Kartell Gastone Bar Cart by Antonio Citterio with Oliver Löw

Founded in 1949 by Giulio Castelli, Kartell is a leading design company and one of the symbols of Italian design around the world. A success story told through an incredible series of products by contemporary design icons– Philippe Starck, Patricia Urquiola, Piero Lissoni, Antonio Citterio - Kartell furniture, lighting, and decor have become part of the domestic landscape.

The ongoing evolution in the use of plastics and experimentation with new technologies and processes are fundamental for Kartell, which has always strived to innovate its functional performance and the aesthetic qualities of its products. New properties such as satin-finish, transparency, flexibility, resistance to atmospheric agents, softness and touch, have been introduced to plastic in surprising and special colors, radically transforming the perception of a plastic product from a merely functional object to a veritable luxury item.

Kartell know-how consists of pushing innovation to the limit, enabling designers to express their creativity with new technologies and materials in order to create real “industrial revolutions” within the home.

Antonio Citterio was born in the Italian city of Meda in 1950. He graduated in architecture from the Politecnico di Milano and opened his own studio in 1972, focusing mainly on industrial design.

In 1999, Antonio Citterio and Patricia Viel formed 'Antonio Citterio and Partners' as a multidisciplinary office for architecture, industrial design and graphics. The firm develops projects for residential and commercial complexes and industrial facilities, plans the restructuring and conservation of public buildings, and produces interior designs for work areas, offices, showrooms and hotels. In addition to their further activities in the sector of corporate communications, image and identity, Citterio and Partners also design installation fixtures and graphics.

Antonio Citterio currently works with prominent Italian and international firms such as Ansorg, Arclinea, Axor/Hansgrohe, Aubrilam, B&B Italia, Flexform, Flos, Fusital, Guzzini, Iittala, Inda, Kartell, Maxalto, Sanitec Group/Pozzi Ginori, Simon Urmet, Technogym, Tre Più and Vitra. He has also served as a professor on the architectural faculty at the Universita della Svizzera Italiana since 2006.

Citterio has received numerous awards, including the Compasso d'Oro in 1987 and 1995. The product designs Mobil and Battista, which Citterio designed for Kartell, belong to the permanent collection of the New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Mobil, Battista, Dolly, Gastone and Oxo are part of the standing exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Tools Citterio 2000, his tableware series for Iittala, is displayed in the permanent design exhibition at the Chicago Museum of Architecture and Design together with the Axor Citterio bath fixtures created for Hansgrohe.

In January 2007, Citterio's design for a daycare facility in Verona for GlaxoSmithKline was nominated for the Mies van der Rohe Award by the jury and included together with 32 other projects in the accompanying catalogue and exhibition. In July of the same year, the Italian publisher Skira produced the monograph Antonio Citterio: Architecture and Design.

Also in 2007, Citterio was named 'Royal Designer for Industry' by the London-based Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce.

Citterio is a member of the Italian Design Council, which was established by the Italian Ministry for Culture.