Giancarlo Piretti was born in Bologna, Italy, in 1940. He studied at Istituto Statale d’Arte of Bologna, a school for art teachers, and graduated with the title of “Insegnante di Disegno”. In 1960 he attended the Accademia di Belle Arti of Bologna. He taught Interior Design at Istituto d’Arte for seven years and, at the same time, he worked as a furniture designer at Anonima Castelli, where he stayed for twelve years, designing their institutional and domestic furniture lines, for which he has been granted numerous industrial and mechanical design patents. Among his successful designs are PLIA, a folding chair, PLATONE, a folding desk, DSC (106-AXIS), a seating system, SISTEMA 61, a sofa system. PLIA chairs obtained a remarkable commercial success: more than seven millions of them have been produced since their design in 1969. They have been acquired for the design collections of Museums in Czecho-Slovakia, Austria, Slovenia and U.S.A. (Museum of Modern Art, New York). He has partecipated to numerous Italian design competitions, obtaining prizes and honourable mentions.