When furniture was commissioned for the new city of Chandigarh in northern India in the 1950s, what resulted is some of the most important designs of mid-century modernism. But, from the partition of India to the overlooked name of a female designer, the story of Chandigarh furniture goes well beyond the sleek wooden lines of museum-worthy chairs and desks.

Chandigarh: a new capital inspired by Modernism

Jawaharlal Nehru, an anti-colonial nationalist and social democrat, took the mantle as India’s first prime minister in 1947 following the dissolution of the British Raj and the partition of the country into the independent states of India and Pakistan. When a new administrative capital was required in post-partition northern India, Nehru decided to create an urban centre from scratch that reflected his ambitious programme of economic, social, and political reform.

Deeply influenced by the advance of modernism elsewhere in the world, and how it was reshaping daily life to be more open and progressive, Nehru turned to British modernist architects Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry, who in turn enlisted esteemed Swiss-French modernist architect Le Corbusier to masterplan the new city: Chandigarh.

Focused on the Capitol Complex, the political and administrative city centre, Le Corbusier’s vision comprised stripped-back concrete architecture of clean lines and monumental presence. The design of Chandigarh was a bold break away from the decorative British colonial architecture that had come to define India’s cities; indeed, eschewing this tradition was a vital part of Nehru’s ambition.

Chandigarh furnituLe Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret

The new buildings – which were built from 1953 into the 1960s – also demanded extensive furnishings. For that task, Le Corbusier turned to his cousin, Pierre Jeanneret, with whom he had worked on furniture projects previously – including the tubular steel-framed pieces made in collaboration with Charlotte Perriand in the 1920s.

Jeanneret brought his own language of modernism to the designs, to reflect Le Corbusier’s architecture and the forward-looking vision of Chandigarh. But he also turned to local materials and talent to bring the pieces to life – a matter of practicality if nothing else, as the scale of production to furnish an entire city was huge. Materials such as teak, Indian rosewood and woven cane were central.

Furniture included sleek wooden library tables with integrated lighting, laundry chests made from teak and woven cane, lounge chairs with zigzagging frames (known as ‘Kangaroo’ chairs), daybeds upholstered in cowhide, and elegantly geometric magazine racks.

There were teak and woven cane benches for the lodgings of Legislature Assembly members, leather and teak office desks, teak writing chairs for university students, wooden beside tables for residential buildings – and plenty of other wooden tables, desks and benches besides.

Many designs feature the visually bold and practically stable inverted-V legs (also known as ‘compass’ legs) that have now become an iconic feature of Chandigarh furniture.

Jeanneret worked with Indian architects and designers already involved in the development of Chandigarh, including AR Prabhawalkar, Jeet Malhotra, Eulie Chowdhury (the only Indian woman on Le Corbusier’s team) and Shivdatt Sharma, and turned to local craftspeople for the production of the furniture.

Perhaps the most famous of the furniture works is now known as the ‘Chandigarh chair’ (or even the ‘Jeanneret chair’), an armchair design that was developed for administrative buildings and defined by its geometric teak frame with compass legs and woven-cane seat and backrest.

Chowdhury – who went on to become Chief Architect of Chandigarh – is believed to have helped design this celebrated chair, as well as create the lighter-weight library chair, a version without armrests and a slightly different frame. Both were presented at the V&A Museum’s ‘Tropical Modernism’ exhibition in 2024, shining a spotlight on Chowdhury’s otherwise overlooked impact on Chandigarh furniture.

Chandigarh furniture: decline and revival

The subsequent decline and revival of Chandigarh furniture is as much of the story as its development. As the city was inhabited, some of the designs with more fragile elements, such as woven cane, were worn out from frequent use. Coinciding with a desire that shifted away from modernist styles and natural materials to more robust designs, the deteriorating furniture was discarded in junkyards or sold off rather than restored.

In the late 20th century, European gallerists began to acquire Chandigarh furniture for low prices – and sell them on for a lot more, owing to the market’s resurgent appetite for modernist furniture, and works by Jeanneret.

Soon, heritage experts in Chandigarh realised what was happening. In 2007, Rajnish Wattas, former principal of the Chandigarh College of Architecture, established Chandigarh’s Heritage Furniture Committee, in an attempt to archive the remaining stocks of the Jeanneret designs. The city authorities ordered that no more furniture be auctioned, and Chandigarh’s Capitol Complex secured Unesco World Heritage status in 2016.

A furniture exodus

Plenty of Chandigarh furniture left the city over the decades, however, and is now highly collectable. London-based collector Rajan Bijlani has carefully sourced and restored over 500 pieces since 2004, and has publicly exhibited the works to build appreciation.

‘I started collecting it to help conserve this design legacy, because it was not really being looked after,’ Biljani told Wallpaper* in 2024. ‘As a custodian, I want to donate some pieces to cultural institutions, so that they can continue to be preserved. I want to make sure that there’s increasing awareness about the importance and the history of the collections. It’s been a very long journey, but it’s a process that’s been done with care, custodianship and passion.’

