Paolo Buffa was an Italian architect and designer best known for his designs of mid-century furniture. Characterized by a melding of tradition and modernity, he used a combination of low-profile, rectilinear, and hardwood forms to produce his most classic pieces. Born in 1903 in Milan, Italy, Buffa studied at the Polytechnic Institute of Milan before working for the prominent Italian architect and designer Gio Ponti. After opening a firm with his frequent collaborator Antonio Cassi Ramelli, Buffa's career grew in critical and commercial acclaim. The designer’s oeuvre includes exhibitions at the 1948 Salon des Artistes Decorateur in Paris. Before his death in 1970 in Milan, Italy, Buffa had been named one of the most important designers in the country.