Michele de Lucchi

In 1980, Michele De Lucchi joined the Memphis Group, for which he designed the Lido sofa in 1982 and the First chair in 1983. In 1987, he designed for Artemide, in collaboration with Giancarlo Fassina, the Tolomeo aluminum lamp, which became an instant success.

In 1990, De Lucchi founded Produzione Privata, with offices in Milan and Rome, with the objective to produce experimental works made using traditional artisan techniques and crafts. He organized Produzione Privada around seven workshops. Five workshops are dedicated to a specific material: glass, wood, metal, marble, ceramics, and porcelain. And the two workshops are dedicated to De Lucchi’s two design concepts: Ready Made–an approach that states that contemporary design does not invent, but assembles; and Minimal Machine–a design approach in which the process of creation and production happen simultaneously.

With Produzione Privata, in the 1990s, Michele De Lucchi started to participate in the restoration and renewal of many important buildings and urban areas in Italy and abroad and to collaborate as a consultant in corporate designs with Olivetti, Deutsche Bank, and the Deutsche Bahn Travel Center in Frankfurt, as well as the construction of the new offices of Swiss furniture manufacturer Vitra. In 2011, also through Produzione Privata, he created Fata and Fatina lamps made out of white handblown Murano glass, with no visible transition between lampshade and the lamp structure.

He is a professor at the Faculty of Design at Politecnico di Milano and a member of the Accademia Nazionale di San Luca in Rome.

We are thrilled to currently have at Casati Gallery numerous objects and furniture pieces designed by Michele de Lucchi by Produzione Privata. All of these objects have been made using strict traditional artisan techniques in accordance with Michele’s newest approach to furnishing designs.

Philippe Nigro, a French designer that has worked with Casati Gallery since 2015, has collaborated since 1999 as an independent designer with the Michele De Lucchi studio in Milan, participating in numerous product, furniture, lighting, and interior designs and in exhibition designs for such companies as Olivetti, Poltrona Frau, and Artemis.

In 2018. Michele de Lucchi became the guest Editor in Chief of Domus Magazine. This one-year Editor-in-Chief position was awarded to him as part of Domus magazine’s 10X10X10 editorial strategy in preparation for its 100th anniversary in 2028.  As part of this editorial strategy, Domus will award yearly guest editor-in-chief titles to 10 internationally acclaimed architects to direct the magazine for 10 issues each year from 2018 until 2028.  The first architect selected as editor in chief as part of this program was Michele de Lucchi, in 2018, the second one was Winy Mass, in 2019, and the third one was David Chipperfield, who will hold the position during 2020.

For more information on Michele De Lucchi, please visit:

Michele De Lucchi official site

Produzione Privata

Photo courtesy of Ksenia19494 under Creative CommonsLast updated: September 12, 2019

Last updated: February 7, 2020