Admirers of the furniture need not only look to the limited vintage market. In 2019, Cassina launched the ‘Hommage à Pierre Jeanneret’ collection, which takes select designs of Chandigarh furniture and reissues them in slightly updated versions.

Bengaluru-based furniture brand Phantom Hands, meanwhile, has also reissued some of the classic designs in its Project Chandigarh collection, balancing an appreciation of original craft and aesthetic with structural and material improvements.

At first glance, you might mistake this elegant tubular design for a simple riff on a Bauhaus classic such as Marcel Breuer’s 1920s cantilevered ‘Cesca’ chair. But a more careful observation will reveal that it is very much one-of-a-kind – a meticulously detailed creation by Nicos Zographos (1931–2023).

An architect and designer whose career spanned 60 years, Zographos was greatly influenced by the Bauhaus, worked under modernist master Gordon Bunshaft, and collaborated with some of the leading designers of the time, including Walter Gropius, I.M. Pei and Phillip Johnson. Today he is remembered as a perfectionist who endlessly refined his designs, producing bespoke – and now extremely collectible – pieces.

‘CH66’ chair by Nicos Zographos, for Karakter x Cassina

Case in point: Zographos' ‘CH66’ chair, originally designed in 1966 and reissued this year by Karakter with Cassina, a company whose first collaboration with the designer dates back to the 1960s. The design reverses the s-shaped Bauhaus cantilever, creating instead an equally elegant b-shaped seat using a continuous line of chromed tubular steel with gentle curves.

‘The chair is resilient, elastic, and so light it doesn’t encumber space with its mass. It was the closest I came to a pure and precise kind of chair,’ wrote Zographos of the ‘CH66’, today part of MoMA’s permanent collection in New York.

Its manufacturers describe it as ‘the essence of a chair, a calibrated balance between structural lightness and dynamic tension’, highlighting its rigorous and elegant silhouette that is the result of an in-depth study carried out in collaboration with the designers’ daughters Athena and Fotini Zographos.

The reissued chair, in respect of the original design, is made of four chrome or painted black stainless-steel tubes which have been bent and shaped with extreme precision and fastened with screws, intentionally left visible on the back to keep its upholstery in place. The seat and backrest, which have the exact same curve, are upholstered with fine saddle-leather available in a range of colours, secured with metal springs that ensure elasticity as well as comfort.

We’ve had our first teasing hints of spring here in the UK, and suddenly we’re swept up in reveries of sun-warmed afternoons and long, lingering evenings. Our thoughts turn immediately to readying our outdoor spaces for the season ahead – and, more specifically, to furnishing them with the 2026 offerings from some of our favourite design brands here at Wallpaper*.

There was a time when outdoor furniture felt like an afterthought – functional, but stylistically lacking. That is no longer the case. Today’s design houses are unveiling collections that marry elegance with innovation, combining refined aesthetics with advanced technologies that make outdoor furniture more durable and versatile than ever.

Below, we present our favourite spring launches of 2026 – pieces we’re itching to put through their paces on the patio as the season turns.

Tectona

Tectona presents ‘Cicala’, conceived by designer Julie Richoz as a meditation on balance – between strength and delicacy, tradition and innovation. A graduate of ECAL who went on to collaborate with Pierre Charpin before establishing her Paris studio in 2012, Richoz is celebrated for her materially driven approach.

With ‘Cicala’, she orchestrates a dialogue between warm teak and polished stainless steel, pairing the tactile depth of wood with the precision of metal. Soft curves meet crisp lines in compositions that feel both architectural and light. For 2026, the collection expands to include a lounge set crafted through traditional cabinetmaking techniques enhanced by advanced metal technologies. Generous proportions and stackable elements define a line that embodies sobriety, elegance and comfort.

RH

RH’s Outdoor 2026 collection explores the intersection of contemporary vision and archival revival. In collaboration with Australian duo Harrison Condos and Nicholas Condos, the American brand unveils the ‘Brera Teak’ line – sculptural barrel-back forms anchored by tulip-shaped plinths, crafted from solid teak and detailed with handwoven all-weather rope. An alternative blackened teak finish further accentuates the natural grain.

Alongside these new introductions, RH reissues emblematic collections including ‘Antibes’, ‘Klismos’ and ‘Catalina’, each rendered in all-weather cast aluminium. Drawing from classical Greek precedents and neoclassical English garden traditions, the silhouettes balance sweeping curves with architectural clarity.

Molteni & C

Under the creative direction of Vincent Van Duysen, Molteni & C’s 2026 outdoor collection unfolds as a cohesive architectural narrative. Developed with long-standing collaborators Yabu Pushelberg and Studio Dordoni, and complemented by lighting created with Vibia, the collection integrates furniture, accessories and illumination.

At its centre is ‘Soleva’, a system spanning seating, dining and lounge pieces, characterised by slender tubular aluminium frames and vertical marine plywood slats softened with EVA coating. Powder-coated finishes in ‘Nuvia White’ and ‘Selva Green’ feel measured and elegant, while concrete and gres accents introduce sculptural depth. Modular sofas, stackable sun beds and adaptable tables underscore structural lightness and durability. Complementary lines – including ‘Chelsea Outdoor’ and the foldable ‘Club’ chair – extend the architectural coherence of the offering.

