svaldo Borsani was born at the crossroads of craft and

modern manufacturing. The son of a cabinetmaker,

he trained as an architect in Milan in the 1930s, when

the city was a centre of technological advancement

and lourishing artistry, with the economic momentum

to push both at speed. A creative pioneer, technical

innovator and entrepreneur, he would come to

revolutionise the world of contract furniture.

With his twin brother Fulgenzio, Borsani developed

a new productive formula based on two tenets: ‘an

original idea’ and ‘fulilling a need’. Their vision took

shape in 1953, when they founded Tecno, and started

manufacturing Italian design on an industrial scale.

The use of innovative technology gave Tecno furniture

a distinct elegance that came to characterise the brand.

Tecno’s focus under the direction of the Borsani

brothers was mainly furniture, and Osvaldo designed

products until the early 1980s. As art director he

involved other creatives such as Vico Magistretti and

Eugenio Gerli in the 1960s, Mario Bellini in the 1970s

and Gae Aulenti and Ricardo Boill in the 1990s.

Along with Gerli, Marco Fantoni, his daughter Valeria

and his brother Fulgenzio, Osvaldo Borsani founded

Centro Progetti Tecno in 1970, an oice devoted to

innovative products and interiors. Collaborating with

the likes of Angelo Cortesi and Kugo Toru, they were

invited to imagine new concepts integrating custom-

made furniture design for the oices and classrooms

of clients including Alitalia and Yale University. »

O

ABOVE, TOMMASO FANTONI

AND VALERIA BORSANI IN

VILLA BORSANI’S LIVING ROOM,

WITH A PAIR OF OSVALDO

BORSANI’S ‘P11O’ LOUNGE

CHAIRS. A CERAMIC FIREPLACE

SURROUND DESIGNED BY

LUCIO FONTANA IS FRAMED

BY LIGHTING FIXTURES BY

GUGLIELMO ULRICH

RIGHT, THE DINING ROOM,

WITH A BRAZILIAN ONYX TABLE

AND SET OF CHAIRS DESIGNED

BY OSVALDO BORSANI

Salone del Mobile

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