Giustini / Stagetti

Angelo Mangiarotti was born in Milan on February 26, 1921.

He graduated in Architecture from the Politecnico di Milano in 1948. In 1953-1954, he worked in the United States, where he also participated in the competition for the Chicago "LOOP." While living abroad, he met Frank Lloyd Wright, Walter Gropius, Mies van der Rohe, and Konrad Wachsmann.

Upon returning from the United States, he established an architectural firm with Bruno Morassutti, a partnership that lasted until 1960.

In 1989, he founded Mangiarotti & Associates, based in Tokyo.

From 1986 to 1992, he served as the art director of Colle Cristalleria.

Alongside his architectural work—widely published in books, specialized magazines, and newspapers—Mangiarotti had an intense academic career, teaching at various Italian and international universities. In 1953-1954, he was a visiting professor at the Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. In 1963-1964, he taught at the Istituto Superiore di Disegno Industriale in Venice. He was also a visiting professor at the University of Hawaii in 1970, the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in 1974, the University of Adelaide, and the South Australian Institute of Technology in 1976. In 1982, he was appointed professor at the Faculty of Architecture in Palermo. In 1983, he became a lecturer in composition at the Faculty of Architecture in Florence. In 1989-1990, he was a professor in the Industrial Design graduate program at the Faculty of Architecture at the Politecnico di Milano. He participated in numerous international seminars and conferences.

Mangiarotti’s design philosophy, articulated in his book In nome dell’architettura (1987), emphasized highlighting the essential characteristics of each object. He believed that only "objective" design could prevent misuse and instead be universally recognized by society. His architectural language expressed a renewed relationship between humans and the environment, while his design work placed significant emphasis on plastic research. His constant exploration—conducted with great attention to the properties of materials—sought to define the form of objects as an inherent quality of the material itself.

His design work is marked by a lot of prizes received both in the field of design and architecture: Domus Formica Prize (1956), In/Arch Prize for Lombardia (1962), First Prize in the National Prize of Industrial Design of La Spezia Gulf (1963), AIP-Associazione Italiana Prefabbricatori Prize (1972), Prix Européen de la Construction Métallique (1979), Medal and honorary degree at III Mundial Biennal Exhibition of Architecture in Sofia (1986), First prize at "Concorso Targa Alcan" (1989), Special mention at In/Arch National Prize (1989), Design Plus Prize for "Ergonomica" collection (1991), Marble Architectural Awards (1994), Compasso d’oro ADI for carrier (1994), "Honoris Causa" degree in Engineering – Faculty of Architecture. Technischen Universitat of Munich (1998), Gold Metal in Architecture category - Accademia della Torre di Carrara (1998), "Honoris Causa" degree in Industrial Design – Faculty of Architecture. Politecnico di Milano (2002), Gold Metal for "Apostolo del Design" from Rima Editrice (2006), Marble Architectural Awards 2007, special mention Award "ArchitettiVerona" from the Ordine degli Architetti P.P.C. di Verona (2009).

He died in Milan on 30th of June 2012.

Courtesy Fondazione Angelo Mangiarotti