Cassina

For 2026, Cassina expands its outdoor universe with new systems and archival re-editions that, again, merge innovation with legacy. At its core is ‘Vidalenta’ by Patricia Urquiola, a modular collection conceived as a tranquil counterpoint to the fast pace of contemporary life. Voluminous cushions – made using recycled materials – rest on slender stainless-steel tubing, achieving a balance between rigour and warmth. Fluted tables in travertine, enamelled glass or iroko wood echo the structural cadence of the seating. Fully disassemblable, the system reflects Cassina’s research-driven approach.

The brand also introduces ‘Eloro Outdoor’ by Rodolfo Dordoni and the ‘Torei Outdoor’ tables by Luca Nichetto, alongside re-editions such as ‘Dalila’ by Gaetano Pesce and ‘Novetrenta’ by Vico Magistretti – extending an ongoing dialogue between past and present.

B&B Italia

B&B Italia marks 2026 with the outdoor debut of ‘Tufty-Time 20’ by Patricia Urquiola, celebrating two decades of the iconic modular sofa system. Reimagined for exterior settings, the design preserves its distinctive tufted geometry while adopting a sustainable, fully disassemblable structure suited to open-air environments. Ten modules – including a new curved element – enable fluid, convivial compositions.

Alongside it, the ‘Erica’ collection by Antonio Citterio evolves with expanded seating typologies, from curved sofas designed for sociability to high-backed versions offering intimacy and retreat. With corrosion-resistant frames, recyclable padding and generous proportions, the 2026 proposals reaffirm B&B Italia’s quest for continuity between indoors and out.

Cassina Custom Interiors partnered with Technogym and Italian architect Giulia Foscari of studio Una/Unless to debut the Ottagono Wellness Gym at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in the French Riviera.

Based on an octagon, the column has been hand-lacquered (in this case to match the evocative colours of the sea and vegetation surrounding the Antibes hotel).

Foscari's initial idea was to create a compact 'room within a room', a space that could be multifunctional and be adapted to several uses. 'On its summit, a lighting system transforms Ottagono into a light that shines upwards as a floor lamp combining and merging in a single object furniture design and a lighting system,' says the architect. The top of the 1.9 metres column is characterised by a series of recessed LEDs, while the interior of the object also features dimmable and remote controlled lights.

For the object's debut, Foscari and Cassina involved Technogym, the octagonal cabinet-like volume being a natural solution for a compact home gym. When closed, the Ottagono Gym looks like a bold but unassuming element in the room. Once open, it reveals its functionality with a series of elements essential to a complete training session, as its shelves and hooks are fitted with Technogym classics.

It includes the company's Connected Dumbells, fitted with an internal sensor that analyses movement and performance, with an adjustable weight from 2 to 24 kg, as well as kettlebells, resistance bands, mobility sticks, mats, foam rollers, and a jump rope. One door opens to reveal a full mirror, and at the centre is an integrated screen to enhance the gym and wellness experience through Technogym's dedicated virtual technologies. The interior is also fitted with space for a smartphone.

The gym is now part of Hotel du Cap Eden Rock's permanent offering, and it is also installed at the hotel's newly inaugurated Villa La Guettière. 'This partnership embodies our unwavering commitment to offering our guests ever more exclusive experiences, where art, design, and well-being harmoniously merge within the refined setting of our legendary establishment,' says Philippe Perd, Managing Director of the Hotel.

The object, Foscari explains, was born from a dialogue with her mother, architect Barbara Foscari, who first had the idea of a room within a room. 'Ottagono is an architectural object, an autonomous presence in space, a habitable monolith that transforms its function according to its contents,' she says. 'As a synthesis of furniture and light, it opens new possibilities for the design of contemporary and historic interiors.'

The project is part of Cassina's Custom Interiors series, a collection of furniture designs defined by a high versatility that can be adapted to a customer's specific needs. With Ottagono, the Cassina Custom Interiors series is enriched with bigger opportunities to shape spaces with enhanced functionality

It can feel a little trite attempting to parse trends in design. Design is a slower industry than fashion, and developments tend to be more gradual, with incremental change from year-to-year. This is why we talk about decades having a readable personality as movements, rather than seasons. That said, design responds to the present and heralds the future, and it is always an interesting lens through which to view the forces and values that shape our lives and lifestyles at any given moment in time. In place of trends, it feels more appropriate to call these shifts.

Watch: global design director Hugo Macdonald and head of interiors Olly Mason on design worth celebrating

The shifts we’ve noticed in the past year stem from a combination of factors that are symbiotically connected. The world is a pretty scary place at the moment, and the sanctuary or sanctity of home is keenly felt. Comfort is hardly a trend, but we note the abundance of generously upholstered furniture entering the market. Examples that caught our eye include Hannes Peer’s ‘Pillow’ chair for Baxter, an outrageously cosy piece of furniture, as its name suggests. Faye Toogood’s ‘Squash’ collection for Poltrona Frau is playful, comfortable and utterly delightful.

