Osvaldo Borsani

Osvaldo Borsani (Varedo, 1911 - Milan, 1985) is one the most sought-after designers in the world. In the 1930s, before graduating in architecture, he became the artistic director of the company founded in the 1920s by his father Gaetano. In 1935, the Gaetano Borsani / Atelier of Varedo opened the Arredamenti Borsani store in the heart of Milan: it is here that Osvaldo began to create his furniture, often unique pieces, expressions of a '900 taste lightened in volumes, and made unique by grooves and decorative carvings that move the surfaces of its furnishings using contrasting materials. If in the 1940s the company adopted increasingly thinner lines, it was the 1950s that marked its radical change towards mass production, thanks to Osvaldo's collaboration with his brother Fulgenzio: in 1954 the name of the company changed into Tecno, a choice underlining the combination of cutting-edge technology and refinement that characterized all the mass-produced and meticulously made Tecno pieces. The brand collaborated with important designers, such as Carlo de Carli and Eugenio Gerli, who oriented the production towards multifunctional furnishings: office furniture, folding chairs, armchairs that can be disassembled, revolving tables.

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