facet. Together with her husband, the chemical engineer Giulio Castelli, she founded the Kartell company, with which they were pioneers in moving plastic from the industrial to domestic use. While Giulio was in charge of the development of new materials, Anna was in charge of the artistic direction and would be responsible for the growing importance of the furniture section.

Componibili modular storage system stands out among her most recognized products. This representative piece of the 60’s Italian design is still in production today, but she designed also other noticeable products such as the 4870 stackable chair or the Hannah cutlery, both winners of the Compasso d’ Oro awarded by the Italian Association for Industrial Design.