Ico Parisi

Parisi defined himself as a Renaissance artist, who was interested in all forms of art. He did not want to be labeled as only an architect, industrial or furniture designer, painter, photographer, or installation artist, even though he pursued all these activities during his more than 50 years of creative life—both independently and with his wife, Luisa.

Ico Parisi Approaches Interior and Furniture Design Incorporating Artists And Architects

Between 1948 and 1950, Ico Parisi devoted himself to the study of furnishing elements and furniture design, and in 1951, he started establishing friendships and collaborations with artists, designers, and architects such as Lucio Fontana, Francesco Somaini, Bruno Munari, Mario Radice, Fausto Melotti, and Gio Ponti. These relationships deeply influenced his approach to architecture and furniture design and are an example of Ico Parisi’s desire to integrate into his work a synthesis of the arts.

By the mid 1950s, Parisi had become one of the most influential Italian furniture designers, with a unique Modern aesthetic that uses soft woods often shaped in wide undulating curves, with metal slats and boldly colored upholstery. In 1954, Ico Parisi, in collaboration with Silvio Longhi and Luigi Antonietti, won the gold award in the X Triennale di Milano (Milan Triennial) designing the Living Room Pavilion (Padiglione di soggiorno). In 1956, he became a member of the Association for Industrial Design (ADI) (Associazione per il Disegno Industriale). During his career, Ico Parisi collaborated not only with Longhi but also with many of the other important manufacturers of the time, including Singer & Sons, Altamira, MIM Roma, Cassina, and Cappellini.

Among his most prominent furniture and lighting designs are: for Cassina the chairs Model 691 (1955), the sofa and lounge chairs Model 865 (1957), and the lounge chairs Model 856 (1957); for Singer & Sons a series of walnut-and-brass tables with articulated legs such as the coffee table Model 112 (1950) and the console table Model 1109 (1950); for Fratelli Rizzi a series of custom made library systems during the late 1950s; for MIM (Mobili Italiani Moderni) Roma the the MIM lounge chairs (1960); for Arteluce the Model 244 wall lamps (1960); and for Lamperti the uniquely pop aluminum and steel Irdide floor lamp (1970).

In 1968, in collaboration with sculptor Francesco Somaini, Parisi showcased at Salone del Mobile his experimental pieces Contenitori Umani, or human containers, in which he proposes a new concepts around contemporary living and its house surroundings. These experimental pieces consisted of large blocks of polyurethane foam in the forms of human shapes being resting in different positions.

Parisi’s Prominent Architectural Projects

Among the architectural projects that better represent Ico Parisi’s aesthetic approach, composition, and the integration of art and architecture, are Casa Carcano in Maslianico (1949), in which he also involved painter Mario Radice and ceramicist and artist Fausto Melotti; Casa Notari at Fino Mornasco (1950), also in collaboration with Mario Radice; the four Cuomo houses built in the neighborhood of Monteolimipino during the early 1950s: Casa Bini, Casa Zucchi, Casa Bertacchi, and Casa Boligiana, where Parisi integrates architecture, design, and fine art built around prewar architectural rationalism; the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture in Sondrio (1953); Studio and Casa Parisi in Como (1958), in which he incorporated mosaic floors designed by Lucio Fontana and included many decorative objects by Somaini and Munari; and Casa Orlandi in Erba (1966). In 1968, Ico Parisi designed the Human Container (Contenitori Umani), a vertical structure with the silhouette of a reclining body, a project that may be mislabeled as an industrial design or furniture enquire but is really the result of Parisi’s research of living spaces.

Last updated on August 25, 2020