Osvaldo Borsani

Italy

Person

Designer

Born 17 August 1911 Varedo, Italy Died 16 April 1985 Milan, Italy Osvaldo Borsani studied architecture at the Politecnico di Milano from 1931 to 1937. While still a student, he presented the project Casa Minima at the V Triennale di Milano in 1933 and received a silver medal. In 1937 he joined his father’s furniture company, Atelier Varedo, as head of design and production. From 1939 to 1945 he designed and built Villa Borsani in Varedo, the family residence that later housed his private archive. In 1953 he relaunched the family business under the name Tecno together with his twin brother Fulgenzio. The first Tecno collection, presented at the X Triennale di Milano in 1954, marked an important stage in his career. Its most notable designs included the flexible sofa bed D70 (1954) and the adjustable reclining lounge chair P40 (1955), which established Tecno’s reputation for technologically innovative furniture. Later works included the T69 table with curved cast aluminium legs (1963), the modular office furniture system Graphis, developed with Eugenio Gerli and unveiled at the XIV Triennale di Milano in 1968, and the P126 executive swivel office chair (1976). Borsani completed his final design, a series of ashtrays, in 1980. In 1989 Tecno received the Compasso d’Oro for its longstanding achievements in design.