1. Lella Vignelli collaborated closely throughout much of her life with her husband Massimo Vignelli, with whom she founded Vignelli Associates in 1971.
17 Facts About Lella Vignelli
1. 2.
Lella Vignelli was known for the "spare, elegant style" of her architectural and industrial design work, as well as her management skills and entrepreneurial expertise.
3.
Lella Vignelli was the daughter of the architect Provino Valle, and the sister of Gino Valle and Nani Valle, both architects.
4.
Lella Vignelli received a degree in architecture from the Universita IUAV di Venezia, followed in 1958 by a funded fellowship as a scholar at the MIT School of Architecture.
5.
Lella Vignelli was involved in the formation of the ADI, an Italian professional design organization.
6.
Lella Vignelli was one of the founders of the corporate design consultancy Unimark International, along with Massimo, Bob Noorda, and Ralph Eckerstrom.
7.
At Unimark, Lella Vignelli served as the head of the interior design department in Milan beginning in 1965, and later in New York.
8.
The design was awarded the Compasso d'Oro in 1964, and was still in production and sold as Lella Vignelli Stacking Dinnerware in 2023, nearly 60 years after it was first introduced.
9.
Lella Vignelli focussed on the three-dimensional design work of the practice, and served as Executive Vice President and later Chief Executive Officer.
10.
Lella Vignelli Associates was commissioned to design the graphic identity, signage systems, and subway map for the New York City Subway in 1972.
11.
In 1978, the Vignellis founded Vignelli Designs, a separate company which focused on product and furniture design, and for which Lella served as president.
12.
LelIa Lella Vignelli collaborated closely with the architect Denise Scott Brown, and was a frequent speaker and juror for national and international design organizations.
13.
Lella Vignelli was a member of the Industrial Designers Society of America, the American Institute of Graphic Arts, the International Furnishings and Designer Association, and the Decorators Club of New York.
14.
Lella and Massimo Vignelli were described as "iconic, impossibly exotic characters" in New York Magazine.
15.
Collections holding examples of Lella Vignelli's work include those of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Pompidou Centre in Paris, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
16.
Lella Vignelli died in her home in Manhattan on December 22,2016, at age 82 from dementia.
17.
In 2008 Massimo and Lella Vignelli agreed to donate the entire archive of their design work to the Rochester Institute of Technology, near Rochester, New York.