Michele De Lucchi

Michele De Lucchi was born in 1951 in Ferrara and graduated in architecture in Florence, Italy. During the "Radical period" he founded the art group “Cavart” and was an important figure in Alchymia and Memphis foundation. Michele De Lucchi has designed furniture for well known Italian and European companies. He was in charge of the design at Olivetti from 1988 to 2002 in designing and planning laptops, monitors, printers, fax machines and computers, while developing experimental projects for Compaq Computers, Philips, Siemens and Vitra. He designed and refurbished buildings in Japan for NTT in Germany for Deutsche Bank, in Switzerland for Novartis, and in Italy for Enel, Olivetti, Piaggio, Poste Italiane and Telecom Italia. In 1999 he was appointed to renovate some of ENEL's (Italys principal Electricity Company) power plants. He cooperated with the image development of Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Bundesbahn, Enel, Poste Italiane, Telecom Italia, Hera, Intesa Sanpaolo, and other Italian and foreign companies introducing technical and aesthetic innovation in work places.

He also set up art and design exhibitions, buildings and layouts for museums such as the Milan Triennale, the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome and the Neues Museum in Berlin. In recent years, he developed a number of architecture projects for private and public clients in Georgia, including the Ministry of the Interiors and the Bridge of Peace in Tbilisi.

His professional activity was always supported by personal studies on the themes of design, drawing, technology, and handicraft. In 1990 he created Produzione Privata, a small enterprise in which Michele De Lucchi designs products that are then implemented using craft techniques and methods. Has has been carving small houses in wood using a power saw since 2004 in order to pursue the essential character of architectural forms.

The MDL S.r.l. studio has offices in Milan and Rome.
In 2003 the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris has acquired a considerable number of his works. Selections of his products are exhibited in the most important design Museums in Europe, United States and Japan.

He also received several international acknowledgements.
Won the Compasso d’Oro-ADI award in 1989 for the lamp Tolomeo, designed for Artemide, and in 2001 for the printer Olivetti Artjet 10. Was decorated Official of the Italian Republic in 2000 by President Ciampi for merits in the field of design and architecture. Was appointed Full Professor in 2001 at the Faculty of Design and Arts of the University Architecture Institute of Venice for his undisputed renown. Received an Honorary Degree in 2006 from the Kingston University for his contribution to the “quality of life”. Has been a Full Professor at the Faculty of Design of the Milan Polytechnic and a Member of the National Academy of San Luca in Rome since 2008.
Received the Golden Fleece Order in 2009 and the Presidential Order of Excellency from Mikheil Saakashvili, President of Georgia, in 2010.