Cooper Hewitt says...
Pier Giacomo Castiglioni was born in Milan on April 13, 1913 into a family of industrial designers and architects. Throughout his career, he collaborated with his brothers, designers Livio and Achille Castiglioni. After completing his studies in architecture in the Politecnico, Milan, in 1937, Pier began working as an industrial designer. In the following year, Pier Giacomo opened a studio with his brother Livio and architect Luigi Caccia Dominioni. Before closing the studio in 1940, they designed silver and aluminum flatware, and Phonola’s Bakelite-housed Model 547 radio. The radio won a gold medal at the VII Triennale in Milan and is considered a prototype of early Italian product design. From 1945 to 1960, Pier collaborated with his brother Achille on architectural projects. Their partnership lasted 25 years and continued until Pier’s death in 1968. Pier and Achille were best known for their exhibition design and industrial furniture designs. They designed ordinary household objects, often with an ironic humorous twist, such as the 1955 Mezzadro stool (a red metal tractor seat on a chrome-plated bent metal base, 1978-144-1), and the Arco and Toio lamps of 1962, manufactured by Flos. The Castiglioni brothers, including Livio, participated in several Milan Triennales, won the Premio Compasso d'Oro citiation (1954), and participated in the founding of the Associazione per il Disegno Industriale (ADI) in 1956.
