Born in Milan in 1916, he received his degree in architecture in 1939. In 1945 he kicked off his career as a designer, architect and planner. From 1947 to 1949 he was editor-in-chief of Domus magazine and in the 1950s he was on the editorial staff of Casabella magazine. In 1947 he began to design furniture in metal tubing, reinterpreting the Rationalist tradition. Since then, as a designer he has addressed the problem of the relationship between the architect and the manufacturer, between design and experiment, between the product's function and the fresh forms or materials.

In 1954 he took part in the establishment of the Industrial Design Association and the conception of the Compasso d'Oro Prize, making a crucial contribution to the Milan Triennale and city planning. At the same time, he generated some astoundingly fine and numerous objects, achieving ever more international success. He has received many Compasso d'Oro awards and others, too. Several of his pieces are owned by the New York Museum of Modern Art. Capping his long teaching career, since 1979 he has been professor of industrial design at the School of Architecture of the Milan Polytechnic. Marco Zanuso had been working for Zanotta since 1969. He died in July 2001.