Essential Design 
9 January 2025
Essential Design 
282

Andrea Branzi 1938–2023

Drawing for Trees C4

2011
ink, gouache, pastel and pencil on paper 8¼ h × 11¾ w in (21 × 30 cm)
estimate: $800–1,200
result: $699
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This lot is being sold to benefit A Brain Tumor and A Dream, a non-profit founded by Lawrence Laske to support the design community and the next generation of creative thinkers.
Signed, titled and dated to lower edge ‘Andrea Branzi - 2011 Trees C-4’.
provenance: Collection of Lawrence Laske

This work will ship from Chicago, Illinois.

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Endlessly Curious

Works from the Collection of Lawrence Laske

Renowned American designer Lawrence Laske has spent over three decades cultivating a remarkable collection of drawings, sketchbooks, models, and prototypes that capture his boundless creativity and meticulous approach to design. Known for his inventive concepts, Laske's work spans a diverse range of products, objects, and furniture, each meticulously documented through detailed sketches, hand-drawn renderings, and handcrafted models, often accompanied by prototypes.

After earning his degree from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana in 1985, Laske further honed his craft at the prestigious Domus Academy in Milan. He began his professional journey with the legendary Ettore Sottsass at Sottsass Associati, an experience that would shape his career and connect him with prominent designers and manufacturers such as Knoll, Alessi, Ingo Maurer, Philippe Starck, Matteo Thun, Andrea Branzi and Emilio Ambasz.

This collection offered here presents a unique opportunity to explore Laske’s visionary legacy, showcasing pieces that reflect his passion for the design process and endless curiosity. 

292 Ettore Sottsass

Collection of four ties

estimate: $100–150

result: $3,048

291 Frank Gehry

Untitled (Sculpture for Knoll)

estimate: $700–900

result: $2,032

287 Lawrence Laske

Ring

estimate: $1,200–1,500

result: $1,905

284 Andrea Branzi

Drawing for Trees 4B

estimate: $1,200–1,500

288 Lawrence Laske

Saguaro Cactus table with inscription

estimate: $1,000–1,500

result: $1,207

284 Andrea Branzi

Drawing for Trees 4B

estimate: $1,200–1,500

289 Lawrence Laske

SOBO, Switch On Blow Out table lamp candlestick

estimate: $700–900

result: $1,270

285 Andrea Branzi

Drawing for Trees 8B

estimate: $1,200–1,500

286 Enzo Mari

Pesci

estimate: $500–700

result: $528

282 Andrea Branzi

Drawing for Trees C4

estimate: $800–1,200

result: $699

290 Lawrence Laske

Furniture models for Memphis, set of six

estimate: $300–500

result: $254

Andrea Branzi 1938–2023

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Andrea Branzi is a lauded designer, architect and artist, known for being a co-founder of Domus Academy, the first international post-graduate program for design, a founding member of the avant-garde design group Archizoom Associati, as well as a member of both Studio Alchimia and Memphis. His current design practice continues the radical considerations of these postmodern movements, incorporating contemporary modes of assemblage, irreverence, subtlety and sensitivity to materials.

Born in 1938 in Florence, Branzi studied at the Florence School of Architecture, graduating in 1966—the same year he co-founded Archizoom. Along with another radical design collective, Superstudio, Archizoom created poetic, bratty and pop-inflected furniture and objects for the company Poltronova from 1966 to 1973. Studio Alchimia, which Branzi joined in 1976, continued this experimental, boundary-pushing approach, using it to challenge traditions of industrial production and historicism. Upon joining Memphis in 1980, Branzi created structural, moody furniture that typified the more high-minded, austere design aesthetics of the decade (in contrast to the busy and bright look usually associated with Memphis).

Branzi established his own design studio in 1982, turning his attention to urban planning, architecture and interior design. He has worked with such companies as Vitra, Cassina, Sevres, Artemide and Alessi. In 1983 he helped establish Domus Academy. His studio’s first signature design was the Animali Domestici furniture line, made up of one-of-a-kind and limited edition pieces that combined natural materials with recognizable modern design forms to create surrealistic mash-ups that supersedes the modernist insistence of orderliness and functionalism.

In 2008, Branzi was designated an Honorary Royal Designer in the United Kingdom and his designs are held in such prominent collections as the Victoria and Albert Museum, London and the Museum of Modern Art, New York. He has been awarded the prestigious Compass d’Oro three times and most recently headed the School of Interior Design, Milan, before retiring in 2009. Branzi continues to live and work in Milan.

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