An Icon of the 1950s: Ico Parisi

Written by: Giovanni Gridelli.

Ico Parisi, full name Domenico Parisi, was one of the most influential designers who shaped the look of the 1950s. Ico Parisi was born on September 23rd 1916 in Palermo to an art teacher.

He lived in Como for most of his life, studying engineering in 1934. He worked as a photographer, among other things, in the study of the eminent architect Giuseppe Terragni, for whom he photographs the Casa del Fascio in Como and the Villa Bianca di Saveso. During this period, he is influenced by the Italian avant garde, in particular by the modernist doctrines concerning the integration of architecture and the arts. In the later half of 1930s, Parisi founded two groups of architects, the first being called ALTA QUOTA, founded with F. Cappellini, P. Costamagna and G. Galfetti, while the second was Gruppo Como.

In 1945, after serving in the war, Parisi organized the first of a series of contemporary furniture exhibitions in Como. The following year he married the architect Luisa Aiani (1914-1990), a student of Gio Ponti and a member of the Alta Quota. Parisi completed his architectural studies at the Atheneum Institute of Lausanne, becoming one of the leading industrial designers in Milan.

After the war, which sees him engaged on the Russian front, with his wife Luisa Aiani and after receiving prestigious commissions for the design of furniture for the State Library of Milan, in 1948 Ico Parisi together with his wife Luisa founded a study in Como of Design called La Ruota. La Ruota is located in via Diaz 24 Como, and is a study of architecture and design where Parisi, together with his wife, designed architectural projects, interiors, furniture, glass, and jewelry. The study of the Wheel was very important because it was the link that gave rise to collaborations with artists such as Lucio Fontana, Fausto Melotti, Bruno Munari and Francesco Somaini. In 1949, among the most significant works he realized there were Casa Carcano and Casa Notari.

Ico Parisi's biomorphic furniture projects for these commissions have been acclaimed in Milan and in the Domus magazine. The studio has also collaborated with selected local artisans, producing furniture, ceramics, glass and jewelry that have become important representations of the new Italian Linia. The designs of the Parisian studio were exhibited at the 34th Salon des Artistes Decorateurs in Paris, alongside those of Albini, Buffa, Chiesa, Minoletti, Mollino and Ulrich.

Parisi also designed furniture lines for New York customers such as M. Singer & Sons and important companies such as Cassina and MIM (Mobili Italiana Moderne), where among the most important drawings for Cassina we find the 813 Uovo chair designed in 1951.

The 813 Uovo chair was exhibited and presented at the Milan Triennale where a pavilion was also designed.

Subsequently the model 691 and Model 839 chairs were named for the Compasso D'Oro.

Parisi continued to design successfully for Cassina from the 60s to the 80s, producing furniture in their modern style, characterized by sinuous forms of wood and metal.

During the 60s they designed several architectural works such as the Church of Santa Maria dell'Osa in Grossetto in 1962.

Parisi in 1973 had contacts with several art critics where they began to collaborate giving rise to two projects named "Hypothesis for an existential home" and Operation Arcela.

Operation Arcela was important because in 1974 he took part in the Venice Biennale where he was also exhibited at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome in 1979.

In the late '70s, he made a series of futuristic architectural drawings entitled Realizable Utopia. He also published his first book on photography. Ico Parisi was referred to as "the man of the Renaissance," by involving and synthesizing the various creative disciplines; and together with his wife Luisa they are recognized as key figures in mid-century Italian design.

In 1984 Ico Parisi made a retrospective of drawings at the Italian Institute of Culture in Paris and at the ADP Center in Lille. After two years of the first Anthology exhibition dedicated to Ico Parisi was held: "Officina del Possibile."