Guglielmo Ulrich

Guglielmo Ulrich (1904-1977) was an Italian designer and architect. Born in Milan to a noble family of Danish descent, Guglielmo studied architecture at the Milan Polytechnic where he was a student of Piero Portaluppi and established himself in the 1920s as one of the protagonists of a generation of architects with a refined style favored by the emerging upper middle class. Specializing above all in interior decoration, Ulrich worked for some of the great families of the time such as the Agnellis, the Mondadoris and the Gavazzis. The furnishings he conceived, always designed specifically for each of his projects, were produced by the company Ar.ca (founded by himself together with Guglielmo Scaglia in 1930) and were initially characterized by the severe lines taken from the Novecento architectural movement, which later softened over time and became more sinuous by the influence of the French Art Deco style. A reserved figure and not accustomed to public appearances, he was nevertheless active in the various Triennials of the time and occupied for a year (1942-43) the position of director of the influential magazine Domus, in collaboration with Massimo Bontempelli and Melchiorre Bega. After the war he took on the artistic direction of the Singleton store, one of the first Milanese showrooms dedicated to the sale of modern-style furniture, and tried to bring his taste, based on artisan tradition, closer to the needs of emerging industrial mass production. In the 1950s he dealt in particular with the furnishing of ocean liners, while continuing a fruitful career as an architect for private villas and hotels, which he would continue until his death. Among his most famous creations are Palazzo Argentina in Milan (1947-49), in collaboration with Piero Bottoni, and various SIAE offices throughout Italy. His furnishings, rediscovered starting in the 1970s by the antiques market, now appear in the catalogues of brands such as Poltrona Frau and Ceccotti Collezioni.|