De Lucchi, Michele

Designer Michele De Lucchi graduated from Florence University in 1975, and taught architecture at the school for two years before joining forces with other designers and architects to form Cavart, a radical design group.

In 1978, de Lucchi went to Milan to design for Kartell. He met the designer Ettore Sottsass and joined the Studio Alchimia, creating several bizarre and comical designer objects, including the virtually useless Sinerpica table lamp(1978), and the Sinvola (1979). He also designed several prototype household appliances, which were shown at the Milan Triennale but never produced.

In 1980, de Lucchi joined Ettore Sottsass’s design group, Memphis, creating his classic First chair (1983), and later he co-designed the bestselling Tolomeo lamp with Giancarlo Fassina for Artemide. In 1990, de Lucchi founded Produzione Privata to create lighting that was neither complex, nor had to take into consideration the demands of mass production, so it could be produced by craftsmen.

He has also designed branches of Deutsche Bank, a shop system for Mandarina Duck, and the Deutsche Bahn travel center in Frankfurt.