"It's great but uncomfortable—the dishwasher broke down this year and it took a whole month to get it repaired," says Massimo Vignelli, describing his 400-year-old house in southern Italy.
If you happened to visit Massimo and his wife Lella, you'd think they were a typical, charming Italian couple—albeit a very stylish one. They're both in their seventies, warm and engaging, and they might offer you some wine and cheese.
As you spend more time with them, you would notice that quiet elegance pervades everything, from their intellectual élan to their signature mostly black attire. And as you look closer, you might realize that the label on the wine bottle, the plate that holds your cheese and even the house itself embody a certain personal aesthetic.
Finally, as they recount their past and discuss their future, you would realize that you are in the company of one of the most influential and groundbreaking design teams alive: the husband-and-wife team of Lella and Massimo Vignelli. Sitting with them in their historic home, it's hard to imagine that this quintessential Italian couple is the brains behind New York City's subway signage, the American Airlines logo and many of the iconic designs of the twentieth century.
THEIR WORK
"The Vignellis are one of the most recognized husband-wife design teams in history," says Jeffrey Osborne, a design-marketing consultant, who met the couple in 1970 when he was vice president of marketing at Knoll. "The scope, integrity and design excellence of their work is almost unparalleled."
The Vignellis are total designers and have worked on products, books and magazines, packaging and interiors and exhibitions. The range is staggering—from the interiors of St. Peter's Church in Manhattan and the U.S. Postal Service in Washington, D.C., to logos and corporate identities for Knoll, American Airlines, Ducati, United Colors of Benetton and Bloomingdale's.
They designed stacking plastic dinnerware for Heller and furniture for Knoll, Poltrona Frau and Acerbis. The signage for the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and New York's Grand Central Terminal restoration are Vignelli creations. The couple designed packaging for Barneys New York and IBM, as well as exhibitions for Olivetti, Fiat and Jaguar; they produced award-winning publications for the National Parks Service and the National Audubon Society. Massimo also has designed a clothing line and Lella has created a sculptural collection of jewelry. The list goes on and on.
When he was young, Massimo learned the famous dictum that an architect should be able to design everything from "the spoon to the city." This clearly stuck with him. In their recent book, Design is One, Massimo writes, "I wanted to design everything, and I have; no cities yet, but lots of spoons!"
THE PAST
Massimo and Lella were both born and educated in Italy; he in Milan and she in Udine and Venice. Married in 1957 (they will celebrate their fiftieth wedding anniversary next September), they spent the first years of their married life in the United States, where Massimo had won a fellowship from Towle Silversmiths and Lella, one from MIT. They returned in 1960 to Milan, where they opened the Vignelli Office of Design and Architecture. Then the United States beckoned, and they returned in 1965 to become American citizens.
"New York is not the most beautiful place," Lella says, "but it's a chest with a thousand drawers. You open any drawer and there is something wonderful inside."
Economic reasons prompted their emigration as well. "The business was here," explains Jeffrey Osborne. "In Italy, architects designed furniture because there were no buildings to create." But there was an enormous client range in New York, making America truly a land of opportunity. "There was a need for the kind of things we do," says Massimo. "Back then, there were very few designers who offered what we did."
"We've been in New York for forty years; it's been very satisfying," Massimo says now. "I can definitely say that I've made a difference, especially during the seventies and eighties. We brought discipline to design. We are systematic, logical and objective—not trendy. We represented a different way for America to grow."
Indeed, the couple is often credited with bringing Italian design to the United States. "They have the rigor and precision associated with Swiss design crossbred with an Italian commitment to emotionalism," says Michael Bierut, a former vice president of Vignelli Associates who is now a partner in Pentagram, a leading multidiscipline design firm.
"There's a simplicity and elegance to their work," agrees Alan Heller, a furnishings manufacturer and longtime Vignelli client. "It's not about being in style or in vogue; it's not about being trendy," he said. When Heller introduced Vignelli-designed dinnerware in the seventies, it transformed the way Americans looked at plastic on the table; even highbrow design enthusiasts proudly used it at their dinner parties.
THEIR COMPANY
It's not just the look of their work that feels Italian—it's also the way they work. The Vignellis bring a familial, collaborative approach to their company, welcoming in students and protégés, and shunning the every-man-for-himself, individualistic approach of many urban American offices.
To emphasize this point of view, in the sixties, the Vignellis gave all their employees white smocks. "The white smock, covering our clothing and personality, was a great equalizer," says Massimo. "We were against the prevarication of the individual over the collective, of one being over the other for his own sake."
