Andrea Branzi

In every piece I try to fight a sense of good taste and push more obscure proportions. There are no straight lines, no perfect angles. Imperfection is the standard. ”

          Seminal Italian architect, designer and educator Andrea Branzi held a lifelong fascination with how humans interact with objects, and sought to reconcile design and architecture with the evolving challenges of contemporary society. As a leading theorist, Branzi contributed an analytical and academic approach to the discipline.

          Born in Florence in 1938, Branzi studied at the Florence School of Architecture, receiving his degree in 1966. From 1964 to 1974, he was a founding member of the experimental group Archizoom, which envisioned the groundbreaking No-Stop-City among other projects. Branzi was a key member of Studio Alchimia, founded in 1976, and went on to associate with the Memphis Group in the early 1980s.

          In the 1980s, Branzi turned away from the prevailing, highly-stylized aesthetic of postmodern design. The key expression of this new direction was his seminal Animali Domestici (1985-1986) series, which featured rectilinear forms intersected by unfinished logs, sticks, and wood offcuts, in an attempt to bring the artificial and natural into equilibrium.

          Branzi distinguished himself as a co-founder of Domus Academy, the first international post-graduate school for design, and was a professor and chairman of the School of Interior Design at the Politecnico di Milano until 2009. He was a three-time recipient of the Compasso d’Oro, honored for individual or group effort in 1979, 1987, and 1995. In 2008, Branzi was named an Honorary Royal Designer in the United Kingdom and he received an honorary degree from La Sapienza in Rome. That same year, his work was featured in an installation at the Fondation Cartier, Paris. In 2018, Branzi was the recipient of the prestigious Rolf Schock Prize in Visual Arts by the Swedish Royal Academy of Fine Arts.

          Branzi’s works are held in the permanent collections of the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France; Centro Studi e Archivio della Comunicazione dell’Università di Parma, Italy; Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, USA; Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris, France; Le Fonds Régional d’art contemporain (FRAC), Orleans, France; Design Museum Gent, Belgium; Metropolitan Museum of Art, USA; Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Musée des Arts décoratifs, Paris, France; Musée des Beaux-Arts, Montreal, Canada; Museo del Design Italiano, Triennale di Milano, Italy; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA; Museum of Modern Art, USA; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK; Vitra Design Museum, Weil-am-Rhein, Germany amongst others.

          Andrea Branzi passed away in October 2023.

 

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Germinal Seat, 2022

Hand painted bamboo, painted aluminum
52 1/4 x 31 1/2 x 23 3/4 inches
133 x 80 x 60 cm
Unique, from a series of 12
FB37317

Germinal Seat, 2022

Hand painted bamboo, painted aluminum
48 1/4 x 31 1/4 x 23 1/2 inches
123 x 79 x 60 cm
Unique, from a series of 12
FB37321

Lamp (Maple Leaves), 2022

Japanese rice paper, maple leaves, patinated aluminum and black bamboo
111 x 24 1/2 x 24 1/2 inches
282 x 62 x 62 cm
Edition of 12
FB39862

Roots, 2022

Metal mesh, hand painted wood, painted aluminum
54 1/4 x 23 3/4 x 26 1/2 inches
138 x 60 x 67 cm
Unique, from a series of 12
FB37306

Roots, 2022

Metal mesh, hand painted wood, painted aluminum
60 1/4 x 32 x 26 inches
153 x 81 x 66 cm
Unique, from a series of 12
FB37309

Germinal Bench, 2022

Hand painted bamboo, painted aluminum
41 x 90 1/2 x 23 1/2 inches
104 x 230 x 60 cm
Unique, from a series of 12
FB37330

Buildings 1, 2021

Patinated aluminum, bamboo
95 1/2 x 63 x 15 inches
243 x 160 x 38 cm
Edition of 12
FB37297

Buildings 3, 2021

Patinated aluminum, leopard bamboo
74 1/4 x 86 1/2 x 15 3/4 inches
189 x 220 x 40 cm
Edition of 12
FB38321

Erme 7, 2021

Terracotta
73 x 23 3/4 x 15 3/4 inches
185 x 60 x 40 cm
FB34030

Erme 1, 2021

Terracotta
73 x 23 3/4 x 15 3/4 inches
185 x 60 x 40 cm
FB32685

Plank Cabinet 6, 2015

Patinated and polished aluminum, wood and spray paint
63 x 94 1/2 x 17 3/4 inches
160 x 240 x 45.1 cm
Edition of 12
FB21525

Plank Cabinet 8, 2014

Patinated and polished aluminum, wood and spray paint
63 1/4 x 110 1/4 x 19 3/4 inches
161 x 280 x 50 cm
Edition of 12
FB22695

Lamp, 2014

Japanese rice paper, bamboo, marble
88 x 30 x 30 inches
224 x 76 x 76 cm
Edition of 12
FB38599

Wall 4, 2013

Chalk on printed canvas and wood
94 1/2 x 78 3/4 x 26 3/4 inches
240 x 200 x 68 cm
FB19260

Tree 1B, 2011

Birch and patinated aluminum
68 x 150 x 23.5 inches
172.7 x 381 x 59.7 cm
Edition of 12
FB18295

Tree 8, 2010

Birch and patinated aluminum
80.71 x 55.12 x 13.78 inches
205 x 140 x 35 cm
Edition of 12
FB22206

Tree 4, 2010

Birch and patinated aluminum
43.31 x 98.43 x 10.63 inches
110 x 250 x 27 cm
Edition of 12
FB24170

Tree 5, 2010

Birch and patinated aluminum
118.11 x 78.74 x 10.63 inches
300 x 200 x 27 cm
Edition of 12
FB21464

Lampe Foglia, 1988

Acrylic glass, electroluminescent sheet, transformers
10 x 17 3/4 inches
25 x 45 cm
Edition of 24
FB28445

Madri, 1965

Gesso on paper
57 x 31 1/4 x 9 1/2 inches
145 x 79.5 x 24 cm
Signed and dated: A. Branzi 1965
FB25039

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