Pierluigi Cerri graduated from the Milan Polytechnic, where he taught with Umberto Eco. In 1974 he was one of the founding members of the Gregotti Associati. In 1976, as a member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale, he directed the visual identity of the Biennale in Venice. He has been editor of "Casabella" and "Rassegna" magazines. He was responsible for the visual image of the Kunst-und Ausstellungshalle in Bonn and did the same job for Palazzo Grassi in Venice. He is responsable of a series of design editorials for the most important publishing houses in Italy, including Electa, Einaudi, Bollati Boringhieri, Fabbri, Bompiani, Skirà . He worked in association with a lot of magazines including "Lotus International", Abitare, Domus, l'Espresso and managed a series of graphic design editorials by "Pagina". Together with Pierluigi Nicolin he was editor of the Italian edition of "Vers une architecture" by Le Corbusier, Milan 1974, as well as editing "Pubblicità di autore", Electa, Milan 1983.

He planned numerous exhibitions in some of the most important museums: IDZ in Berlin, Palazzo della Promotrice delle Belle Arti Turin, Centre Georges Pompidou Paris, Palazzo a Vela Turin, Design Zentrum Stuttgart, Sogetsu Kaikan Tokyo, Lingotto Turin, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo Madrid, Accademia di Brera Milan, Science Museum London, Forte del Belvedere Florence, Kunst-und Austellungshalle Bonn, Palazzo Grassi Venice, Palazzo Reale Milan, Nationalgalerie Berlin, Moderna Museet Stockholm, Musée d'Art Moderne Paris, Palazzo dell'Arte Milan.