Cassina returned Carlo Scarpa’s 1973 ‘Cornaro’ armchair to production – a beautifully bouncy padded room within a frame. We welcome this great ensoftening of seating; our busy minds and tired bodies deserve some plush pliability in place of the sharper forms and harder edges that we inherited from modernism and its offspring.

For all of their louche appeal, there is a resounding elegance to these pieces, and this handsome mood was prevalent in more structured furniture, too. Michael Anastassiades’ richly lacquered ‘123’ chair for Molteni & C has an almost liquid quality to it. The exquisite stone surface of Jean-Marie Massaud’s ‘Adrien’ table for Poliform is a strikingly smart, grown-up anchor for any space. Meanwhile, Giampiero Tagliaferri’s ‘Ethan’ coffee table for Minotti has an organically shaped surface that appears to float on its chrome-plated base. Jialun Xiong’s ‘Kaleidoscope’ side table, in tempered glass and aluminium, has an Eileen Gray-level of industrial sophistication.

To call these works ‘timeless’ would be lazy, but they definitely have a contemporary heirloom quality that rises above fashion or trend. They achieve that rare balance of quiet charm and archetypal confidence with vivid material expression. Clever, beautiful and eminently easy to live with for a lifetime or two.

Intriguing material developments and applications were in plentiful supply this year, as the quest continues with ever-more commitment from the design industry to find better, smarter, healthier solutions to replace our wanton ways.

The ‘Gathering’ lamp, by Faber Futures, is a beguilingly brutalist object made from biomanufactured materials. Sheyang Li’s spectacular ‘Aluminium Cast Connection’ chair is made from an industrial construction component, with joints forged by melting and forming the same material.

One of the more stellar discoveries of the year for us was Raphael Kadid’s ‘Philae AL’ modular bookshelf. In collaboration with surface technology firm BWB, each aluminium panel was hand-anodised to form a surface treatment that resembles abstract landscapes. Kadid was inspired by aerial photographs of bauxite mining sites. Bauxite is the world’s primary source of aluminium and the humble bookshelf thus becomes an ode to its mineral origins. Ingenious, poetic, ethereal, otherworldly.

A current seam in design that we are particularly enjoying is the celebration of analogue qualities, surely in response to the overcomplication of our increasingly digitised lives. There’s an empowering quality to living with furniture when you can read how it has been constructed and – deep breath – perhaps even assemble, fix or repair it yourself. If Ikea immediately springs to mind, think again – this low-fi movement is increasingly high spec. Anastassiades’ ‘Card’ bookcase for Molteni & C is effortlessly assemblable, while Formafantasma’s mesmerising ‘Superwire’ collection for Flos is a genius component system of glass tubes, each containing an LED light source, which can simply be clipped in and out to allow easy repair.

We could play all day with Jamie Wolfond’s aluminium ‘Set’ table lamp for Muuto; the shade reflects the light source and can be rotated up and down like a hefty corkscrew to manage your desired light intensity.

We were similarly tickled by the easy joy of Anna Karlin’s ‘Post’ floor lamp, which comprises just an illuminated tube strapped to a steel base. Complexity can be overrated.

Objects of a ritualistic function abound at the moment, which we understand as a consequence of paying closer attention to the quotidian domestic acts, turning mundane activities into moments of more ceremonial enjoyment.

We have chosen to highlight Barber Osgerby’s magnificent ‘Pilotis’ candlesticks for Puiforcat and Soft-Geometry’s steel vase, inspired by the fluid curves of the Malayalam alphabet. Both have a soothing serenity and, though we cringe to discuss mindfulness in the realm of lighting candles, there’s no denying they bring a meditative presence to any tabletop.

If it’s all getting a little earnest, take note of Tom Fereday’s sand-cast aluminium speaker for Pitt & Giblin, a veritable beast that puts the woof in subwoofer. Devin Wilde’s sculptural ceramics have a similarly powerful presence with their ancient cosmic forms and tactile glazes.

We round out our hoard of awards with Giles Tettey Nartey’s ‘Serwaa’ chair, a reinterpretation of the West African Lobi stool, here made from welded aluminium.

The surfacing of stories, ideas and voices that have gone unheard by our Western-centric design industry is an ongoing endeavour. With ‘Serwaa’, Nartey has reimagined the Lobi stool as an industrial creation, taking it out of its vernacular craft context and inserting it into the canon of idolised 20th-century furniture. An extraordinary sculptural object in its own right, it encapsulates the special power of design to bridge time and place, inviting us to ask questions about where we have come from and where we want to go.

A version of this article appears in the February 2025 issue of Wallpaper* , available in print on international newsstands, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today.

Browse our Design and Interiors Award Winners for 2025

In the late 1960s and 1970s, the influential Italian architect and designer Carlo Scarpa produced a series of furniture designs for the Simon Gavina company. A handful of these creations – including the metal-framed ‘Doge’ dining table and wooden ‘Rialto’ bookcases – have been reissued in the last few years by Cassina, as part of its star-studded iMaestri collection, which comprises pieces such as Le Corbusier’s ‘Cabanon’ stool and Charlotte Perriand’s ‘Nuage’ bookshelf.

