Luigi Bandini Buti Biography
Luigi Bandini Buti (Milan, 22 March 1930 – Milan, 12 September 2018[1]) was an Italian architect and academic, European ergonomist and specialist in Universal Design. He was born on 22 March 1930 into a family of Romagna origin. His father Antonio, a journalist, had been editor of the Italian Touring Club magazines and then had developed other important editorial activities such as the foundation of the Quattroruote magazine (editor-in-chief since the first issue - February 1956). His mother Maria, a teacher, although she died at a young age, is considered a pioneer of modern pedagogy[2]. His brother Alberto was an engineer, journalist and science communicator. Luigi married in 1961 and soon had two children (Cristina and Simone). Divorced, he remarried in 1988 but became a widower in 1997. He graduated in architecture in 1955 at the Polytechnic of Milan with Piero Portaluppi and Gio Ponti. Immediately after graduation and military service, he collaborated externally with prestigious Italian architects: Ignazio Gardella (urban plan and buildings at the Pineta di Arenzano), Franco Albini (who entrusted him with the artistic direction of line 1 of the Milan Metro) and Marco Zanuso and [1] Danilo Solari (exhibition at the Museum of Science and Technology in Milan, swimming pool at Piani d'Invrea). Having opened his own professional studio, he began to carry out professional and teaching activities as assistant to Lodovico Barbiano di Belgiojoso in Venice and then in Milan. In 1968 he responded to the demands of change by approaching ergonomics, then almost unknown in Italy, alongside Cajo Plinio Odescalchi and Enzo Spaltro[3]. He took part in the development of SIE, the Italian Society of Ergonomics (of which he became president from 1988 to 1993) and founded the SEA, Society of Applied Ergonomics, with Cajo Plinio Odescalchi (occupational doctor), Gabriele Cortili (physiologist) and Enrico Moretti (physicist). (1970-2010) with the aim of designing ergonomic interventions for work and living environments. For the activities carried out in the work environment he received the "Compasso d'Oro ADI" award in 1981 for the research "Ergonomic design - Research applied to the rotary printing press". In 2006 he developed an innovative concept of design culture, Holistic Ergonomics, introducing the concept of the valorization of the individual in his entirety (as opposed to the fragmentation of man seen by specialists) which he defines in the book of the same name. Since 2006 he has mainly dealt with Design for All, becoming a member of the Board of Directors of the Design for All Italia association (Italian National Member Organization of the EIDD - Design for All Europe) in 2007, and from 2009 to 2013 he was its President. He has been a member of juries such as the Smau Award (1994 and 2004) and Well-Tech Award (2010 - 2012), and has participated in conferences and congresses in Italy and abroad. In Italy he taught at the "School of Design" of the Polytechnic of Milan, at the "Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti" (NABA), at the "Academy of Fine Arts of Brera", at the "Polytechnic School of Design", at the "Istituto European Design" in Milan and at the “La Sapienza” University in Rome. Abroad he has carried out interventions at the "Veritas University", San Jose, (Costa Rica), at the "University of Quebec" in Montreal (Canada), at "Les Ateliers - Ecole Nationale de Création Industrielle" in Paris, at "Institute of Industrial Design" of Valletta (Malta) and the "Oficina Nacional de Diseño Industrial" of Havana (Cuba). He actively participated in the "General Principles" working group of the UNI (Italian Unification Body) collaborating in the drafting of the "Usability of industrial products" standard issued in September 2010 as UNI 11377. In recognition of his activity we can mention the Compasso d 'ADI gold, prize in 1981 for the research "Ergonomic design" and selection in 1979 at the 3M Minnesota Italy "tape library". The American Institute of Architects in San Diego (USA) awarded with the selection and production of a prototype, the design of an improperly seated position for the industry (1976). His ashes are buried in a small cell in the Lambrate cemetery in Milan.
