Matteo Thun is another top example that pretty much defined many of the trends seen today in regards to Italian Architecture. Currently living and working in Milan city and with a very multicultural background, this man has created a solid legacy that turned him into a top reference today. Basel Shows will be taking you on a little journey throughout this amazing architect’s career and story so far.
Matteo Thun was born in Bolzano, Italy, in 1952. He started giving his very first steps into this industry when he studied at the Salzburg Academy under Oskar Kokoschka. He took his degree in architecture in Florence in 1975 with Adolfo Natalini. When he moved to Milan in 1978, he met and started working with Ettore Sottsass which had a great influence in his professional course.
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He’s also often mentioned as the man who was a co-founder of the Memphis group, known for being a design movement which shaped events in the eighties, not to mention the fact that he was the Creative Director of Swatch in 1990-93. However, the pinnacle that still remains today in regards to his career came with the creation of Studio Matteo Thun in Milan in 1984.
Right now Matteo Thun and Partners is a company that has its offices in Milan and Shanghai, where the team works on a large scale of projects regarding architecture, interiors and product design. Matteo Thun and his team are the types of designers who have a multicultural, holistic approach both in small – and large – scale projects. Having a large clientele from many backgrounds of hospitality, the team is used to dealing with a variety of matters in that regard, such as private residences, headquarters and other corporate e buildings, as well as designing their own products from tableware to bathroom collections.
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Among some of the most relevant awards that came into Matteo Thun’s way, we definitely need to mention one of his most recent ones: this year he won the Red Dot Award for Product Design in the category: Interior-Architecture and Interior Design thanks to his take on the Waldhotel Health & Medical Excellence. However, his very first prize came all the way back in 1987, when he won Design of the year in Austria thanks to his conception of Via Col Vento for Campari.
Among other relevant prizes, we point to the ADI Compasso d’Oro Award for design excellence three times and the time when he was shortlisted again for the Girly product line for Catalano in 2004. He also was recognized when his Side Hotel in Hamburg was chosen as Hotel of the Year in 2001, his Vigilius mountain resort won the Wallpaper Design Award in 2004 and the Radisson SAS Frankfurt was chosen as the “best hotel opened in the year” in the Worldwide Hospitality Awards in 2005.