This year they are joined by Scarpa’s ‘Cornaro’, presented during Salone del Mobile 2024, an armchair originally designed in 1973. It stands out for its evocative design, highlighted by the unique material and structural contrast between the geometric rigour of the base and the softness of the upholstered seat. Preserving the aesthetic of the original model, the reissue comes with updated proportions, including a more ample seat.

Scarpa was influenced by the materials, landscape, and history of his native Venice, as well as that of Japan, and the ‘Cornaro’ armchair combines both interests: named after a historic Venetian family, it also nods to the Japanese minimalism Scarpa admired, with its sculptural wooden frame.

It is available in beech with a glossy lacquer finish, or in ash with a matte lacquer finish, in a carefully curated selection of colours developed for each of the two types of wood. Padded with recycled PET fibres, the comfortable cushion elements are attached to the frame using exposed thin black saddle leather laces inside a specially designed grommet.

With a view to circularity, ‘Cornaro’ has no glued parts and is completely disassemblable to facilitate the recycling and recovery of its components at the end of its life cycle.

Cassina, Via Durini 16, Milan

cassina.com

A version of this article will appear in the May 2024 issue of Wallpaper*, as part of our Salone del Mobile 2024 preview, on sale 11 April, available in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

This is the new Lancia Ypsilon Edizione Limitata Cassina, the debut edition of Lancia’s newest model and the car it hopes to bring it back to prominence as a design-led, premium company after many years in the wilderness. Just 1906 numbered cars will be made (a nod to the company’s foundation year), all of which will be pure electric vehicles. The new Ypsilon, which also goes on sale at the same time, is available as an EV and a hybrid, and will be followed by the Delta model in 2025 and the flagship Lancia Gamma in 2026.

By involving the legendary furniture company in this launch edition, Lancia has made a bold statement of intent. One of the 14 brands in the Stellantis stable, Lancia lagged behind its peers, with only one model available, a shrinking market share and the fall-out from an ill-fated tie-in with Chrysler that did much to dilute the company’s individualist image. 

Teresa Mendicino, Lancia’s head of Brand Design, points out that it ‘had to do the most in terms of branding’. This included a new corporate identity and badge, as well as an all-new design language and product strategy for the cars themselves.

‘We’re a small team with a lot of passion,’ says Mendicino. ‘We all sat together and strategised about moving to a premium level, where we all felt Lancia belonged. We have to carefully calibrate many different elements – what we call our “codes of desirability”.’ 

Lancia’s heritage is rich. Formed in 1906, it was technically innovative and famed for the beauty of its cars, many of which were shaped by Italy’s greatest coachbuilders. It was also hugely successful in motorsport, particularly rallying. 

All of this adds up to create an Italian cultural heavyweight, even if the reality of the company in the early 2020s was way off the mark. Mendocino and her team realised that every facet of the Lancia ‘renaissance’ would have to be carefully co-ordinated. ‘There is a lot of emotion in the imagery we use,’ she explains, ‘which includes architecture, product design, fashion – every element of the Italian lifestyle.’ 

Cassina’s CEO Luca Fuso is enthusiastic about the new collaboration. After decades of manufacturing and supplying designs by some of the 20th and 21st century’s most acclaimed designers, Cassina has now set its sights on another strand of design. The Lancia Ypsilon Edizione Limitata Cassina not only marks the rebirth of the brand, but the start of a design partnership with Cassina aimed at strengthening both company’s Italian roots.

Gianni Colonello is head of Lancia Interior Design. In addition to initiating the partnership with Cassina, his portfolio is an enviable one. ‘Although it’s been a very intense and short process, this is a real one-of-a-kind job for a designer,’ he says, ‘you don’t often get the chance to start from the ground up.’

Colonello describes how each member of his design team has their own vision of Lancia, but that ‘somehow they are all aligned’. ‘We know that Lancia is very Italian but that it also has a very unique approach to design,’ he continues, ‘it’s a very culture-led approach.’ Hence the work with Cassina.

‘Both brands are deeply rooted in Italy,’ Fuso concurs. ‘Lancia called us with the idea of uncovering this long-lost spirit in Lancia cars. They were once known as “living rooms on wheels” – very comfortable, high performance, but also beautiful inside and out. Lancia wanted Cassina to be their partners in helping shape this new generation interior design.’

The process started in 2022, around the time that Lancia was setting out its new and distinct identity. The first order of business was to help shape the colours and materials of Lancia’s statement piece, the 2023 Lancia Pu+Ra HPE Concept. ‘The idea was to be at home in the car,’ says Fuso, ‘and we also worked on elements like the “coffee table” in the middle of the car.’ The Pu+Ra concept represents the greatest hits of Lancia’s past, all smoothly blended into a svelte EV with a minimal, space-age interior and a body that references key cars like the wedge-shaped Stratos rally car of the 1970s.

