At the heart of the debates which over the past forty years have made design what it is, the work developed by Andrea Branzi stands out as that of a theoretician of design, as much in terms of his production, his writing and lecturing (comprehensive monograph).
“The relations between art and design are not easy to theorize, because they are always spontaneous and discontinuous. At one time art produced new languages and design used them. Today, though, we see artists using languages invented by design, while designers are invited to exhibit at Documenta, and in galleries and museums. It's clear, then, that this theory of a one-way transfer of languages is obsolete...”
(A. Branzi)
François Burckhardt is an architect, design historian and former director of Domus magazine.
Cristina Morozzi is a critic, design historian and independent curator.
Andrea Branzi (1938-2023) was an Italian architect and designer. In 1966 he founded the Archizoom Associati studio together with Gilberto Corretti, Paolo Deganello and Massimo Morozzi. A professor at the faculty of Architecture in Palermo and Director of Studies at the Domus Academy, he later became full professor at the Politecnico di Milano and president of the Interior Design course at the same university. In 1981, Branzi joined the Memphis group, founded by designer Ettore Sottsass.
Director of Modo magazine from 1983 to 1987, he collaborated with leading architecture and design magazines. He won numerous awards, including the Compasso d'Oro Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987.
