Bio

1959

Completes degree in architecture at the Politecnico di Milano

1960-70

Partner at the Milan-based studio Nizzoli Associati, an architecture and design company

1970–76

Editor of the architecture and design magazine Casabella

1971-75

Designs objects for Bracciodiferro, an experimental workshop set up by Cassina

1973

Co-founds the Global Tools collective with around thirty architects, artists, and critics involved in the Radical Design movement

1977–81

Founding editor of Modo, the Milan-based design and architecture magazine

1978

Joins Studio Alchimia, the Milan-based design group and gallery set up two years earlier by Alessandro and Adriana Guerriero

1978

Initiates the series Redesign di sedie del movimento moderno for Studio Alchimia, which includes redesigns of classics such as Gio Ponti’s Superleggera chair; other objects include the Proust lounge chair

1979

Receives a Compasso d’Oro for his lifetime achievement as a designer

1980

Curates the exhibition L’oggetto banale (The Banal Object) with Studio Alchimia, shown at the Venice Biennale

1980–85

Edits Domus magazine

1981

Designs the Cipriani cabinet for the first Memphis collection

1982

Co-founds the Domus Academy, Milan

1983

Directs the Tea and Coffee Piazza project for Italian domestic goods manufacturer Alessi; teaches at the College of Applied Arts Vienna

1987–94

Leading architect for the Groninger Museum, Groningen, Netherlands

1988

Retrospective exhibition Alessandro Mendini at Groninger Museum, Netherlands

1989

Founds Atelier Mendini with his brother Francesco Mendini; completes the Paradise Tower in Hiroshima in collaboration with Yumiko Kabayashi

2010/11

Edits Domus magazine for a second time and continues to direct Atelier Mendini

2011

Retrospective exhibition Alessandro Mendini - Wunderkammer Design at Neues Museum, Nuremberg