Italian designers Luciana Di Virgilio (born 1986, Terlizzi) and Gianni Veneziano (born 1953, Molfetta) are known for their luxury designs spanning furniture, lighting, objects, and even culinary creations. The duo have been collaborating under the studio name Veneziano + Team since 2007, and have developed a reputation for the ‘la dolce vita’ romanticism and emotional intensity of their work. Both designers completed their training at the University of Florence; Veneziano holds a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture, while Di Virgilio graduated from the Industrial Design faculty. Prior to joining forces with Di Virgilio, Veneziano gained experience in the U.S., working with Stanley Tigerman and Skidmore, Owings and Merrill before returning to Italy and running Studio Gianni Veneziano from 1980 to 2006. He also founded Oxido Gallery in Milan in 1987 with Prospero Resulo and has taught at a number of Italian design schools and academies. For her part, alongside her work with Veneziano + Team, Di Virgilio works in radio and writes for the Huffington Post.
The designer duo was honored with an A’ Design Award in 2016 for their Chiari di Lunae Pendant Lamp (2015)—a stunning lighting system incorporating crystal, Murano glass, silver chain, and natural pearls, the piece is more akin to precious jewelry than a standard ceiling lamp and cleverly distributes the built-in LED illumination in stunning refracted patterns to create a luminous texture in the room. The Starnet Suspension Lamps (2015), created for Vistosi, are similarly extravagant, using crystal and glass. Proving their mastery across a range of materials, Di Virgilio and Veneziano have also worked on projects as diverse as rug designs—including The Circle (2013) with Italian brand Nodus Rug—and a collection of china washbasins with Valdama.
Between the two principal designers at Veneziano + Team, the studio can boast numerous awards and is represented in many important collections. They have shown regularly at Milan Design Week, Triennale di Milano, Salone del Mobile, amongst others. Di Virgilio was named one of the most promising young designers by Interni magazine in 2013 and was selected as one of 100 women of Italian Design for the XXI International Exhibition at the Triennale di Milano in 2016. A piece from the latter exhibition has since been acquired for the permanent collection at Milan's Triennale Design Museum. Veneziano has exhibited extensively in Europe and the U.S. over the course of his nearly four decades in the industry. Veneziano + Team is based in Milan.
