An Italian furniture designer
Giancarlo Piretti was an Italian designer from Bologna. He studied at the city’s Academy of Fine Arts and taught interior design at its state art institute. His furniture is represented in several design museum collections.
Works to begin with
The Plia chair is a useful starting point, alongside works such as Plona, Platone and Vertebra. Museum holdings place these objects in a broader account of industrial furniture, while each remains a distinct design problem.
Looking beyond the silhouette
Choose one chair and examine its configuration in use, handling and storage. Then compare a second design without assuming both answer the same requirements. Attention to joints, movement and the relationship between components makes the investigation more precise than a stylistic label. Piretti’s work rewards a reading that follows what a piece of furniture must do as well as what it looks like.