Lella
Lella Vignelli was born in Udine, Italy. She received a degree from the School of Architecture, University of Venice, and became a registered architect in Milan in 1962. In 1958, she received a tuition fellowship as a special student at the School of Architecture, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge.
In 1959, Ms. Vignelli joined Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Chicago, as designer in the Interiors Department. The following year, with Massimo Vignelli, she established the Vignelli Office of Design and Architecture in Milan. In 1965, she became head of the Interiors Department for Unimark International Corporation in Milan and in New York (1966).
In 1971, the Vignellis established Vignelli Associates and seven years later, they formed Vignelli Designs, a company dedicated to product and furniture design, of which she is President.
Ms. Vignelli’s work is widely featured in design publications in the United States and abroad. Examples of her work have been included in the permanent collections of numerous museums, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Cooper-Hewitt Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Montreal, and Die Neue Sammlung in Munich. The Vignellis’ work has been the subject of two feature-length television programs that have been televised worldwide. A monographic exhibition of the Vignellis’ work toured Europe between 1989 and 1993, and was featured in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Helsinki, London, Budapest, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Munich, Prague and Paris.
Lella Vignelli lectures in schools and Universities and is a frequent speaker and juror for national and international design organizations. Ms. Vignelli has been the recipient of many awards including the
American Institute of Architects (AIA) Industrial Arts Medal,1973; AIGA Gold Medal, 1983; Interior Design Hall of Fame, 1988; National Arts Club Gold Medal for Design, 1991; Interior Product Designers Fellowship of Excellence, 1992; The Brooklyn Museum Design Award for Lifetime Achievement, 1995; The Russel Wright Award for Design Excellence, 2001. In 2003 Lella and Massimo Vignelli received the National Design Lifetime Achievement Award, 2004 The Visionary Award, Museum of Art and Design, New York, and the 2005 Architectural Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters .
She is also the recipient of Honorary Doctorates from the Parsons School of Design, New York; the Corcoran School of Art, Washington D.C. and the President Medal of the Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY.
Massimo
Massimo Vignelli, born in Milan, studied architecture in Milan and Venice. Prior to establishing the offices of Vignelli Associates in 1971, and Vignelli Designs in 1978, with Lella Vignelli, he and Lella Vignelli established the Vignelli Office of Design and Architecture in Milan in 1960, and in 1965, Massimo Vignelli became co-founder and design director of Unimark International Corporation. Massimo Vignelli is the co-founder and President of Vignelli Associates and Chief Executive Officer of Vignelli Designs in New York. His work includes graphic and corporate identity programs, publication designs, architectural graphics, and exhibition, interior, furniture, and consumer product designs for many leading American and European companies and institutions.
Mr. Vignelli’s work has been published and exhibited throughout the world and entered in the permanent collections of several museums; notably, the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Cooper-Hewitt Museum in New York; the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Montreal; and the Die Neue Sammlung in Munich. Mr. Vignelli has taught and lectured on design in the major cities and universities in the United States and abroad.
For the past ten years he has taught a summer course at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. He is a past president of the Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI) and the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), and a vice president of The Architectural League. Two feature-length television programs on the Vignellis’ work have been aired worldwide. A monographic exhibition of the Vignellis’ work toured Europe between 1989 and 1993, and was featured in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Helsinki, London, Budapest, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Munich, Prague and Paris.
Among Massimo Vignelli’s many awards: Gran Premio Triennale di Milano, 1964; Compasso d’Oro, awarded by the Italian Association for Industrial Design (ADI), 1964 and again in 1998; the 1973 Industrial Arts Medal of the American Institute of Architects (AIA); the 1982 Art Directors Club Hall of Fame; the 1983 AIGA Gold Medal; the first Presidential Design Award, presented by President Ronald Reagan in 1985, for the National Park Service Publications Program; the 1988 Interior Design Hall of Fame; the 1991 National Arts Club Gold Medal for Design; the 1992 Interior Product Designers Fellowship of Excellence; The 1995 Brooklyn Museum Design Award for Lifetime Achievement; and The 2001 Russel Wright Award for Design Excellence. He has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Architecture from the University of Venice, Italy and Honorary Doctorates in Fine Arts from Parsons School of Design, New York, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, the Corcoran School of Art, Washington D.C, and the Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA, and the Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY. In 1996 he received the Honorary Royal Designer for Industry Award from the Royal Society of Arts, London. In 2003 Lella and Massimo Vignelli received the National Design Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2004 the Visionary Award from the Museum of Art and Design, New York and the 2005 Architectural Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters
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