This year marks the centenary of the birth of Gianfranco Frattini (15 May 1926–6 April 2004), architect and designer. For the occasion, the Gianfranco Frattini Studio/Archive - curated by his children Emanuela and Marco Frattini - promotes a program of events, installations, re-editions and publications that retrace his work and reactivate his design legacy.
The centenary officially opens with the installation Gianfranco Frattini 1926–2026, on view at Castello Sforzesco in Milan, from 31 March to 28 June 2026, within the Museo dei Mobili e delle Sculture Lignee, part of the Musei Civici complex. An emblematic place for the history of furniture, the museum was redesigned in 2004 by Perry King and Santiago Miranda, extending the exhibition path to contemporary design.
The installation fits discreetly within the existing display, respecting its architectural layout. The museum’s niches define intimate and autonomous spaces that, for the occasion, host special editions of furniture designed by Frattini, produced for the centenary by some of the companies that shared the architect’s design journey: the Megaron lamp by Artemide, the 780 side tables by Cassina, the Meda armchair and Ambrogio chair by CB2, the Albero bookcase by Poltrona Frau, the Lina armchair by Tacchini and others.
In the exhibition design by architects Emanuela Frattini Magnusson and Pietro Todeschini, with co-curation by Fiorella Mattio, curator of the Castello Sforzesco Museums, lacquered surfaces create a continuous backdrop that isolates the objects from the museum context, reinforcing their presence. The brick-red colour, inspired by Gianfranco Frattini’s chromatic vocabulary, establishes a direct connection with his design. The result is an essential and compact display in which container and contents offer the viewer a space of focused attention on the project. The exhibition also extends into the Sala Castellana.
The installation marks the start of the centenary narrative, which will continue during the April edition of Milano Design Week with a program spread across the showrooms of the companies with which Frattini collaborated throughout his career. Another milestone will be the publication of the book Gianfranco Frattini Designer, the first catalogue raisonné of the designer’s work, wr itten by Silvana Annicchiarico and published by Silvana Editoriale, in bookstores from late April 2026.
