“We are Always Inventing our Work, Inventing our Client”

Paolo Tilche Designer and Entrepeneur in 1950s Milan

Abstract

The architect Paolo Tilche (Alexandria of Egypt, 1925 – Milan, 2003) was a well-known figure in Milan, whose opus has not yet been reconstructed in its entirety. After World War II, he worked as an “all-around” designer, demonstrating the diversified and structured process of building a recognizable and recognized professional figure. As an architect, he designed residential and industrial buildings. In 1955, he opened the Arform showroom in Milan, in Via Turati 3, which had a significant influence in spreading modern “good taste” in furniture. At the same time, he worked intensively as a designer for important companies such as Ideal Standard, Guzzini, Sirrah or Cedit, designing a number of bestsellers such as the Conca in 1963. With the advent of television, he became the host, with Mario Tedeschi, of Il piacere della casa, one of the first examples of a television show dedicated to a cultured presentation of themes surrounding domestic living. This article intends to reconstruct Tilche’s biography and the context in which the design profession developed, based on primary sources (the project materials owned by the family), secondary sources, such as the publications of the time, and first-hand oral accounts.