Aldo Cibic

Aldo Cibic (born 1955 in Schio, Vicenza, Italy) is an Italian designer.[1]

Career

Rethinking happiness during the Venice Biennale in 2011
Rethinking happiness during the Venice Biennale in 2011

By the age of 22, he was working in the studio of Ettore Sottsass, In 1980, he became a partner of the studio Sottsass & Associati. That same year, in collaboration with Sottsass, Cibic became a founding member of Memphis Group – a collective association dedicated to design and architecture. The Memphis group would remain active until 1987.[2][3] The Memphis experience led Cibic to assume an experimental approach as his norm.

Towards the end of the 1980s, he began to reflect on a more personal concept of creativity, which inspired the launch of his first independent project. In line with his idea of a more human, less heroic form of design, he choosing not only to design objects for the home, but also to sell them, He presented his first self-produced collection, entitled “Standard”,[4] to the public at his loft home in Milan, inaugurating a tradition of impromptu exhibitions, which have since become a means of testing his design projects and continue to guide his research.

He has worked in collaboration with schools of design and architecture, starting with the "The Solid Side" initiative, launched in collaboration with Philips Corporate Design at the Domus Academy in the early 1990s, and culminating with the "Microrealities" project presented at the Biennale di Venezia in 2004.[5] These projects revolve around a central theme: the interpretation of sustainability.

For the 12th edition of Biennale di Venezia in 2010, 43 artists were invited, including Aldo Cibic to propose a project called "Rethinking happiness" for creating and enhancing happiness in new communities through 4 unique projects. Aldo Cibic invited architects, agronomists, designers, sociologists and energy consultants for the projects.[6]

Cibic & Partners

In 1989, Cibic & Partners was founded with Antonella Spiezo, with the aim of developing projects dedicated to design, interiors and architecture both in Italy and abroad. Luigi Marchetti joined in 2001 and Chuck Felton in 2003.[7]

Cibicworkshop

This investigative research into design – which now takes place in the Cibicworkshop – observes the built environment from a different perspective and on a different scale. The individual becomes the central focus, along with his/her complex system of relationships, his/her ability to imagine and invent, to discover new opportunities and to take advantage of change. This concept extends as far as a re-conceptualisation of the very idea of happiness: "Rethinking happiness."

Teaching

He has taught industrial design at the Faculté d’Architecture of Polytechnic University of Milan (in Industrial Design) and at the Faculté de Design of Università Iuav di Venezia (Higher institute of architecture of Venice). He is an honorary professor at Tongji University in Shanghai.

Selected Projects

Architecture

Exhibition Design

Interior Design

Design

Design Research

Publications

References

  1. ↑ ArchiMagazine: Aldo Cibic (Italian)
  2. ↑ DesignBoom: Aldo Cibic - Interview with one of the founders of Memphis
  3. ↑ Rai Educational - LezioniDesign: Intervista Aldo Cibic (Italian)
  4. ↑ Galeria Civica di Moderna: Due panche di Aldo Cibic in dono alla Galleria Civica (Italian)
  5. ↑ Microrealities: Un progetto sui luoghi e sulle persone - Also Cibic & Cibic&Partners (Italian)
  6. ↑ Rethinking Happiness website
  7. ↑ Stylepark Aldo Cibic, Italy (1955)

External links