This lasted until 1970, when the Chicago office started a revolt. "In those hippie years, the white smock had become a symbol of corporate power, and that was the end of it," explains Massimo. "The blue jean took its place."
Smocked or not, their employees seemed to appreciate this welcoming attitude. "Fresh out of school, I started as a peon in their office in 1980," says Michael Beirut. "I had grown up in a middle-class neighborhood in Ohio, so to me, it was a place filled with unimaginable glamour. Massimo and Lella were my second parents. I worked there for ten years. All the sophistication and knowledge I have of design I owe to them."
THEIR RELATIONSHIP
When it comes to their own relationship, Massimo, with his wit and charm (and arresting good looks) naturally attracts the spotlight. "I need an interview of my own," Lella teases as Massimo holds sway over the conversation. "Sometimes he doesn't leave me the space to come in," she says, "but he doesn't realize it, and in graphics he really is a master, so he gets more recognition. I don't mind."
Did she ever? "Yes, in the beginning when we were younger and more insecure,' she admits. "But now he has his work, I have mine and we have some together. We are always connected, but we work differently. I conceive a project totally, whereas Massimo thinks with his pencil—he sketches and sketches. We have two different ways to come up with a creative concept."
Lella has been more involved with three-dimensional design, such as jewelry and interiors. Massimo is the graphic designer par excellence. But they are true collaborators.
"Massimo dreams and Lella brings it to reality," says Alan Heller.
"Somebody said that I perceive what could be done," agrees Massimo, "and Lella what can be done."
Teamwork always is evident, even in Massimo's graphic projects. "Massimo always asks my opinion," says Lella. "To criticize, you have to say why something doesn't work and give a rational explanation. I try to be constructive. I don't just say I don't like it. That's why he respects my opinion."
Lella's role in the Vignellis' success is critical. "The consummate professional, she took on the responsibility of raising their family (a son, Luca, now a noted photographer, and daughter, Valentina, a textile designer), managing the office as well as her own clients and allowing Massimo to publicly exhibit his considerable charm," says Jeffrey Osborne.
THE PRESENT
Today, the Vignellis live on Manhattan's Upper East Side in a duplex apartment with a living room that has 21-foot ceilings, which is now Massimo's studio. "At last I have an office that's as big as my ego," he laughs.
Recently, they've also been spending about four months each year in Punto Campanello in the 400-year-old house that was once a monastery. Halfway between Capri and Positano, the house is perched on a mountainside and is reachable only by a mule path ("with eighty steps," stresses Lella).
And of course there's that temperamental dishwasher, running on a par with the other appliances: "The electricity goes on and off; on the computer, it can take six to seven hours to open a jpg. They are no longer "pdfs" but "pds's"—not pretty damn fast but pretty damn slow," says Massimo.
Although the Vignellis completely renovated the house, they don't own it. "We made a deal with the owners," Massimo explains. "We fixed up the house in exchange for having the use of it for twenty years. Then, we will give it back." (The lucky owners also get to use the house when the Vignellis aren't there.)
The house is, of course, another Vignelli design statement. The rooms are perfect 15-foot cubes; all have vaulted ceilings and 12-foot windows fitted with wrought iron grilles. "If nothing breaks, it's perfect," Massimo says.
THE FUTURE
The Vignellis won't move back to Italy permanently. "We'll never go back to Italy forever," he says. "New York is wonderful: it's the best place to grow old."
But growing old doesn't seem to be an option. The Vignellis are always in motion. From their perch in southern Italy, they traveled this year to London, Istanbul, Sicily and Turin, where they're designing the interiors in all the public spaces for the renovated royal palace—a structure larger than the palace of Versailles. This, the largest restoration project in Europe, will be ready next September.
The Vignellis say they will never retire. "They are flourishing," says Alan Heller, "When they got the Cooper-Hewitt Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003, it wasn't a swan song. They're still at their peak and will work until the day they die."
"Massimo is a preacher," laughs Lella. "He is spreading his gospel."
Heller agrees. "Massimo once told me that he wanted to redesign all the garments in the Vatican, and I said, 'Massimo, you want to be the pope.'"
Even with all their fame and recognition, the Vignellis have not lost the Italian appreciation of simple pleasures. When he talks about their home in Campania, Massimo gets a twinkle in his eye: "The view is unbelievable—on a clear day, you can see the whole Gulf of Salerno."
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