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Kristall
Kristall - 1981
designed by Michele De Lucchi
Exhibition Milan - Hong Kong design, new forms and functions in parallel with Italian iconic works
for Memphis
(Ferrara, Italy, 1951)
Michele De Lucchi is an Italian designer and architect. In 1975 he graduated in Architecture from the University of Florence, where from 1975 to 1977 he worked as an assistant to Adolfo Natalini, the founder of Superstudio. Between the late ’70s and ’80s he was a leading figure in Radical Architecture, and participated in the leading Italian design movements of the time; he was also one of the co-founders of the Memphis Group, with which he collaborated from 1981 to 1987. De Lucchi’s projects at the time were carried out in collaboration with numerous Italian and European furniture brands. In 1990 he founded the Produzione Privata experimental workshop with the aim of combining an experimental approach with traditional techniques and craftsmanship. He has curated numerous art and design exhibitions and designed museum buildings such as the Triennale di Milano, the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome and the Neues Museum in Berlin. He has carried out several projects for the city of Milan, including pavilions for Expo 2015, the UniCredit Pavilion in Piazza Gae Aulenti, and the setting up of the Pietà Rondanini at Castello Sforzesco. He teaches at the Faculty of Design of the Politecnico di Milano and is a member of the Accademia Nazionale di San Luca in Rome.
BIBLIOGRAPHY/SITOGRAPHY
End table in plastic laminate, lacquered wood and metal.
W 50 x D 50 x H 60 cm
When asked about the most novel and interesting aspect of Memphis design, Arata Isozaki described Memphis design as ‘design just on the edge of functionalism […] if it goes off this edge it becomes just an art object, but it is not.’
The Kristall end table features on its cuboid body, the graphic black and white ‘Fantastic’ print by Michele De Lucchi, designed in 1981 for Memphis to be printing by Abet Laminati, with a bright yellow table top supported by a bright blue ‘neck,’ the whole creature standing on bright blue metal legs. Though extremely unconventional in shape, it is functional with its double-decker design giving space to put books and magazines, with the yellow table top acting as extra space for drinks or other items
