Star-studded Cassina I Maestri collection turns 50 looking fabulous

Fuorisalone 2023 saw the 50th anniversary celebration of the Cassina I Maestri collection with an exhibition curated by the brand’s creative director Patricia Urquiola in collaboration with Federica Sala. Industrial production and culture have often gone hand in hand for Italian furniture brands, and Cassina took this approach to the next level with a panoramic view that highlighted the designs’ genesis as well as the cultural implications behind their conception. 

Cassina I Maestri: past and future

Cassina is deeply rooted in creative and technical innovation, with Urquiola leadinga series of collaborations that range from some of the most distinguished names in design today to emerging designers such as Linde Freya Tangelder of Belgian studio Destroyers Builders. The same enthusiasm can be seen in the brand’s celebration of past design masters, through respectful collaborations with their respective foundations that result in collections that preserve and uplift iconic pieces. ‘

If the company is the filter through which we observe history, its history is constellated by 14 maestri,’ say the curators. Since the 1970s, Cassina has been reissuing pieces by the greatest architects of the 20th century, including Le Corbusier, Charlotte Perriand, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Gerrit Thomas Rietveld, Ico Parisi and Gio Ponti.

Set within the cavernous Palazzo Broggi in central Milan, ‘Echoes, 50 years of I Maestri’ was ‘a scenographic journey into the heart of Cassina’s archive to discover its treasures’. On display were both prototypes and original models never before shown outside the archives, as well as dismantled pieces that showcased their ingenious structures. 

‘Cassina has implemented a unique method to authentically reissue the icons of the great masters of the modern movement,’ says Luca Fuso, Cassina’s CEO. ‘Thanks to painstaking research, experimentation and consolidated relations with the heirs and foundations, we have been able to develop incredible pieces that were never industrially produced before, therefore making them known to the public for the very first time. One of my favourite pieces is the ‘Radio in Cristallo’ by Franco Albini, created by removing all of the unnecessary materials from an old traditional radio received as a wedding present,’ continues Fuso. ‘It was never put into production, probably because it was so ahead of its time, just like many other masterpieces in the collection.’

The latest chapter of I Maestri made its debut in Milan and will be officially unveiled in 2024: a collection of lamps by Ray and Charles Eames, it marks Cassina’s official lighting debut (with further pieces by Tobia Scarpa and Tangelder, as well as Philippe Starck and Paolo Ulian). ‘The collection is constantly evolving with new names, and using modern production processes and materials, always with great respect for the original project,’ says Fuso. This approach includes thorough research, focusing on circular materials and production methods that mirror the masters’ innovative approaches to furniture production.  

Echoes, edited by Ivan Mietton, will be published by Rizzoli in autumn 2023, cassina.com