Isamu Noguchi
Isamu Noguchi (1904–1988) was one of the twentieth century’s most important and critically acclaimed sculptors and designers. Through a lifetime of artistic experimentation, he created sculptures, gardens, furniture and lighting designs, ceramics, architecture, and set designs. His work, at once subtle and bold, traditional and modern, set a new standard for the reintegration of the arts.
At a time when it’s commonplace to talk of the blurring of boundaries between cultural disciplines and of designers acting out the roles of artists, artisans and technologists, or vice versa; it’s hard to appreciate quite how radical Isamu Noguchi must have seemed when he combined those roles back in the early 1930s.
The blurring of boundaries in Isamu Noguchi’s work mirrored his personal history: a fusion of his Japanese father’s Asian heritage and the American modernity of his Californian mother. Also the writer Ian Buruma noted this fusion: "was not a matter of superficial ressemblances to traditional styles: it was in the spirit of his work: artisanal, utilitarian, and always in search of simplicity."
Sergio Mazza
Sergio Mazza is an Italian designer who was born in 1931 in Milan. In 1955 he open his own business and since 1961 works side by side with G. Gramigna in the Smc study, working in furniture and industrial design. Among the many honors and awards received, we remember the mention for Compasso d'Oro in 1960 due to the Artemide lamp Delta and the silver medal for the Appartamento italiano at the X Triennale of Milan. From 1967 he began designing for Olivari. In the publishing field he has co-directed the magazine "Ottagono" since the foundation until 1988.
Sergio Mazza founded Artemide, a design-oriented Italian manufacturer, with Ernesto Gismondi in 1958. Based in Pregnana Milanese, a suburb of Milan, the company specialises in the manufacture of lighting designed by famous international designers and architects. Many of the Artemide's creations have become icons of Italian modern design.