Anna Castelli Ferrieri

Background

Anna Castelli Ferrieri was born in Milan on 6 August 1918. She was one of the first women to study at the Milan Polytechnic, graduating in architecture in 1943, and was influenced by the Rationalist architect Franco Albini and by the Bauhaus. From 1946 to 1947 she worked as an editor of the architecture magazine Costruzioni. In 1949 she joined her husband, the chemical engineer Giulio Castelli, in founding Kartell.

Signature Style

As Kartell's internal leading designer, and its art director from 1976 to 1987, she built the company's look on geometric shapes, bold colour and highly polished finishes, using plastics at a time when they were rarely seen in the home. Kartell's museum describes her as reconciling her rationalist credo with new colours and post-modern ideas in the 1980s.

Notable Works

• Componibili round modular storage (1969)
• The Kartell headquarters in Noviglio (1967), designed with Ignazio Gardella
• Table containers for Kartell (1976)
• The 4870 stackable chair, Compasso d'Oro 1987

Legacy

She won the Compasso d'Oro in 1979 and 1987, wrote From Project to Product: Plastic and Design (1984) and taught at Domus Academy from 1987 to 1992. She died in Milan on 22 June 2006. The Componibili remain among Kartell's bestsellers.