Gatti, Paolini, Teodoro

Background

The trio was formed by Piero Gatti (Turin 1940–2017), Cesare Paolini (Genoa 1937–1983) and Franco Teodoro (Turin 1939–2005), who worked together from 1965. Paolini, an architect, graduated from the Polytechnic University of Turin; Gatti and Teodoro studied at the Istituto Tecnico Industriale Statale per le Arti Grafiche e Fotografiche in Turin, where the three set up their firm.

Signature Style

Their practice spanned architecture, interior decoration, industrial design, urban design, corporate image, product development and graphics. Their best-known work came out of the Radical period of Italian design and was driven by newly available materials such as expanded polystyrene, used to question formal domestic conventions.

Notable Works

They designed the Sacco seat for Zanotta (1968) – the shapeless anatomical easy chair filled with polystyrene pellets that became a symbol of Italian design. Sacco received an award at the 1968 Mostra Internazionale dell'Arredamento in Monza, the BIO 5 award in Ljubljana in 1973 and, in 2020, the Compasso d'Oro ADI for lifetime achievement.

Legacy

Their work has been reviewed in Italian and international magazines and books, and shown in competitions and exhibitions in Italy and abroad. Their designs are held by museums including MoMA in New York, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs and Musée National d'Art Moderne in Paris, the Vitra Design Museum and the Triennale Design Museum in Milan.