Forcolini, Carlo

Carlo Forcolini was born in Como in 1947. Like many of the great designers of his period, he studied in Milan, a city bubbling with innovation but also with history. Carlo Forcolini will then take part in the protest movements of the time, even becoming responsible for an extreme-left newspaper Quotidiano Dei Lavoratori .

He will attend the brothers Castiglioni studio in Milan during the 1970s, but also Vico Magistretti then already well established on the scene of Italian Design. Under whose eyes Forcolini will draw his first lamp.

This first lamp shows the communicative dimension of the object by introducing elements that appeal to the imagination of the user. In this way it is a break with the thinking of the previous generation designers for whom the functional aspect is legitimate.

Despite all, Carlo Forcolini combined functional and spiritual aspect in his creations as the lamp Polifemo designed for Artemide in 1983 where circle and triangle mingle.

Later Forcolini works in London where he approaches a culturally different urban environment. He opposes English pragmatism, which he discovers, to beauty by the form of Italian thought.

In 1974, Carlo Forcolini created with his brother the firm Alias, joined in 1983 by Ernesto Gismondi, founder of Artemide. Alias is positioned as an innovation center for experimenting with any material, attracting renowned designers for their research such as Mario Botta, Giandomenico Belotti and Alberto Meda.

Today, Carlo Forcolini works and produces for various publishers, BBB Bonacina, Cassina, De Padova .. in addition to designing fashion boutiques around the world and to intervene in university with the future generation.