Carlo Pagano Biography
Carlo Pagani (1913 - 1999), architect, was born in Milan in 1913 and died there in 1999. His professional life experienced three distinct periods: the first, during the Second World War, saw him active in the editorial offices of cultural and architecture magazines , of interiors. The second period from 1949 to around 1970 saw him busy designing the interiors of department stores in Italy, with Rinascente and abroad. The third period, from 1970 to the early nineties in which he dedicated himself to sailing. Pagani attended the Faculty of Architecture in Milan, then that of Rome where he graduated in 1939. Returning to Milan, he joined the studio of Giò Ponti, already his professor when he was a student. Initially he collaborated in an architectural design activity, then gradually he was included in the editorial staff of the magazine "Domus". In 1940 he followed Ponti who created the magazine "Stile" by Garzanti, and became its editor-in-chief until 1943. Also in 1943 he was asked to direct "Domus" with Melchiorre Bega, whose editorial team moved to Bergamo due to the war . Pagani calls you Lina Bo, with whom he then directs “I quaderni di Domus” and “A”. These were very prolific years for Carlo Pagani during which stimulating and high cultural level relationships were cemented with architects, artists, art critics and lasting friendships over time. The three months of 1943 in which he was called up to arms as an artillery officer constituted a parenthesis. The ship he was on board was torpedoed and he, wounded, remained clinging to a raft for nine hours before being rescued. In the spring of 1949 he left for the United States with some La Rinascente executives with the task of studying the philosophy of American department stores. In the months spent overseas he also had the opportunity to meet the great names of architecture such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Richard Neutra. Once back, he began designing the interiors of La Rinascente in Piazza Duomo, which opened in December 1950. Thus began a long collaboration that involved him for over twenty years, in the branches of the department store throughout the peninsula: Roma Colonna, Roma Fiume, Naples, Cagliari, Catania, Genoa and Upim. La Rinascente gave Pagani the opportunity to specialize in a new international design activity that led him to work in Europe and Africa.
