One hundred and one years since his birth, the Milanese architect and designer Vico Magistretti (1920-2006) is being celebrated in the Palazzo dell’Arte in Milan, where he took the first steps in a long and fruitful career, with a monographic exhibition that seeks to create a dialogue between the different areas of his whole œuvre (Triennale Milano, 13 April – 12 September 2021).

The exhibition, organized with the collaboration of the Fondazione studio museo Vico Magistretti, and the book, have as their object the precious heritage of drawings, sketches, models, photographs, videos, prototypes and original pieces preserved in the Magistretti Archive, together with materials from the archives of companies, institutions and individuals.

Divided into thematic sections, Vico Magistretti’s work is presented for the first time in a unified and interrelated way, to render the breadth of his activity and so offer an up-to-date and extended critical interpretation beyond the celebration of his most famous icons: from the design of exhibitions to urban design, from furniture to product design, from prefabrication to interior architecture, from middle-class clients to “homes for all”, from traditional to industrial materials, from geometric rigor to figurative expressionism.

The narrative around the figure of Vico is completed by a cycle of testimonies and tributes that confirm his innovative character and the great influence he exerted on the younger generations of designers.