Achille Castiglioni was born in Milan in Italy in 1918. In 1944, he graduated from the Politecnico di Milano and began working in the office of his brothers Livio (1911–1979) and Pier Giacomo (1913–1968), which in the post-war period mainly took on urban planning and architecture commissions.
The three brothers were also very active in exhibition and product design, and helped the Milan Triennale, the Compasso d'Oro and the ADI (Associazione per il Disegno Industriale) gain their prestigious reputation.
After Livio left the joint practice, Achille and Pier Giacomo created groundbreaking but also unusual and radical design objects. Probably the most extreme designs by the Castiglioni brothers are the Mezzadro and Sella stools (1957), for which they repurposed a tractor seat and a bicycle saddle respectively.
In principle, Achille Castiglioni was more concerned with "improving" and renewing products than with reinventing them, which earned him the reputation of a "rational expressionist". For the Arco floor lamp by Flos, for example, a simple street lamp served as the model, and for the Toio uplighter an ordinary car headlight was used as the lamp head. Through this kind of repurposing of everyday objects, the ready-made concept took on an early significance in the Castiglioni brothers' design.
His highly successful collaboration with his brother Pier Giacomo, which lasted until Pier Giacomo's early death in 1968, produced successful designs for renowned manufacturers such as Kartell, Zanotta, Brionvega, Alessi and Siemens. Almost all their designs for the lighting manufacturer Flos are now considered design classics and can be found in the most important design museums.
After his brother's death, Achille continued to work in product design and designed further well-known furniture and lights, such as the Cumano folding table for Zanotta and the Noce, Frisbi and Brera lights for Flos. From 1981, Achille also worked as a professor of interior design and industrial design. Achille Castiglioni died in 2002.
Achille Castiglioni is undoubtedly one of the most important Italian designers of the 20th century. He won the Compasso d'Oro nine times, along with numerous other awards.
