Franco Poli

Born in Padua in 1950, Poli completed his studies in Venice at the Artistic Senior School I.I.A.V. and the International University of Art in 1974. He worked with various leading furniture designers until he set up his own studio in 1986.  

At this time he also took up the role of Visiting Professor at U.I.A. University in Florence, C.N.R. and Politecnico di Milano and between 1989 and 1996 he was Professor of Design at Venice's Academy of Fine Arts. From 1988 to 2010 held numerous design conferences in Sao Paulo, Quito, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Miami and New York.

He is a firm defender of the originality and independence of Italian design and in the 1990s founded A.D. Veneto Associates and the Italian Chamber of Design. Since 1995 one of his creations has been exhibited in the permanent collection at Denver Art Museum and he has won numerous accolades including "Design X, Australian Design Award" in 2005 and the "Good Design Award" of the Chicago Athenaeum. In 2008 he advised at "XXI Compasso D'Oro" with his collecton LOOM.