Born in Bolzano (Italy) in 1952, he studied sculpture in Salzburg (Austria) at the Akademie Oskar Kokoschka, and in 1975 he was awarded his ph.d. in architecture at the University of Florence in collaboration with Ettore Sottsass he grounded the Sottsass Associati and the Memphis Design Group in 1981. Between 1983 and 1996 he was professor of design at the university of applied arts in vienna. in 1984 he inaugurated his own design studio in milan. Since 1989 he is glassware designer at Barovier & Toso 's.