Interiors of Saint Peter's Church in Manhattan on Lexington Avenue at 54th Street. Massimo and Lella also designed silver pieces for the altar, a square concrete font with paschal candle, a tree of candles, and the organ case.
Industrial and graphic designers Massimo and Lella Vignelli are giants in their field. (You may know them for any number of instantly recognizable design objects, from the New York City transit signage and subway map to printed posters for the Salone del Mobile fair in Milan.) Massimo Vignelli is also a man of many words, most of them quotable, so we jumped at the chance to listen on his talk last week at the MoMA Design Store in New York. Throughout their decades-long career, the Vignellis have completed a dizzying array of work—some of it which may surprise even the most ardent Vignelli follower. Here are five designs that deserve as much recognition as a certain sans-serif font employed in a certain subway system. (Bonus round: consider also his Cats and Dogs guidebooks from 1985, or the James Turrell-like neon of the old Artemide store in Miami from 1987.)
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