Oral history interview with Massimo Vignelli
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded as 9 sound files. Duration is 6 hr., 52 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Vignelli, Massimo
label: Interviewer
content: Riedel, Mija, 1958-
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
label: Names
content: Benetton (Firm)
label: Names
content: Container Corporation of America
label: Names
content: Herman Miller, Inc.
label: Names
content: Knoll Associates, inc.
label: Names
content: Metron Orts- und Regionalplanung
label: Names
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
label: Names
content: New York City Transit Authority
label: Names
content: New York Herald. (New York.)
label: Names
content: Rochester Institute of Technology
label: Names
content: Sansoni (Firm)
label: Names
content: Steelcase, Inc.
label: Names
content: United States Postal Service
label: Names
content: United States. National Park Service
label: Names
content: Venini International
label: Names
content: Vignelli Associates
label: Names
content: De Carlo, Giancarlo, 1919-2005
label: Names
content: Domus
label: Names
content: Eames, Charles
label: Names
content: Eames, Ray
label: Names
content: Eckerstrom, Ralph E. (Ralph Eugene), 1921-
label: Names
content: Eco, Umberto
label: Names
content: Frau, Poltrona
label: Names
content: Gardella, Ignazio
label: Names
content: Graves, Michael, 1934-2015
label: Names
content: Kacik, Walter
label: Names
content: Kahn, Louis I., 1901-1974
label: Names
content: Le Corbusier, 1887-1965
label: Names
content: Loos, Adolf, 1870-1933
label: Names
content: Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig, 1886-1969
label: Names
content: Pagano, Giuseppe, 1896-1945
label: Names
content: Pomodoro, Arnaldo, 1926-2025
label: Names
content: Ponti, Gio, 1891-1979
label: Names
content: Rams, Dieter
label: Names
content: Scarpa, Carlo, 1906-1978
label: Names
content: Terragni, Giuseppe, 1904-1943
label: Names
content: Toscani, Oliviero
label: Names
content: Venturi, Robert
label: Names
content: Vignelli, Lella
label: Names
content: Zevi, Bruno, 1918-2000
topic: label: Occupation
content: Architects
label: Topic
content: Architectural design
label: Topic
content: Architecture, American
label: Topic
content: Architecture -- Europe
label: Topic
content: Architecture, Italian
label: Topic
content: Architecture -- Italy
label: Topic
content: Architecture, Japanese
label: Topic
content: Architecture -- United States
label: Topic
content: Art -- Study and teaching
label: Topic
content: Costume design
label: Topic
content: Design
label: Topic
content: Designers -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Furniture design
label: Topic
content: Postmodernism
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: 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.
creator: label: Interviewee
content: Vignelli, Massimo
label: Interviewer
content: Riedel, Mija, 1958-
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Massimo Vignelli (1931- ) is a designer in New York, New York. Mija Riedel (1958- ) is an independent scholar in San Francisco, California.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 9 Items (Sound recording: 9 sound files (6 hr., 52 min.))
label: Extent
content: 153 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2011 June 6-7
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.vignel11
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: 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.
label: Scope and Contents
content: 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, Gió 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.