Michele de Lucchi studied in Padua and later architecture at the University of Florence from where he graduated in 1975 and later became a lecturer. After graduation, de Lucchi designed furniture for Studio Alchima and in the 1980’s he was one of the co-founders of group Memphis Milano. For the later, de Lucchi was responsible for the introduction of geometric motifs on the plastic laminates used by the Memphis group. This can be seen in pieces such as the tables Kristall and Cairo.
De Lucchi has designed furniture and lamps for Italian and European companies such as Artemide, Olivetti, Alias, Unifor, Hermès, and Alessi. For Olivetti, de Lucchi was Director of Design from 1988 to 2002. For Compaq Computers, Philips, Siemens and Vitra he developed experimental projects. In 1987 de Lucchi designed the Tolomeo lamp for the Italian company Artemide together with Giancarlo Fassina, for which they were awarded the Compasso D´Oro in 1989.
As an architect and exhibitions designer de Lucchi has worked on the Triennale di Milano, the Neues Museum in Berlin, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the bridge of Peace in Tbilisi. In 2003 the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris acquired a considerable number of his works, and he is represented at several museums around the world, including the Vitra Design Museum in Veil am Rhein and the Museum of Furniture Studies in Stockholm.
