If you know the Italian furniture brand Kartell, then you likely know Anna Castelli Ferrieri (1918–2006). The designer co-founded the company with her husband, Giulio Castelli, and created some of its most iconic pieces. Dubbed ‘the Queen of Plastic’, Ferrieri was responsible for popularising the material as the ultimate future-facing option for mass-produced furniture in the second half of the 20th century.
Castelli won Italy’s leading design prize, the Compasso d’Oro, three times, enjoyed a successful career as an architect, and in her later years taught at prestigious design schools. Her ‘Componibili’ storage system or Kartell continues to be produced, and chances are someone you know has one at home.
Who was Anna Castelli Ferrieri?
Anna Castelli in 1946, when she was an editor at Casabella
Ferrieri studied architecture at the Polytechnic University of Milan, graduating in 1943 – the same year she married Castelli. During her studies, she was influenced by Italian Rationalist architect Franco Albini and the Bauhaus school; both championed function, rigour and simplicity in design.
After the Second World War ended, Ferrieri established her own architecture studio in Milan. In these early years, she also engaged in journalism, becoming editor at two architecture magazines – Costruzioni and Casabella – as well as a correspondent for the English publication Architectural Design.
Servomuto, 1986, was a perfect example of how Ferrieri could combine functionality with humour,
In 1949, Ferrieri and Castelli founded Kartell, initially focused on producing car accessories such as roof-mounted ski racks, before it expanded into domestic design. Little did the duo know that the company would go on to become a world-leading plastic furniture brand. In fact, it would be another 15 years until Ferrieri became involved in designing products for the company – preferring instead in the meantime to focus on architecture.
Kartell in Tavola, a 1979 in collaboration with Centrokappa and Franco Raggi, which reflected new attitudes towards cooking and entertaining in the home. It included containers, trays, glasses and pitchers which were innovative for employing brightly coloured transparent plastics that could also be refrigerated
As an architect, Ferrieri predominantly worked on masterplans, housing and offices in and around Milan. During this time she joined the National Institute of Urban Planning (INU) and the Association for Industrial Design (ADI), later serving as the first female president of the ADI (1969–1971). From 1959 to 1973, she worked with architect Ignazio Gardella, with whom she designed the bright-red factory building outside Milan for Kartell in 1966.
Anna Castelli Ferrieri and the Kartell revolution
Tavolo ovale, 1964
Ferrieri designed her first product for Kartell in 1964, in collaboration with Gardella: a plastic table for the residence attached to the Gritti Palace Hotel in Venice. Echoing the form of Eero Saarinen’s famous ‘Tulip’ table (1956), with its central stand, the table reflected the shifting consumer desires of the day while pushing forward the innovation of using plastic for furniture – a material that had previously been seen as as only appropriate for industrial applications.
Ferrieri started designing products for Kartell more regularly in 1966, and with her input the role of plastic furniture cemented the company’s identity – and success. Her design vision was aesthetically one of geometric shapes, bold colour and glossy finishes; more than that, she truly believed in producing practical, affordable, everyday furniture that could enhance people’s lives.
The Kartell Componibili
Anna Castelli Ferrieri in front of a window at New York's MoMA, showcasing her Componibili
Once at Kartell, Ferrieri was quickly preoccupied with developing a mobile, modular storage system from injection-molded ABS (alias acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) – a glossy, strong plastic. That journey led her to design the ‘Componibili’, a cabinet of different sizes and configurations that could double as a side table, in an array of bright colours. Starting as rectangular in 1967 before adopting its now-famous cylindrical form in 1969, this is the design that has become synonymous with Kartell, and commonplace in design-conscious homes around the world.
The ‘Componibili’ was featured in the seminal 1972 exhibition, ‘Italy: The New Domestic Landscape’, at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, pointing the way towards a more contemporary lifestyle in which both society and interiors were liberated from tradition.
In 1976, Ferrieri was finally appointed Kartell’s art director, a position she held until 1987. She continued to design popular pieces – including colourful plastic tableware (‘Kartell in Tavola’, 1976) and award-winning stackable seating (‘4870 Chair’, 1986). She also published the book ‘From Project to Product: Plastic and Design’ (1984).
1980s and 90s: after Kartell
Advertising from Kartell, 1980s
In 1988, Ferrieri and Castelli sold Kartell to their son-in-law, Claudio Luti. Ferrieri had already shifted into teaching, passing on her knowledge and perspectives on design to the next generation. She taught at Milan Polytechnic (1984–1986), the Domus Academy (1987–1992) and the RMIT Centre for Design in Melbourne (1992). In 1990 she founded the design studio ACF Officina, working alongside young Italian and international designers.
The most significant archive of Ferrieri’s work is housed at the Kartell Museum in Noviglio, Italy. Meanwhile, her ‘Componibili’ designs continue to be manufactured, enduring in their practical and aesthetic appeal.
Discover Anna Castelli Ferrieri's key works
‘Componibili’ (1967–9)
Embodying Ferrieri’s vision of democratic design and elegant practicality, this stylish storage container came in multiple configurations, doubling as a nightstand or stool, and originally had the option of wheels. Its modular, stackable form offered flexibility and each shelf or level could have a sliding door. Ferrieri ensured the design came in a range of colours to suit varied interiors.
The cultural importance of the ‘Componibili’ is reflected by the fact it is included in the permanent collections of the MoMA in New York and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. To this day it remains one of Kartell’s best-selling designs and is one of the key works of the 1960s that ushered in a new era of future-facing furniture design.
‘4822 Stool’ (1979)
This bestselling stool resulted from Ferrieri and Kartell perfecting structural polyurethane molding technology. With a shallow curved back rest and ring-like foot rest, the stool came in a range of heights for different purposes. Often two-tone, it spoke of the emerging aesthetics of postmodernism.
‘Servomuto’ (1986)
Reflective of the way in which Ferrieri could combine functionality with humour, this valet stand offered a handy place to hang clothes, but with a lightly anthropomorphic form. Its spherical plastic ‘head’ could open up to become a container for jewellery and small objects, and its tubular metal ‘arms’ were adjustable. The stand was also on wheels to be flexible to daily need.
‘4870 Chair’ (1986)
This simple, stackable chair won the Compasso d'Oro Award in 1987 for its economic, practical construction and technological achievement. Each polypropylene chair featured slots to enable carrying and easy stacking, and came in a range of bright colours. Special attention was paid to its comfort, with a backrest that was solid at the bottom for support and slightly flexible at the top. The seat was injection moulded in a single piece and strengthened with thick ribbing, reflected by grooves on the surface which became a decorative element of the chair.
‘4841 Armchair’ (1988)
One of Ferrieri’s more playful designs, this lounge chair is thought to reflect the prevailing postmodern Memphis style of the era. Its marbled effect was created by injecting a blend of recycled plastic into the mold, a process that made each piece unique and which prefigured the later trend for recycled plastic furniture.