DORIAN

In 1985, for the magazine Donna, Michele De Lucchi designed a table mirror as a special Christmas gift. That mirror would become the inspiration for the projects Dorian and Ionian, which were then inserted in the Memphis production catalogue.

Dorian and Ionian are two small mirrors in painted wood; in both, the mirror is mounted on a hinge that allows it to rotate as needed or desired.

Two variations on the table mirror: in Dorian the reflecting surface is circular, mounted on a square support, while in Ionian the mirror is a square placed over a circle. A round or rectangular orange base links up with the form of the mirror, whose border is green.

De Lucchi plays ironically with the Renaissance idea of classical perfection, in the symbolic relationship of Vitruvian origin that puts man – reflected in the mirror – at the center of the circle and the square. Dorian references the more conventionally masculine Doric order, while Ionian is based on the more feminine Ionic order.

Michele De Lucchi is an Italian designer and architect. In 1975, he graduated in Architecture from the University of Florence, where from 1975 to 1977 he worked as an assistant to Adolfo Natalini, founder of Superstudio. Between the late 1970s and the 1980s, he was a leading figure in Radical Architecture and participated in the most important Italian design movements of the time. He was a co-founder of Memphis, with which he collaborated from 1981 to 1987. De Lucchi's numerous award-winning projects are created in collaboration with renowned Italian and international furniture brands. In 1990, he founded Produzione Privata with the aim of combining an experimental approach with traditional artisanal techniques and processes. He has curated numerous art and design exhibitions and designed museum buildings such as the Triennale di Milano, the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome, and the Neues Museum in Berlin.

L 40, D 15, H 33 cm