Achille Castiglioni was born in Milan in 1918 and since 1940 he has been experimenting industrial products with his brothers Livio (1911-1979) and Pier Giacomo (1913-1968). After graduating in architecture in 1944, he began to looking into forms and techniques and new materials, conceiving a complete design process. He was one of the founders of ADI in 1956. He achieved in 1969 the teaching qualification on "Artistic Design for Industry" and he also taught at Università di Architettura di Torino until 1980 and also he taught as lecturer in Politecnico di Milano until 1993 as fulltime "Industrial Design' professor. Since 1950 he has been working about exhibitions and mountings(Triennale di Milano, Montecatini, Agip, Rai). Fourteen of his works are exhibited at the MoMA in New York. Other works are in museums: Victoria and Albert Museum (London), Kunstgewerbe Museum (Zurich), Staatliches Museum fur Angewandte Kunst (Munich), Design Museum (Prato), Uneleckoprumyslove Prague Museum (Prague), Israel Museum (Jerusalem), The Denver Art Museum, Vitra Design Museum (Weil am Rhein), Angewandte Kunst Museum (Hamburg and Cologne). From 1984 to1986 he organized a personal exhibition about his work by the Museum fur Angewandte Kunst (Vienna), then at the Akademie der Kunst (Berlin), the Triennale di Milsno (Milan), the Kunstgewerbe Museum (Zurich), the Haags Gemeentemuseum (The Hague), the Circulo de Bellas Artes (Madrid) and the Center Georges Pompidou (Paris). He was awarded nine Compasso D'oro. Achille Castiglioni died in 2002.

Alessi

Alessi founded in 1921 as a Workshop for the processing of brass and nickel-silver plates, with foundry, it is recognized for the high quality of its products.
In nearly a century of history it has gradually evolved to become a leading exponent of the "Factories of Italian design".
The Company is open to change and international development and also deeply rooted in the tradition and cultural background of its territory.                                            Alessi continues to be synonymous with craft objects made with the help of machines.
Today Alessi’s goal is to translate the search for the most advanced cultural, aesthetic, executive and functional quality into the industrial production series.
The design product stems from the constant search for mediation between art and industry, between the "Immensity of the Creative Possible" and the needs of the market.
The company’s commitment is to constantly work on a boundary line, balancing the most advanced expressions of creativity with the needs of the audience.
Alessi has been called a "dream factory". Indeed, through its products it aspires to make its contribution to responding to a desire for people's  happiness, to the need for Art and Poetry common to all people.