Stefano Giovannoni

Last updated
Stefano Giovannoni
Born1954
Alma mater
Occupation Designer, architect
WorksBombo
Awards
  • Premio Lerici Pea Golfo dei Poeti
Website stefanogiovannoni.com  

Stefano Giovannoni (born 1954) [1] is an Italian architect and designer. He was one of the founders of the Bolidist movement. Giovannoni lives and works in Milan.

Contents

Biography

Bombo stool for Magis (1999) Magis Bombo.jpg
Bombo stool for Magis (1999)
Mami cutlery for Alessi (1993) Alessi Mami cutlery by Stefano Giovannoni.jpg
Mami cutlery for Alessi (1993)

Stefano Giovannoni was born in La Spezia in 1954. He studied architecture at the University of Florence, graduating in 1978. [4] [5] He continued his association with the university doing research and teaching until 1991. He has also taught at the Domus Academy in Milan, the University of Reggio Emilia, and at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Genoa, where he was the chair of industrial design department.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s he collaborated with Ettore Sottsass and Alessandro Mendini at Studio Alchimia in Milan. He was also one of the co-founders of the Bolidist movement  [ it ]. [6] In the mid-1980s, he and Guido Venturini  [ de ] founded a studio and designed products for companies such as Alessi, calling themselves King-Kong Productions. [7] [8] [9]

Geovannoni has designed furniture, housewares, decorative objects, sanitary fittings, electronic devices, lighting, and interiors for companies such as Bisazza  [ it ], Fiat, Flos  [ it ], Laufen, [10] Lavazza, Magis  [ it ], [11] Siemens, 3M, Toto, NTT Docomo. [12] [13] [14]

Objects designed by Geovannoni are in collections such as the Museum of Modern Art and the Brooklyn Museum in New York, [15] [16] the Design Museum and the Museum of Design in Plastics (MoDiP) in the UK, [17] and the Design Museum in Brussels. [18]

His Bombo (stool)  [ it ] for Magis was one of the most commercially successful design products of the early 2000s, and according to the designer, as of 2015 it was "the most copied design product in the world" with over 1,000 Chinese companies making unauthorised replicas. [19] [20] [2]

In 2016 he launched a new company called qeeboo. [21] The company manufactures furniture designed by Giovannoni and other well known designers such as Andrea Branzi, Estudio Campana, Studio Job, Alessandro Mendini, Satyendra Pakhale, Kris Ruhs, Philippe Starck, Marcel Wanders, and Nika Zupanc. [22] [23] [24]

Giovannoni was awarded the 2020 Premio LericiPea Golfo dei Poeti  [ it ]. [20] [5]

He lives and works in a converted 1930s hydro-turbine factory which was once the seat of Riva Calzoni  [ it ] in Milan. [25] [26]

References

  1. "Stefano Giovannoni, Italian, born 1954". Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  2. 1 2 Sebambo, Khumo (15 February 2015). "The multiplier effect". Design Indaba . Retrieved 3 July 2025.
  3. Chin, Andrea (19 November 2014). "Interview with product designer Stefano Giovannoni". Designboom . Retrieved 2025-07-22.
  4. "Giovannoni, Stefano; La Spezia (SP) , 1954; designer; Patrimonio culturale dell'Emilia-Romagna" [Giovannoni, Stefano; La Spezia (SP) , 1954; designer; Cultural patrimony of the Emilia Romagna region]. Emilia-Romagna Region (Official website) (in Italian). Retrieved 2025-06-29.
  5. 1 2 "Premio LericiPea "Liguri nel Mondo" all'architetto Stefano Giovannoni". Città della Spezia (in Italian). 2021-03-08. Retrieved 2025-06-29.
  6. Slesin, Suzanne (1988-04-14). "CURRENTS; Bolidism: Furniture That's on the Move". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2025-06-29.
  7. "Guido Venturini". Alessi Spa (EU) (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-08-15.
  8. Should Mary Smell Like Biscuit? Investigating Scents in Product Design
  9. "Round Tray, 'Girotondo,' Model KKGT". Brooklyn Museum . Retrieved 2025-06-29.
  10. "Stefano Giovannoni / Giovannoni Design". www.laufen.com. Archived from the original on 2022-09-26. Retrieved 2025-06-30.
  11. "Stefano Giovannoni". Magis. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  12. "NTT DoCoMo to Display New Handset in Milan". NTT DoCoMo . Retrieved 2025-06-30.
  13. Ramirez, Louis (2007-03-16). "NTT DoCoMo Prepping its Own Designer Handset". Gizmodo . Retrieved 2025-06-30.
  14. "FOMA N904i Cellular Phone". Good Design Award . Retrieved 2025-06-30.
  15. "Stefano Giovannoni". The Museum of Modern Art . Retrieved 2025-06-29.
  16. "Stefano Giovannoni". Brooklyn Museum . Retrieved 2025-06-29.
  17. "Stefano Giovannoni". Museum of Design in Plastics . Retrieved 2025-06-29.
  18. "Stefano Giovannoni; Plastic Design Collection". Design Museum Brussels . Retrieved 2025-06-29.
  19. "Stefano Giovannoni's Bombo stool is the "most copied" design". Dezeen . 2015-02-26. Retrieved 2025-04-22.
  20. 1 2 "Lerici Pea 2020". Premio LericiPea Golfo dei Poeti  [ it ] (in Italian). Retrieved 2025-06-29.
  21. Senda, Shuhei (2016-04-11). "stefano giovannoni debuts qeeboo brand during milan design week". Designboom . Retrieved 2025-06-30.
  22. Alessi, Chiara (11 April 2016). "Stefano Giovannoni". Domus. Archived from the original on 4 August 2025. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
  23. "Exploring Qeeboo: objects with character and meaning". DesignWanted. Retrieved 2025-07-04.
  24. "Designers". Qeeboo. Retrieved 2025-07-04.
  25. "Stefano Giovannoni: From Architecture to Fashion". at-superstudiomagazine.com. Retrieved 2025-06-29.
  26. "Officine Meccaniche Riva Calzoni". www.mumi-ecomuseo.it. Retrieved 2025-06-29.
  27. "Marco Oggian Collection". Qeeboo. Retrieved 2025-08-30.