Gli Oggetti - Pura
The intuitive and
sculptural design of Angelo
Mangiarotti is embodied in two objects of timeless charm. A remake
of the crystal version designed in 1988, the Pura bowl is sculpted from white Carrara marble and was
created exclusively for Poltrona Frau. The minute variations in thickness
highlight the veins of the marble. The light penetrates the thinner and thicker
areas to different degrees, emphasising the transparency and opaqueness of the
material. The asymmetrical shape of the Pura bowl is a result of the balance of
solids and voids and leads it to rest naturally on just one side. The marble is
processed using numerically controlled machinery and then smoothed by hand to
give it a semi-polished finish that preserves its natural appearance. On the
underside of the Pura bowl a circular brass plate with Ruthenium finish is
engraved with the signature of the designer and the Poltrona Frau logo.
About Designer | |
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Angelo Mangiarotti |
Angelo
Mangiarotti was born in Milan on 26 February 1921. He graduated in Architecture
from Milan Polytechnic in 1948. In 1953-1954 he worked in the US,
participating, among other things, in the competition for the “LOOP“ in
Chicago. During this period abroad he met Frank Lloyd Wright, Walter Gropius, Mies
van der Rohe and Konrad Wachsmann. On returning from the US in 1955 he opened a
studio in Milan with Bruno Morassuti, which lasted until 1960. In 1989 he
launched Mangiarotti & Associates Office with headquarters in Tokyo. From
1986 to 1992 he was art director of Colle Cristalleria. In addition to his
professional activities, with his works published in books, specialist
magazines and newspapers, Mangiarotti also taught widely in Italian and
international universities. In 1953-1954 he was visiting professor at the
Institute of Design of Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago; in
1963-1964 he held a course at the Istituto Superiore di Disegno Industriale of
Venice; in 1970 he was visiting professor at the University of Hawaii; in 1974
at Ecole Politecnique Fédérale of Lausanne; in 1976 at the University of
Adelaide and the South Australian Institute of Technology in Adelaide; in 1982
he was visiting professor at the Faculty of Architecture of Palermo; in 1983 he
was adjunct professor of Composition at the Faculty of Architecture of
Florence; in 1989-90 he was visiting professor at the Faculty of Architecture
of Milan; in 1997 he was visiting professor on the Industrial Design degree
course of the Faculty of Architecture of Milan Polytechnic. He held numerous
seminars and conferences at international level. Mangiarotti’s design
activities, whose theoretical foundations were expressed in the 1987 book “In
nome dell’architettura”, tend to highlight the intrinsic characteristics of
every object as only “objective” designs avoid abusing their users to become
recognised by the collective. The architectural style becomes the expression of
a new relationship between man and the environment while Mangiarotti’s design
activities reserve a very important role for plastic research. The goal of his
research, always carried out with the utmost respect for the characteristics of
materials, is the definition of the form of the object as a quality of the
material. He died in Milan on 30 June 2012. His design work was acknowledged
with numerous awards in both the design and construction fields: the Domus
Formica Award (1956), the In/Arch Award for Lombardy (1962), First National
Award of the Gulf of La Spezia for Industrial Design (1963), AIP-Associazione
Italiana Prefabbricatori Award (1972), Prix Européen de la Construction
Métallique (1979), Medal and honorary diploma at the III World Architecture
Biennial of Sofia (1986), First prize in the “Concorso Targa Alcan“ (1989),
Honourable Mention at the National In/Arch Awards (1989), Design Plus Award for
the “Ergonomica” collection (1991), Marble Architectural Awards (1994), ADI
Compasso d’oro career award (1994), “Honoris Causa“ Degree in Engineering -
Faculty of Architecture. Technischen Universitat of Munich (1998), Gold medal
architecture category - Accademia della Torre di Carrara (1998), “Honoris
Causa” Degree in Industrial Design - Faculty of Architecture. Milan Polytechnic
(2002), “Apostolo del Design“ gold medal from Rima Editrice (2006), Marble
Architectural Awards 2007, honourable mention “ArchitettiVerona“ awards of the
Verona Association of Architects Planners, Landscapers and Conservationists
(2009). |