De Lucchi, Michele

Michele De Lucchi, architect and designer, was born in Ferrara in 1951. After completing his degree at the University of Florence, he began teaching at the same institution. In the \'70s and \'80s he was a member of and designed for studio Alchimia and was one of those who introduced the use of decorative geometric motifs on laminated plastic made famous by Memphis. In 1979 he became a consultant to the Ivrea branch of Olivetti, for which he also became Design Director in 1992.

He achieved lasting notoriety with Tolomeo, the best-selling contemporary design lamp in the world, produced in every possible version, which won him the Golden Compass in 1989. His collaborations include designs for Artemide, Dada Cucine, Kartell, Matsushita, Maser and Poltrona Frau. He has elaborated various theories about the evolution of the workplace environment and has developed experimental projects for Compaq Computers, Philips, Siemens and Vitra.