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Marco Zito, the sense of beauty
Harmonies Magazine

Harmonies Magazine

Marco Zito, the sense of beauty

by
August 21, 2020
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Haiku coffee tables and Shade dividers for Saba

An emblematic figure in the design market, Marco Zito has made singularity his trademark. Object design, architecture, interior design, the jack-of-all-trades designer did not confine himself to a particular field. Between poetry and industry, his creations make him one of the most recognized names on the international scene.

Born in 1966, the Italian artist studied architecture with Vittorio Gregotti and Bernardo Secchi at the IUAV University. Two years after graduating, in 1994, he began teaching industrial design at the Faculty of Design and Arts of the IUAV, Venice, and that of Industrial Design at the University of San Marino. At the same time, he made his debut on the island of Murano, in the world of blown glass. Since 1996, he has been a guest lecturer at the Industrial Design Center in Montevideo, Uruguay, at the San Marco Center in Kigali, Rwanda, and at the IMC – Industrial Modernization Center – in Cairo, Egypt. A source of inspiration, it was in the magical city of Venice, that he called his neighborhood.

His studio specializes in product and facility design, interior design and decoration, and architecture. Zito mainly conducts research there on the reduction of components, the simplification of furniture and projects or the durability of the object. Sustainability figures, moreover, at the top of the themes on which he focuses his work. From the creation of his agency, success was immediate. The designer, who became an expert member of the ADI.BEDA Reg., quickly established himself in the design world, winning numerous international awards. Ultra-creative, reinterpreting the tools of our everyday life in a contemporary light, he constantly delivers pieces that seduce the public like Steelon, a laminated blown glass table lamp, designed like a vase and produced by Viabizzuno. Thanks to this achievement, he was selected by the Design Index ADI 2004 and published in the Design Yearbook 2004 by Tom Dixon.

His Lettere project, a lighting system also produced by Viabizzuno, won him the competition for innovation and design trophies, Batimat 2005, and was chosen by the Design Index ADI 2007 and the New Italian Design exhibition, permanent design collection at the Milan Triennale. He is also a winner at Matitalia, commemorative pencil for the 150th anniversary of the unity of Italy, the Unita project being produced and led by Fila. Pure, light, with soft lines and curves, his creations, whether they are office furniture, armchairs, coffee tables, suspensions, lamps, wall lights, screens, magazine racks or other accessories embody a world tinged with poetry, while meeting the criteria of quality and functionality. The artist collaborates with the most prestigious brands, such as Foscarini, Saba, Agape, Salviati, Olivetti, Lavazza, Plust, Deltacalor, Coin, Electrolux, Casamania, Gruppo Danieli, Fila, Viabizzuno and Bosa.

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Contemporary concept, sober and elegant lines, colors and muted tones resolutely in tune with the times, noble and quality materials… The multiple creations designed and sculpted by Terry Dwan have everything to seduce us. Take a look at this outstanding talent. An architect and designer at the same time, Terry Dawn has, for a long time, established his notoriety on the international scene, thanks to his remarkable style. Based in Milan, this native American but adopted Italian uses a language of her own. Born in 1957, in Santa Monica, California, United States, she began her career after studying engineering and architecture at Rice University, Houston, in addition to training in Fine Arts at Studio Arts Center International (SACI) in Florence, Italy. The designer, who won the Fulbright Fellowship to study the architecture of cemeteries and war monuments in Italy, graduated from Yale University in Architecture in 1984. After an experience alongside Antonio Citterio, with whom she collaborated from 1985 to 1996 and founded the Citterio/Dwan office, working on several projects and residential complexes, fairs and exhibitions, notably in Switzerland, Japan, Germany and Italy, she opened her own design agency in 1992 and got involved in great designs, whether in architecture or decoration. A book entitled Antonio Citterio & Terry Dwan: Ten years of Architecture and Design, signed by Pippo Ciorra, was published on the occasion of the exhibition that the duo organized in Bordeaux in 1993. At the same time, it multiplies design projects for the biggest publishers and won numerous awards at international competitions. In 1996, she began by developing industrial design plans for firms such as Sawaya and Moroni, Electrolux, San Lorenzo and Driade. An accomplished designer, she juggles with forms, materials and concepts, questions obvious codes, experiments and explores eclectic universes: from the architecture of private residences, public buildings and interior decoration, through the design and the from salon and exhibition design to furniture and porcelain or silver objects, she is interested in everything and comes out with flying colors. Marrying current vision with everyday functionality, some of her works are part of the permanent collection of the Design Museum at the Milan Triennale. Passionate, her career is marked by numerous explorations of the material where wood, her material of choice, occupies a privileged place. She enjoys working with it revealing its multiple aesthetic qualities, through several everyday basics, many models of which have become emblematic, such as Maui, seat in scented cedar wood, edited by Riva 1920, and the Napa armchair, object oscillating between functional piece of furniture and biomorphic sculpture, or even Implement, a desk composed of two juxtaposed and misaligned wooden boards. Her collaboration with Driade is crowned by the timeless Burgos and Bedda sofas. A sought-after speaker around the world, Terry Dwan has taught architecture at SACI, Florence, and co-taught architectural heritage conservation at the University of Milan. Since 2006, she has been Dean of the Council of the School of Architecture at Yale University and a member of the SACI Board of Trustees.
Terry Dwan, multifaceted designer

 

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