Alessandro Mendini: Imagination Takes Command

The first complete monograph on the provocative work of influential Italian designer, architect, and critic Alessandro Mendini

Born in Milan in 1931, Alessandro Mendini created vivid, boundary-pushing, eccentric work that sits in an aesthetic universe of its own. He was at the heart of Italy’s Radical design movement in the 1960s and 1970s and, later, Postmodernism, championing a sensitive and intellectual approach to design; he edited Domus magazine in the early 1980s; and he collaborated with brands ranging from Alessi, Swarovski, and Hermès to Supreme. Along with his contemporaries Ettore Sottsass and Gaetano Pesce, Mendini helped to redefine the concept of Italian design and architecture.

This comprehensive monograph – the first on Mendini’s complete portfolio of work – features a wealth of previously unpublished documents and images. Written by critic Stefano Casciani, who worked with Mendini for many years, the book offers a uniquely personal account illustrated by photographs, ephemera, and many of Mendini’s idiosyncratic and playful sketches.

Presented in a dynamic package inspired by Mendini’s distinctive aesthetic, the book is a design object in its own right, with a pink cloth cover featuring one of Mendini’s iconic magazine covers on the front, a sketch of his famous Proost chair on the back, and die-cut laminated tip-in chapter openers with wavy edges.

Stefano Casciani is a writer, designer, curator, and consultant based in Milan. He began working at Domus in 1979, marking the beginning of a 40-year friendship and collaboration with Mendini, and has authored many books on architecture and design.