Paolo Rizzatto

Background

Paolo Rizzatto was born in Milan in 1941 and graduated in architecture from the Politecnico di Milano. From his Milan studio he works as a freelance architect, interior designer and designer. He designed his first lamp, model 265, for Arteluce in 1973, and in 1978 he founded Luceplan together with Riccardo Sarfatti and Sandra Severi.

Signature Style

Rizzatto applies to product design the same rules that govern architecture: the scale and the field change, but the method of composition stays the same. His lamps tend to reinterpret familiar archetypes with lighter materials and new technology rather than break with tradition, as with the polycarbonate-shaded Costanza.

Notable Works

• D7 for Luceplan (1980, with Sandro Corbertaldo) — Compasso d'Oro 1981
• Berenice task lamp for Luceplan (1985, with Alberto Meda)
• Costanza for Luceplan (1986)
• Lola (1987) and Titania (1989, with Alberto Meda) for Luceplan
• Metropoli (1992) and Fortebraccio (1998) for Luceplan, with Alberto Meda
• Dakota armchair for Cassina (1995) and Partner shelving for Kartell (1998, with Alberto Meda)

Legacy

His work is held in the permanent collections of the Triennale di Milano, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Museo della Scienza e della Tecnologia in Milan and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. He received Compasso d'Oro awards in 1981, 1989, 1995, 2008 and 2011, and has taught at Columbia University, the Politecnico di Milano, Cranbrook and IUAV Venice, among others.