In 1916 Antonio Zanussi founded his company, Officina Fumisteria Antonio

Zanussi, based in Pordenone . In 1933 the brand-name REX was adopted.

In 1946 following the war and after the death of Antonio Zanussi, his son Lino
succeeded him. In 1954 Lino Zanussi called in Gino Valle as a consultant for the
design of products. Gino Valle who had already worked for years with the
company for the design of factories and office buildings, then assumed the role
as an external consultant for the design of their products. He was responsible for
the design of the first washing machine produced at Zanussi, the model Rex
201, which in 1958 marked the debut of the company in the production of
washing machines (licensed Westinghouse). Only two years later, Rex was born
with the automatic Model 260, designed and manufactured by Zanussi. Then,
the design of the compact kitchen unit UNIREX was designed in which one
single large appliance had more functions, from the conservation to the cooking
phase.

Gino Valle designed the first television products produced by Zanussi. In 1958
Valle called Gastone Zanello from his architects studio Avon, based in Udine.

Zanello was given the responsibility for industrial design until 1981 when he went
to Seleco (Zanussi brand for electronics) as Head of Design. The company
A.Zanussi Industries was one of the first to join the ADI (Italian Industrial Design
Association) and by ADI in 1962 it received its first recognition in quality level:
the kitchen, 700 series was awarded the Compasso dOro in 1962.

Not long after, in 1967, came the second Compasso dOro, with the P5 compact
washing machine, an appliance that remained in production for almost twenty
years.

In 1976 the internal industrial design studio was flanked by the contribution of
the Studio Andries Van Onck. The company Zanussi was suffering from an
overcrowding of brands, due to its subsequent acquisitions, and in fact, during
the Sixties and Seventies, the company absorbed important industries( Becchi,
Stice, Castor, Zoppas, Triplex) and founded the Zanussi Group. With the joint
work of Studio Van Onck and Zanussi, industrial design was responsible for the
creation of the Family Lines.In collaboration with the Studio Van Onck, studies
were made of the possibilities of typological and topological dashboards, the
creation of basic rules for using the product graphics, expressed in designing
families of symbols, use of lettering and use of color.

From 1982, Roberto Pezzetta was responsible for internal Zanussi industrial
design.

In 1984 the Swedish multinational Electrolux acquired control of the company;

the industrial design office became one of the three major Design Centers that
the Electrolux Group had in the world: Stockholm, Pordenone and Columbus
(Ohio-U.S.).

Roberto Pezzetta and his staff invented, in 1986, the first totally hidden
dishwasher. In 1987 Zanussi presented "The Wizard's Collection" designed by
Pezzetta and the Zanussi Industrial Design Center and was selected at the
Compasso dOro in 1987 and 1989. The following year the Wizard refrigerator
was joined by the black Wizard cooktops and ovens.

Next came "Zoe" (washing machine invented in 1989), "Teo" (electric cooker),
and "Oz" refrigerator manufactured in 1998. "Input" was an electronic washing
machine, while Amie was a washing machine designed especially for such users
as the elderly, visually impaired and blind people.

In the following years the design efforts of the Zanussi Industrial Design Center
focused particularly on built-in appliances, shown by the series of ovens and
dishwashers Softech with the front surface of tempered glass formed in three
dimensions.

In 2000 two new products, the washing machine Iz (named Jetsy- Rex in Italy)
and Rex hit series Quadro for built-in, both also awarded the Good Design
Award of Chicago (among other prizes). "Izzi" in 2002, was a free standing
dishwasher.

the "H-Box" series was equipment for the kitchen made from stainless steel.

Meanwhile, the Zanussi Industrial Design Center, led by Pezzetta for two decades
from 1982 to 2002, became Electrolux European Design Center based in
Pordenone and Roberto Pezzetta ended the Zanussi cycle assuming the role of
Creative Design Director of Electrolux Group (20022005)