Italian designer and architect Francesco Trabucco dies at 76

Francesco Trabucco, a celebrated architect and designer, has died at 76 in Milan. The Association for Industrial Design (ADI) mourned his loss. Over his career, he won 14 Compasso d'Oro awards and mentions between 1981 and 2004, including a 1987 Compasso d'Oro for Vortice. His works are held by MoMA New York, the Pinacoteca in Munich, and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Trabucco graduated from Politecnico di Milano in 1969 and opened a studio with Daniela Volpi and Cristina Guazzoni. He collaborated with Marco Zanuso on projects like IBM's Segrate headquarters, Sapienza University of Rome's Acqua Marcia campus, Niguarda hospital's spinal unit, and a residential complex in Milan's via Principe Eugenio. His design debut was the Bidone Aspiratutto vacuum cleaner for Alfatec, followed by the Nuovo Bidone Lavatutto, which won the Compasso d'Oro in 1989. He also designed the Bliz lamp for Stilnovo and other appliances for Alfatec and Vortice. Trabucco began teaching at Politecnico di Milano in 1987, helped establish an autonomous design faculty, directed Space Lab and Product Usability Lab, chaired the Design & Engineering master's program, and coordinated the Design PhD program from 2009. He served on the board of Fondazione Politecnico di Milano, was ADI vice president from 1992 to 1996, and was on the scientific committee of Triennale di Milano from 1996 to 2000, curating the Italian section twice.