Osvaldo Borsani

(Italian, 1911–1985)

Osvaldo Borsani was an Italian designer and architect. Best known for his research-based approach to making furniture, throughout his career Borsani merged technological and material improvements with inventive Modernist stylings. Born in 1911 in Varedo, Italy, Borsani went on to study at the Politecnico di Milanso and later worked for his father’s furniture company, Atelier Varado. In 1953, Osvaldo and his brother, Fulgencio, founded a firm called Tecno. There, he created one of his hallmark designs, the P40 lounge chair, featuring rubber arms and the ability to assume 486 distinct postures. Some early designs from the Tecno company can now be found in the permanent collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Borsani died in 1985 in Milan, Italy.