Alberto Meda Biography
Alberto Meda (1945 - ) born in 1945, is one of the most internationally renowned Italian designers and academics. Born in Tremezzina in the province of Como, he studied mechanical engineering at the Polytechnic University of Milan, graduating in 1969. Initially employed as an assistant engineer at Magneti Marelli, after meeting Kartell founder Giulio Castelli, Meda began his successful career in industrial design. As technical director of the company's research and development department, he experiments with new plastic materials and production processes. His engineering background has influenced his design approach, aimed at technical solutions that allow extreme simplification. His objects are cleaned of superfluous elements, tending towards physical and visual lightness. In 1979 he began his career as an independent designer, working as a consultant for Gaggia and Alfa Romeo. The meeting with Paolo Rizzatto, founder of Luceplan, was Meda's springboard into the world of great designers. After debuting with the Jack table lamp in 1985, over a period of 20 years, he designed a series of projects for Rizzatto. Among these, the iconic Lola lamp, winner of the Compasso d'Oro in 1989; the Titania chandelier; the Compasso d'Oro Metropoli lamp from 1994, designed with Riccardo Sarfatti; the Bap+Bap table lamps, reissued in 2013 in the LED version; Fortinbras (1998); and Otto Watt (2011). The partnership between the two designers extends to the collaboration with Kartell, for which they created the Partner bookcase (2000) and the Upper staircase (2001). In parallel to the collaboration with Luceplan, Alberto Meda has completed a series of projects for Alias. He explored composite technology borrowed from the aerospace industry, designing the Ligh Light and Soft Light chairs and the XLight table (1989). Also for Alias he created the Frame series of chairs, completed by the Frametable table (2001), the Setes bench (2005) and the Teak outdoor furniture collection (2007). Since 1996, he has designed a dozen office chairs for Vitra: Meda, Meda Due, Meda Excell, Pal, Pro, Slim, Shell, Physix and the latest addition, AM Chair (2016). Since 2008 he has collaborated with his designer son Francesco, designing the Flap soundproofing module for Caimi Brevetti, the Aledin lamp for Kartell and the Medameda mixer for Zucchetti.
