Italian art director and Driade co-founder Enrico Astori dies at 83

Enrico Astori, an Italian art director and co-founder of design brand Driade, has passed away at the age of 83.

Astori, who founded Driade with his wife Adelaide Acerbi and his sister Antonia Astori in 1968, died on Sunday 17 May 2020. His friend and collaborator the designer and artist Nanda Vigo died on the same day, also aged 83.

"In paying tribute to his passion and creative flair, his continuous aesthetic research, unconventional vision and eclecticism, Driade continues its unique story, a journey whose path Enrico Astori has traced," CEO of Driade and of ItalianCreationGroup Giuseppe Di Nuccio told Dezeen.

Known for its eclectic and contemporary furniture and homeware, Driade was conceived of by the Astoria family as an art factory.

Driade made its name producing groovy, sculptural designs created by Antonia, later collaborating with names such as Philippe Stark and Ron Arad.

"I came up with the idea to found Driade in 1968," Enrico Astori told the filmmaker Emilio Tremolada.

"I dealt with the company policy and made management decisions. Antonia's job was to design products. From the outset, Adelaide dealt with the graphic design, communication and public relations."

Tremolada produced a film, L'Adelaide, about Acerbi's work as a graphic designer.

"When he told you about his vision, it was very easy to get lost and be enraptured by his projects, which for a few moments became yours," said his nephew Matteo De Ponti in a eulogy published in La Republica.

De Ponti remembered his uncle as a as a consummate showman and creative.

"When he organised the birthday parties for his daughters together with the colourful aunt Adelaide, it was every time a surprise: phantasmagorical cakes designed by artists," De Ponti remembers.

"Disguises with exotic masks designed for the occasion; rubber aprons and DIY sets to give vent to children's fantasies; the floor of the house (of the whole house I assure you!) covered by twenty centimetres of polystyrene, transforming the apartment into a snowy landscape," wrote Astori's nephew.

"The fact that the polystyrene then invaded the stairwell of the building for weeks did not matter, as long as the show was great. How he kept the neighbours at bay is not yet known to me."

Under Enrico Astori's tenure as art director, Driade collaborated with numerous big names in design, including Patricia Urquiola, Fabio Novembre, Tokujin Yoshioka and Ross Lovegrove. It was Astori's job to bring each individual talent's vision in line with the brand's.

Memorable pieces include Starck's three-legged Costes cafe chair from 1984, Arad's 2007 Clover armchair, and Face, a chair shaped like a giant hollow mask designed by Novembre in 2010.

Driade ran into difficulty after the 2008 recession, like many family-owned Italian design brands trying to compete with and sell to the Asian market. The company was rescued from bankruptcy in 2013 by private finance firm the Italian Creation Group.

After the buyout, David Chipperfield was made artistic director of Driade.

"It's not really a hat that I'm used to wearing, but the reason I took it is because Enrico and Elisa asked me," Chipperfield told Disegno in 2015. "I've known them for a long time and although I haven't worked with them that much, Enrico has always supported me in Milan."

Chipperfield remained in the position for two years and designed the new Driade showroom in Milan, before Fabio Novembre was made art director in 2019.

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