Achille Castiglioni (1918-2002) was arguably the godfather of Italian modernism, his designs hugely influential and much admired. In 1944, Achille established a design studio with brothers Livio and Pier Giacomo: here they would test, analyse and determine the functional properties of an object (Livio would later leave the partnership in 1952 and Achille worked with Pier Giacomo until his death in 1968). A graduate in architecture, Achille was interested in researching and testing structures, processes and new materials, aiming to develop an integral design process.Achille Castiglioni. Photograph by Martyn Thompson via BassamFellows.An image from the Fondazione Castiglioni. Photograph by Martyn Thompson via BassamFellows.Achille Castiglioni was a founding member of the Association of Industrial Design or ADI. A man keen to share and impart his knowledge and expertise, he was a professor of Industrial Design at the Turin Architecture University until 1980 and subsequently at Milan until 1993. Heaped with praise throughout his career, Achille received a great many accolades, including nine Compasso d?Oro awards (this prized industrial design award originated in Italy in 1954). Moreover, his works are found in the permanent collections of the world’s finest museums: from MoMA in New York to the V&A in London and the Vitra Design Museum.Achille Castiglioni is especially known for his lighting and furniture objects, the majority of which are i...