Franco Albini (Robbiate, 1905 - Milan, 1977)
Franco Albini was born in 1905 in Robbiate (Lecco). In 1916, he moved to Milan, where he earned his degree in Architecture from the Politecnico (1929) and began working at the Ponti and Lancia firm. In 1931, he opened his own private practice with Camus and Palanti, focusing on council housing projects such as the neighborhoods “Fabio Filzi” (1936-38), “Gabriele D’Annunzio” (1938-1940), and “Ettore Ponti” (1939).
Before and during World War II, he continued his research on urban projects and housing solutions, from “Milano Verde” to Villa Pestarini (1938). Albini started working on exhibition designs for the V Triennale in 1933, collaborating with Pagano and others on the House with a Steel Frame. At the following Triennale in 1936, he designed the Room for a Man and, together with Romano, the Exhibition of Antique Italian Jewelry, which became an archetype for new exhibition solutions.
In 1945, he became president of the Movement of Studies for Architecture and co-directed Costruzioni Casabella with Palanti. He began collaborating with Franca Helg in 1952. During these years, the studio developed significant projects, including the INA office building in Parma (1950-54) and the La Rinascente shopping center in Rome (1957-61).
In Genoa, they worked on urban planning, buildings, and museums, from municipal offices to the renovation of the Municipal Galleries of the Museo del Tesoro di San Lorenzo (1952-56). In the 1960s, alongside graphic designer Noorda, they designed the Metropolitana Milanese (subway stations).
The Albini-Helg studio later collaborated with Antonio Piva and subsequently with Marco Albini. For nearly thirty years, Franco Albini was also a university professor in Venice, Turin, and Milan.
He designed several iconic pieces of Italian design, including the Veliero bookshelf, the Luisa chair, and the Fiorenza armchair. His approach to objects, projects, methods of execution, and tools was never purely speculative or abstract. Instead, it was the approach of a craftsman deeply engaged with the everyday challenges his work presented.
Franco Albini passed away in 1977 in Milan.
© Fondazione Franco Albini