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Anna Castelli Ferrieri: a multifaceted architect

May 21, 2026

Anna Castelli Ferrieri: a multifaceted architect

Anna Ferrieri was born in Milan in 1918 into a family of intellectuals, where she encountered prominent figures in Italian and international culture. Her ties with her family of origin were so strong that she kept her maiden name even after she married, although this was above all a statement of her independence.

She enrolled at the Politecnico di Milano, where she studied under the Rationalist architect Franco Albini, whose firm provided her with her first professional experiences. In 1943, having recently graduated, she married Giulio Castelli - who founded Kartell, the plastic furniture company - with whom she fled Milan until the end of the war.

Her work as an architect saw her participate in the plan to rebuild Milan, alongside Ernesto Nathan Rogers and Piero Bottoni. She opened her own firm in 1946, demonstrating her passion for her trade, which she balanced with motherhood: the couple had two children, Valerio and Maria.

In the same year, she collaborated with Casabella-Costruzioni, a magazine published by Editorial Domus; later on, she became an Italian correspondent for the British magazine Architectural Design. She believed that architects had the responsibility to improve the world of objects - buildings included -, which should express the message that life can improve. She also believed that this responsibility should also be passed on through training. She taught at Domus Academy (now owned by a French group), the first Italian post-graduate training school for fashion and design, founded by Editoriale Domus in 1982, and then at the Politecnico di Milano. Her teaching activities also saw the publishing of a series of books, including Interfacce della materia (1991), which was reviewed in the Domus magazine. The book review has always been a part of Domus, although, unfortunately, nowadays more books are published than read.

Img.1 A two-floor apartment in Milan designed by Ignazio Gardella with the collaboration of Anna Castelli (Domus 354, 1959).

From 1959 to 1973 she worked with Ignazio Gardella, who she defined as the best architect of the first half of the twentieth century and with whom she designed apartments and buildings, in addition to drawing up urban planning projects. Outstanding buildings include the administrative headquarters of Alfa Romeo in Arese (with Ignazio and Jacopo Gardella, Leonardo Fiori and Sergio Boldi) and the headquarters of Kartell in Noviglio (with Ignazio Gardella). She also worked on architectural restoration projects, such as for the Chiostro del Bramante and for the conservative redevelopment and restoration of a building in Piazza Sant’Eustorgio, both in Milan. 

She collaborated with Kartell from 1966, later serving as art director until 1987. She designed a number of articles for the company that have since become a part of Italian design history, also winning two Golden Compass awards, assigned to the best products from Italian industrial production. The coming together of the designer and her husband’s company was a truly successful event. They were both innovative figures, she in design projects, he as a chemist who discovered innovative formulas for plastic, the material that, in the ‘60s and ‘70s, truly revolutionised how homes, furniture and other objects were seen. 

Img.2 The stackable containers designed in 1967 (Domus 1000, 2016). Displayed in design museums such as MoMA in New York, the ADI Design Museum and the Milan Triennale, they are ranked among the most iconic objects of design from the Sixties.

Img.3 Anna Castelli Ferrieri tells of her travels in South Africa (Domus 620, 1981), tourism greatly differed from the form it has today: few people travelled to such distant countries. She was an attentive observer, touching on the theme of racism, but she was enchanted by the cities and the natural beauty of the country. 
Image above: a page publicising the stool designed in 1979 (Domus 655, 1984).

The two award-winning projects were the K4870 chair produced by Kartell in 1987, and the 1994 Hannah cutlery set designed for Sambonet. She was the first female chair of ADI, the association that assigns the Golden Compass, holding the post from 1969 to 1971. She designed countless objects, among the first of which, in 1947, was a children’s bed and an armchair, which both won the Golden Medal at the Milan Triennale, followed by stools, chairs, ashtrays - smoking was viewed very differently at the time - and much more. However, her most famous project is, most probably, that of the 4970/84 stackable containers designed in 1967, originally parallelepiped in shape and then later cylindrical. These objects are made with ABS, an extremely resistant plastic with colours that remain stable over time, and are still in production today. These are some of the few plastic items of furniture that can be handed down from generation to generation, a significant achievement for this material.

Img.4 The cutlery set Hannah, whose name is based on that of the designer, was produced by Sambonet and won the Golden Compass in 1994 (Domus 767, 1995).

Anna Castelli Ferrieri combined architecture, design, writing, teaching and family life in a period in which this was an unusual choice. She maintained her Milanese roots and mindset, but always strived to address the whole world through her work.

Curated by Domus - © Editoriale Domus S.p.A.

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