Franco Raggi

Franco Raggi graduated in Architecture from the Milan Polytechnic in 1969 and, in the same year, started working for Nizzoli Associati. From 1971 to 1975, he was editor of Casabella magazine, and from 1977 to 1980, editor-in-chief of Modo design magazine, which he headed until 1983. In 1973, he orchestrated the first critical exhibition of Italian Radical Design on behalf of the IDZ, Internationales Design Zentrum in Berlin. Between 1975 and 1977, he was coordinating secretary for the Visual-Architecture Arts Section at the Biennale in Venice. He was manager of the Raccolta del Design section at the Triennale in Milan between 1979 and 1980, organising various exhibitions in the early eighties. He has designed architectural structures, layouts, exhibitions, books, stage sets, rooms and objects for famous international design companies. He has had a longstanding partnership with FontanaArte. In the early eighties, under the artistic direction of Gae Aulenti, and in collaboration with Daniela Puppa, he designed the layouts for the company's events. Since the late eighties, he has created numerous successful projects for FontanaArte: the Family Bike (1988-89), Flute (1999) and Drum (2005). As an architect he has designed retail areas and showrooms (including FontanaArte), corporate headquarters (including the new Milan offices of Gianfranco Ferré), clinics and research centres. He has taught at the Faculties of Architecture at Pescara University and at the ISIA in Florence. Since 1995, he has coordinated the Department of Architecture at the IED in Milan. As an author, he has taken part in a large number of exhibitions and held conferences and seminars all over the world.