Martingala Dining Chair - 1959

Marco Zanuso, an Italian architect, designer and educator whose career spanned over six decades, worked with industrial materials and manufacturing processes to redefine the concept of what was considered good design to include functional design as a means to enhance the human experience.

Zanuso was born in Milan and studied architecture at the Politecnico di Milano, graduating in 1939. After serving in the Italian Navy during the Second World War, he opened his own design office six years later. He was active in shaping the discourse around modern design, serving as co-editor of Domus for two years, and of Casabella a bit later.

He claimed his inquisitiveness to be a driving factor behind all his discoveries - the first of which was small, stackable plastic chair. Zanuso maintained that design was intended accessible for everyone, he first gained international attention when his works were exhibited at the Low-Cost Furniture competition at the Museum of Modern Art - the same year Arflex commissioned him to design their first models.

He was a founding member and first president of the Associazione per il Disegno Industriale (ADI) in 1954, and taught architecture, design and urban planning at the Politecnico di Milano throughout most his life.