‘We pushed for an architectural approach,’ Colonello says. ‘You can really see the structure. It’s a mix of classic, modern and eclectic forms – all very eclectic.’ The ‘table’ was central to the process. ‘This table element started in the concept, but it has become part of the new Ypsilon,’ says Fuso. ‘It’s the place where the collaboration between the two companies really took shape.’ Finished in hard-wearing saddle leather, the deep blue colour is another familiar Lancia trope. Cassina’s team were also deployed to give the whole interior a sense of refinement and simplicity that evoked their high-end pieces of furniture.

‘We asked Lancia to take out the chrome trim and replace it with black, both inside and out,’ says Fuso, who explains the other major feature – the dark blue velvet seats with their ‘cannelloni’ striped cushion supports – ‘reminded us of the Lancia models from the 1970s.’ The concept exaggerated these design elements and Colonello describes how ‘simple, geometric and readable’ volumes were carried through into the new Ypsilon, a fact highlighted by the launch edition. 

‘Lancia and Cassina are examples of Italian excellence,’ he says. Other innovations include the debut of Lancia’s S.A.L.A. infotainment system – ‘Sound, Air, Light and Augmentation’ – which centralises controls for audio, air and light.

‘We’re very happy with the result,’ says Fuso. ‘I think we’ve really conveyed a relaxed atmosphere.’ The collaboration also extends to Cassina’s presence in Lancia’s new Brand Experience centres, the first of which was opened in Milan in 2023. These ‘Casa Lancia’ spaces include Cassina furniture and fixtures, as well as a carefully composed colour palette.

The furniture maker has had a few brushes with automotive design in the past. Mario Bellini’s iconic Kar-a-sutra from 1972 was built by Cassina, with its spacious, padded interior and wedge-shaped form that predated the next decade’s MPV trend (Bellini was also responsible for the trypophobically triggering dashboard of the 1980 Lancia Trevi). The Pu+Ra HPE Concept drew explicit influence from the work of another designer from the Cassina stable, Vico Magistretti, whose Maralunga armchairs are evoked by the concept’s bold, chunky front seats.

For Colonello, Cassina’s involvement showcases how Lancia can also accommodate its past whilst still moving forwards. ‘They still produce their classic pieces of furniture,’ he explains, adding that Lancia’s collection of historic vehicles is just 50m from his studio in Turin. It was here that nine classic cars from Lancia’s past were selected and distilled into the forms, colours and ethos of the Pu+Ra HPE Concept. They include the luxurious Flaminia, the influential Aurelia B20 GT, the rally-winning Delta and Stratos, the purist Fulvia and more.

The Ypsilon is the first step in an ambitious ten-year plan to bring the Lancia name back to cultural prominence. As partners go, Cassina couldn’t be more perfectly chosen, indicating just how important interiors are going to be to the next generation of car buyers. 

Lancia.com, @Lancia_Official

Cassina.com, @CassinaOfficial

For the October 2023 issue of Wallpaper*, we selected the highlights from Euroluce at Milan’s Salone del Mobile 2023. Our edit includes new products from big shots such as Lasvit, Cassina and Flos, as well as independent studios such as Pelle and Ross Gardam, and was photographed using both digital and film techniques by our long-term collaborator Luke Evans. 

‘The process of composing and lighting the lamps in the studio was so exciting,’ explains Wallpaper* head of interiors Olly Mason. ‘By shooting them on film we were able to add this layer of process to the series, inverting the images of the lamps so that their lightness became shadow, and producing this optical contrast and surface texture.’ Mason then spent a day in the darkroom with Luke playing with light and darkness, exploring the printed qualities, softness and textures created through film and printing, to stunning effect.

Discover the brightest new lighting design

‘Polaris’ floor lamp, by David Rockwell, for Lasvit

This stellar floor lamp is part of Constellation, a collection by American architect and designer David Rockwell. The New York-based founder of the cross-disciplinary firm the Rockwell Group was inspired by one of his favourite local landmarks, the celestial mural at Grand Central Terminal, which features over 2,500 stars set against a turquoise backdrop. Hand-crafted in metal and glass, the ‘Polaris’ lamp is available in bespoke configurations. ‘What defined this collaboration for me was the sheer passion of Lasvit’s team of experts and the joy of creation we shared at each step in the process,’ says Rockwell. ‘Each lighting fixture serves a dual function: to dazzle the eye as a focal point and to unify any setting in which it is placed.’

‘Polaris’ floor lamp, price on request, by David Rockwell, for Lasvit
lasvit.com

‘Pool 02’ lamp, by Laurids Gallée

This limited-edition polymer resin light is made in the Netherlands by Laurids Gallée, an Austrian designer and Design Academy Eindhoven graduate now based in Rotterdam. Since launching his eponymous studio in 2017, Gallée has explored new ways to incorporate traditional and folkloric elements, and experimented with various materials. A recent focus on resin has seen him create a side table with a grid pattern, a monolithic ceiling light, a translucid bench and, in 2023, this ice blue ‘Pool 02’ lamp, which turns a warm yellow when switched on. Its fluid shape and soft ridges create an eye-catching effect that recalls the ever-changing way light is reflected on water.

