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Catalog Data

Interviewee:
Vignelli, Massimo  Search this
Interviewer:
Riedel, Mija, 1958-  Search this
Creator:
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America  Search this
Names:
Benetton (Firm)  Search this
Container Corporation of America  Search this
Herman Miller, Inc.  Search this
Knoll Associates, inc.  Search this
Metron Orts- und Regionalplanung  Search this
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America  Search this
New York City Transit Authority  Search this
New York Herald. (New York.)  Search this
Rochester Institute of Technology  Search this
Sansoni (Firm)  Search this
Steelcase, Inc.  Search this
United States Postal Service  Search this
United States. National Park Service  Search this
Venini International  Search this
Vignelli Associates  Search this
De Carlo, Giancarlo, 1919-2005  Search this
Domus  Search this
Eames, Charles  Search this
Eames, Ray  Search this
Eckerstrom, Ralph E. (Ralph Eugene), 1921-  Search this
Eco, Umberto  Search this
Frau, Poltrona  Search this
Gardella, Ignazio  Search this
Graves, Michael, 1934-2015  Search this
Kacik, Walter  Search this
Kahn, Louis I., 1901-1974  Search this
Le Corbusier, 1887-1965  Search this
Loos, Adolf, 1870-1933  Search this
Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig, 1886-1969  Search this
Pagano, Giuseppe, 1896-1945  Search this
Pomodoro, Arnaldo, 1926-  Search this
Ponti, Gio, 1891-1979  Search this
Rams, Dieter  Search this
Scarpa, Carlo, 1906-1978  Search this
Terragni, Giuseppe, 1904-1943  Search this
Toscani, Oliviero  Search this
Venturi, Robert  Search this
Vignelli, Lella  Search this
Zevi, Bruno, 1918-2000  Search this
Extent:
9 Items (Sound recording: 9 sound files (6 hr., 52 min.))
153 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Interviews
Sound recordings
Date:
2011 June 6-7
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Massimo Vignelli conducted 2011 June 6-7, by Mija Riedel, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Vignelli's home and office, in New York, New York.
Vignelli speaks of his youth and early start in art design and architecture; his early work at Catiglione architects at the age of 16; his father; his education; meeting his favorite architects; his influences; architecture and design magazines; organic and rationalist architecture in Italy; influence of Ignazio Gardella; Adolf Loos' idea of spoon to the city; European, American, and Italian architecture; education in Milan; his work with Venini Glass; Italian design; his early graphic work; design and vulgarity; marriage and working with Lella Vignelli; graphic design work at the Container Corporation; concept of design as a whole; his work on corporate identities; his establishment of Vignelli Associates; introduction and use of Helvetica in the United States; working with Knoll; choosing clients; design and culture; his work on St. Peter's Lutheran Church; design work for the United States National Parks newspaper design and layout; Unimark; timelessness and design; working with Poltrona Frau, Zero Labor design; major influences; his work for the United States Postal Service; connectivity and context in architecture; his clothing designs and historical perspectives on clothing; postmodernism; his work on the New York Subway; design work before and after computers; Japanese architecture and design; his work as a teacher; Oliviero Toscani and working for Benetton; America and international design; modernism and the office building; modern design and furniture; a timeline of his career; the Vignelli Center at RIT and archiving. Vignelli also recalls, Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, Giuseppe Terragni, Giuseppe Pagano, Domus, GiĆ³ Ponti, Metron, Bruno Zevi, Ignazio Gardella, Ray and Charles Eames, Giancarlo De Carlo, Venini Glass, Carlo Scarpa, Ralph Eckerstrom, Umberto Eco, Sansoni Publishing House, Vignelli Associates, Walter Kacik, Helvetica, Knoll, St. Peter's Lutheran Church, National Parks, New York Herald, Unimark, Lella Vignelli, Arnaldo Pomodoro, Poltrona Frau, Dieter Rams, Louis Kahn, Stendig Calendar, A to Z, Salon de Mobile, Michael Graves, Robert Venturi, Oliviero Toscani, Benetton, Herman Miller, Steelcase, and the Vignelli Center.
Biographical / Historical:
Massimo Vignelli (1931- ) is a designer in New York, New York. Mija Riedel (1958- ) is an independent scholar in San Francisco, California.
General:
Originally recorded as 9 sound files. Duration is 6 hr., 52 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Occupation:
Architects  Search this
Topic:
Architectural design  Search this
Architecture, American  Search this
Architecture -- Europe  Search this
Architecture, Italian  Search this
Architecture -- Italy  Search this
Architecture, Japanese  Search this
Architecture -- United States  Search this
Art -- Study and teaching  Search this
Costume design  Search this
Design  Search this
Designers -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews  Search this
Furniture design  Search this
Postmodernism  Search this
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Identifier:
AAA.vignel11
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw916685527-6bb7-4c68-bd7f-5aed686eb0fb
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-vignel11