Nanda Vigo (1936–2020) was an Italian designer, architect and artist who challenged the traditional boundaries between different creative disciplines. Born in Milan, she developed an international reputation for her experimental approach to light, space and perception. Rather than focusing on a single field, Vigo moved freely between architecture, interior design, furniture design, sculpture and installations. Despite this diversity, her work remained recognisable through its distinctive and consistent visual language. 

After studying at the Institut Polytechnique in Lausanne, Vigo continued her education and gained experience in San Francisco. In 1959, she returned to Milan, where she established her own studio. This marked the beginning of a career in which experimentation and the relationship between light and space became central themes. 

During her early years in Milan, Vigo became closely involved with the city's avant-garde art scene. She visited Lucio Fontana's studio and developed relationships with artists such as Piero Manzoni and Enrico Castellani. Through these connections and her travels across Europe, she also became familiar with the international ZERO movement. 

Throughout her career, Vigo worked on a wide range of projects, from individual design objects to complete architectural environments. Her work was exhibited internationally and earned her several important awards. In 1971, she received the New York Award for Industrial Design for her Golden Gate lamp. In 2020, she was posthumously awarded the Compasso d'Oro for her lifetime achievement. Today, Nanda Vigo is remembered as a remarkable designer and artist who continually explored the boundaries between art, architecture and design. 

Nanda Vigo's work is characterised by an experimental approach to light, geometric forms and unusual materials. She was particularly interested in how light can transform a space and how people perceive their surroundings. Rather than viewing light purely as a functional element, she saw it as a material to experiment with. This approach can be seen in her lamps and furniture, as well as in her architectural projects and art installations. 

Light and Reflection 

Light is a recurring theme throughout almost all of Nanda Vigo's work. She explored how light behaves in different environments and how reflection, transparency and shadow can transform a space. Her designs were therefore not simply intended to illuminate a room, but also to create a particular visual experience. 

Reflective surfaces and transparent materials play an important role in this approach. By allowing light to bounce off or pass through materials in different ways, she created distinctive effects that change depending on the surroundings and the viewer's position. 

Geometric Forms and Structures 

Geometry also plays an important role in Vigo's work. Her designs frequently feature simple, recognisable forms such as rectangles, lines and repeating structures. These elements often form the foundation of her lamps, furniture and installations. 

Although the geometry may appear simple at first glance, its combination with light and reflective materials creates a dynamic result. Her designs are therefore never entirely static, but continually change in response to light and their surroundings. 

Experimental Use of Materials 

Vigo experimented with a wide range of materials, including glass, mirrors, aluminium and Perspex. She selected these materials not only for their practical properties, but especially for the way they interact with light. Textured glass, for example, can diffuse and distort light, while mirrored surfaces create new perspectives. 

By applying industrial materials in innovative ways, she gave objects and spaces a distinctive appearance. Her use of materials demonstrates how a relatively simple construction can create an entirely different experience through thoughtful material choices. 

The Relationship Between Objects and Space 

Another important characteristic of her work is the relationship between an object and its surroundings. Vigo rarely considered a design as something that existed entirely on its own. Instead, she explored how objects could influence the way we experience a space. 

This is particularly evident in her larger installations and architectural projects, but also in her smaller designs. A lamp, for example, is not merely a source of light in her work. It can also become a sculptural element that transforms the atmosphere of a room. 

The Italian avant-garde of the 1950s and 1960s played an important role in Nanda Vigo's development. During this period, artists and designers across Europe began questioning traditional ideas about art, materials and the role of the viewer. Rather than focusing exclusively on paintings and sculptures, they experimented with light, movement, industrial materials and the relationship between art and its surroundings. 

In Milan, Vigo became part of an artistic network that included Lucio Fontana, Piero Manzoni and Enrico Castellani. Their experimental approaches contributed to the cultural environment in which she developed her own ideas. At the same time, she became involved with the international ZERO movement, which brought together artists from various European countries. 

ZERO sought to move away from traditional artistic conventions. Light, movement, space and new materials became important tools for exploring alternative ways of experiencing art. These ideas closely aligned with Vigo's interests. She too investigated how light could transform a physical space and how the viewer's perception could become part of an artwork. 

Vigo was not only involved as an artist within this movement, but also actively helped bring different artists together. In 1965, she organised the exhibition ZERO avantgarde at Lucio Fontana's studio in Milan. The exhibition brought together 28 artists and became an important moment for the movement in Italy. Between 1964 and 1966, she also participated in several ZERO exhibitions across Europe and beyond. 

Her involvement in the avant-garde went beyond simply belonging to a particular movement. Vigo used its experimental ideas as a starting point for developing her own visual language, bringing art, architecture and design together. 

Nanda Vigo left behind an extensive body of work, ranging from lighting and furniture to architectural projects and immersive installations. Although light and space remained recurring themes, her designs demonstrate how she translated these ideas in different ways.

For Nanda Vigo, design, architecture and art were not separate disciplines with clearly defined boundaries. Throughout her career, she moved between these fields and explored how they could influence and strengthen one another. This interdisciplinary approach was an important part of her working method and remains one of the defining aspects of her work today. 

In her designs, Vigo regularly combined artistic principles with functional objects. Her lamps and furniture were not created solely to serve a practical purpose. Through their form, materials and interaction with light, they also gained their own visual and spatial significance. At the same time, her artistic experiments frequently incorporated materials and techniques also used in industrial design and architecture. 

Architecture offered her the opportunity to explore these ideas on a larger scale. She viewed a building not simply as a physical structure, but was particularly interested in how people experience the spaces within it. Light, transparency and the arrangement of different elements could determine how a space was perceived and how people moved through it. As a result, her architectural projects often went beyond the traditional idea of designing a building. They became carefully composed environments in which art and design played an important role. 

Her collaboration with Gio Ponti on Casa sotto la foglia is a clear example of this approach. The project demonstrates how she brought architecture, interior design and artistic expression together. 

This way of working also explains why it can sometimes be difficult to place Vigo's creations within a single category. A lamp can become a sculptural object, an installation can function as an architectural environment, and a building can transform into an artistic experience. For Vigo, these disciplines were different ways of exploring the same fundamental subjects: light, space, materials and human perception. 

Nanda Vigo left behind an extensive body of work that continues to attract attention in the worlds of art, architecture and design. Her experimental approach to light and space, combined with her ability to bring different creative disciplines together, made her an important figure in the twentieth-century European avant-garde. 

In recent years, museums and cultural institutions have continued to present and explore her work. Her designs have been exhibited at institutions including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and the Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin. In 2019, Palazzo Reale in Milan organised the exhibition Nanda Vigo. Light Project, bringing together different aspects of her extensive career. 

Her work is also included in important museum collections, such as the design collection of Triennale Milano and the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The continued interest in her designs demonstrates that her experimental approach remains relevant today. 

What makes Nanda Vigo particularly interesting today is the way she challenged traditional ideas about design. She never limited herself to a single style, material or discipline, but approached every project as an opportunity to explore new relationships between objects, light and space. Her work demonstrates that design can be much more than the creation of functional products. It can influence how we experience our surroundings, transform the atmosphere of a space and invite us to look at familiar environments in a different way. 

Thank you for reading! We hope we have been able to tell you more about Nanda Vigo and further sparked your curiosity about design.

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