‘Pool 02’ lamp, price on request, by Laurids Gallée
lauridsgallee.com

‘Dreispitz’ lamp, by Herzog & de Meuron, for Artemide 

This graphically pleasing pendant by Herzog & de Meuron (who have an exhibition at London’s RA until 15 October 2023) is available in understated black and silver, but also in a striking bright green version. Originally designed for the Swiss architects’ Helsinki Dreispitz (‘tricorn’) project, an archive and apartment building in Basel, it can support three different light sources that slide into its triangular base to form an almost clover-shaped profile. With a choice of four different lengths, and diffused or controlled lighting, it is designed to fit into any environment. It is also good for the environment, thanks to its high efficiency, intelligent industrial optimisation and the use of partially recycled, recyclable and easily dismantled materials. 

‘Dreispitz’ lamp, price on request, by Herzog & de Meuron, for Artemide
artemide.com

‘W225 Ion’ lamp, by Dirk Winkel, for Wästberg

This deceptively simple design from Wästberg, a Swedish brand with a focus on creating wellbeing through good light, is the result of years of research. Behind its understated lines, thought up by Berlin designer Dirk Winkel, lies a beautifully configurable system. It centres around a highly sophisticated miniature friction joint with cordless power connection, which is similar to those used in modern laptops and allows 360-degree rotation. A choice of arms in two different lengths, combined with various mounting options and two different optical systems, allows for a range of uses, from wide-angle workspace illumination to focused bedside reading. The state-of-the-art full-spectrum COB LED provides stunning light, further refined by a high-quality lens or reflector with prismatic diffuser. 

‘W225 Ion’ lamp, price on request, by Dirk Winkel, for Wästberg
wastberg.com

‘Vestige’ table lamp, by Ross Gardam and Peter Kovacsy, for Ross Gardam

This optical device by Melbourne label Ross Gardam was conceived to create a sense of wonderment. Featuring a solid parabolic cone with a concave face that emerges from a rectangular base, the brutalist-inspired sculptural form is made from cast crystal glass by renowned artist Peter Kovacsy, whose work in large-scale cast glass reflects the remote area of southern Western Australia where he is based. Celebrating the allure, texture, and volume of glass (bubbles in the glass create a speckled pattern when illuminated), each cast glassform is coupled with a raw aluminium base and machined conical dimmer, handmade, polished and waxed. ‘Vestige’ is available in a limited edition of five.

‘Vestige’ table lamp, A$39,545 ($25,683), by Ross Gardam and Peter Kovacsy, for Ross Gardam
rossgardam.com.au

‘44T’ table lamp, by Bocci

No two ‘44T’ lamps are identical: each aluminium canopy is variously blown, poured, carved and polished, and is an individual, irregular expression of Bocci’s research. In fact, the dendrite-like shapes were a happy discovery, initially made by pouring discarded molten iron in a bin of broken sand moulds. What’s more, the unique design features spherical light bulbs that glow without the need of electrical cables, as low-voltage electricity flows directly through the cast metal structure. There is of course a main cable to plug it in, but this element is as sculptural as the rest of the design, since its semi-rigid black fabric cord means it can be twisted into a pleasing shape to complement the organic lamp. The series also include an integral dimming system housed within a sleek brass cylinder. 

‘44T’ table lamp, $975, by Bocci
bocci.com

‘Channel’ lamp, by Pelle

Best known for its iconic ‘Bubble’ chandelier, Pelle was founded by Jean and Oliver Pelle in 2011. Its designs often look to nature for inspiration (and include architectural ornaments made from soap), but in the case of the ‘Channel’ lamp, the Brooklyn-based studio’s starting point was a practical concern: how to properly illuminate a large table surface, and brighten the overall room at the same time? The resulting ceiling fixture comprises a sleek horizontal body in waxed brush aluminium that holds four lighting components, with two beams facing upward, and another two facing downward. Completing the design are a pair of thin steel cables that double up as power conduits. 

‘Channel’ lamp, from $10,800, by Pelle
pelledesigns.com

‘Vis à Vis’ table lamp, by Michele Groppi, for Davide Groppi

A translucent UFO landing softly on your tabletop, Michele Groppi’s ‘Vis à Vis’ lamp is designed to perfectly integrate into any environment and décor. Entirely made of glass, it is totally transparent, from the thin cylindrical stem to the circular canopy, and appears to float lightly above the room. Being rechargeable (with a simple USB C charger), it can be moved around and illuminates everything without an electric cable in sight. It is part of a long line of truly stunning designs magicked up by the award-winning Davide Groppi team in Piacenza, Emilia Romagna, which range from perfectly poised, fishing rod-inspired floor lamps to a giant, meditative moon ceiling pendant.

‘Vis à Vis’ table lamp, price on request, by Michele Groppi, for Davide Groppi
davidegroppi.com

‘Bilboquet’ table lamps, by Philippe Malouin, for Flos

Philippe Malouin’s first design for Flos, this new table lamp has a unique concept based on Malouin’s experiments with magnetic elements. Taking its name and shape from the bilboquet, a French game dating from the 16th century, it comprises two coloured cylinders connected through a sleek magnetic sphere that allows the lamp to be oriented as required while also serving as a poetic decorative element. ‘The design is about changing your lighting needs throughout the day,’ says Malouin. ‘It can be used as a desk lamp, but if you just want to have drinks in your living room, you can bounce the light off of the wall to create a soft glow. I have always admired “Parentesi” by Castiglioni and the lamp’s way to change the light to achieve different moods – and this is very much what this light does.’

