Osvaldo Borsani

was born in Varedo in 1911. Son of Gaetano, a well-known furniture maker in his “Atelier di Varedo”. In the family business, 16-year-old Osvaldo receives the first training

Biography

At the time, the architect Maggioni designed new furniture for the Atelier. The air that Maggioni brings into the Atelier comes from Vienna, a city where architects, painters, sculptors, weavers and graphic designers work side by side and determine the flourishing of the Jugendstil. Perhaps it is this 'contamination of arts and crafts' that will influence the design physiognomy of young Borsani. It is no coincidence that his educational path begins with the artistic maturity at the Academy of Fine Arts to move to the Polytechnic University of Milan, where he graduated in architecture in 1937. But already in his student career, young Osvaldo develops an unstoppable vocation towards everything that is avant-garde, technology and innovation. His designs for industrial buildings, skyscrapers, bridges and glass structures linger between Mendelssohn's expressionism, Gropius' transparencies and the futurism of Sant'Elia.

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