Cassina has always been set apart from other furniture manufacturers by the
broad sweep of their product range and the various ideologies it has happily
embraced. Best known in the modern era as holders of the furniture license
for Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Charlotte Perriand, Le Corbusier, et al, the
company was also at the cutting edge of innovation in the 60s and 70s,
helping to demystify modernism as it evolved into a colourful, neo-utopian
blend of technology and fashion, thanks to designers like Vico Magistretti,
Mario Bellini and Gaetano Pesce. As a result, Cassina neatly bridged the gap
between modern and post-modern, heading up Italy’s claim to being the global
centre for the 80s-era explosion in colour, pattern and formal innovation in
furniture design. The company has also had forays into nautical design,
building Gio Ponti’s splendid interior for the ill-fated Andrea Doria and
several other examples of ocean-going originality. The company, founded in
1927, placed craft at the top of its agenda from the outset, an attitude
that helped attract the best designers. This monograph brings together
interviews with those pioneers as well as sumptuous illustrations of the
objects they created.
