Franco Poli
Born in Padua in 1950. After his studies in Venice in 1947 (Liceo Artistico, I.U.A.V. and Università Internazionale dell'Arte) he focused on design, dividing his professional activity between Florence, Venice and Verona. His restless and highly personal attitude marked 30 years of Italian design. He collaborated with an significant number of companies (especially in the furniture industry) in an attempt to combine theory, aesthetics and design techniques to create long-lasting and unmistakably Italian products. In the 1990s, actively involved in the work of the Consiglio Nazionale delle Associazioni del Design (C.N.A.D.) in Rome, he founded two associations: the A.D. Veneto and the Camera Italiana del Design.
He taught design at the historical Accademia di Belle arti in Venice until 1996 and is a visiting professor at the Politecnico di Milano and at the U.I.A. in Florence.
Countless publications, prizes and exhibitions in Italy and around the world; of particular note: the acquisition of the ultra-light “Flying” chair in the permanent collection of the Denver Art Museum (Denver, Colorado) and the recent acquisition of the Boogie Woogie bookcase by the Fonds National d'Art Contemporain in Paris. He currently works with: Tonon, Italcomma, Poltrona Frau, Arcade, Pizzitutti, Matteograssi and Bernini. He has lived and worked in Verona since 1998.