‘Bilboquet’ table lamps, price on request, by Philippe Malouin, for Flos
flos.com

'Dipping’ pendant, by Jordi Canudas, for Marset

Spanish designers never shy from using bold colours in their creations, and Jordi Canudas is no exception. As an experiment, the Barcelona-based designer once dipped a switched-on light-bulb in paint several times. He liked the result so much that the ‘Dipping’ pendant light was born. Available in three different sizes, it features a brilliant white hand-blown glass globe, hand-dipped in paint several times to create concentric rings of colour, in amber, blue, green, pink, off-white and black versions. The different layers of paint help to moderate the light’s intensity, while a polycarbonate cover at the top completes the spherical shape. ‘

Dipping’ pendant, price on request, by Jordi Canudas, for Marset
marset.com

‘Bijou’ pendants, by Antoni Arola, for Santa & Cole, and ‘Eitie’ table lamp and pendant, by Tobia Scarpa, for Cassina  

Named after the French word for jewel, this gem of a pendant light (pictured in red, centre) provides exceptional lighting and mesmerising reflections. Like all of Barcelona-based designer Antoni Arola’s creations, it is a bold and dramatic design that fits in perfectly with Spanish brand Santa & Cole’s carefully curated, minimalist lighting collection. The latest in a collection of geometric brass lights first launched in 2019, the ‘Bijou’ pendant features two vertical spotlights positioned on either side of a metal plate to create a sense of depth designed to enhance the entire space. Its glossy shade is available in white or red finishes, and two sizes. 

‘Bijou’ large pendant, €1,180; small, €820, both by Antoni Arola, for Santa & Cole, santacole.com

The Venetian designer and architect Tobia Scarpa initially created ‘Eitie’ (also pictured) as a wall installation for the walls of the Benetton Foundation Research Centre, which he has been involved with since its creation in 1987 (working with his wife Afra, he has designed and renovated many buildings for the Italian company since their first collaboration in 1964). Comprising a pendant light, table lamp and floor lamp, the ‘Eitie’ collection riffs on the idea of luminous strokes that can be reconfigured thanks to unique black metal circular connectors. Each seemingly simple design is composed of two or three linear lights that can be moved around and rotated 360 degrees to create different visual effects.

‘Eitie’ table lamp and pendant, both price on request, by Tobia Scarpa, for Cassina cassina.com

A version of this article appears in the October 2023 issue of Wallpaper*, available in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

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

Cassina has announced the acquisition of Italian furniture company Zanotta. With this new move, Zanotta joins the Haworth Lifestyle Design group, including Cassina, Cappellini, Ceccotti, Karakter, Poltrona Frau, Luxury Living, Janus Et Cie, Luminaire and Interni. 

With Cassina, Zanotta joins the Haworth Lifestyle Design group

Zanotta was founded in 1954 and it is now considered among the leading Italian furniture brands – under founder Aurelio Zanotta, the company has produced the work of some of the most exciting names in modern design, including Gae Aulenti, Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Alessandro Mendini, Carlo Mollino, Bruno Munari and Ettore Sottsass.

Among the company's icons are the ‘Quaderna’ table series by Superstudio and the ‘Sacco’ Beanbag by Gatti, Paolini & Teodoro. 

'We are extremely happy to welcome Zanotta, a company that has written some of the most important chapters of  design and with which we share the founding values of this sector, from production quality to supporting culture,' says Luca Fuso, CEO of Cassina. 'We will guarantee ample operational autonomy to this formidable brand so that it can continue its creative journey through the search for new talent and the enhancement of its exceptional product portfolio. We will take care of Zanotta and work towards generating the greatest attention for it to grow worldwide.'

Adds Giuliano Mosconi, CEO of Tecno/Zanotta group: 'Following these years of intense work, which have brought Zanotta back into the spotlight, I am happy that this  wonderful company can continue its journey side by side with an important player like Cassina, who will help it to make  the most of its potential.'

zanotta.com
cassina.com
haworth.com

Back in 2019, Patricia Urquiola designed the ‘Hayama’ sideboard for Cassina, inspired by the haori, a traditional Japanese jacket worn over a kimono. With its oblique, minimalist shape and lacquered surface, it made a bold addition to any living space. Now there is a new member of the ‘Hayama’ family in the form of a bar cabinet, also designed by Urquiola. 

Featuring the same oblique form and lacquered finish as the sideboard, the bar cabinet sports cannete-effect doors, a mirrored interior that gives greater depth to the space, a glass shelf for bar accessories, and two drawers and two side compartments, which are perfect for storing cocktail paraphernalia. It also comes backlit with LED lamps, to create an ambient mood, and in a choice of 12 colours, including sage green, midnight blue, China red, marron glacé and cream. 

‘“Hayama” is a small city in Japan where I am currently working: Japanese culture is of great inspiration to me,’ says Urquiola. ‘The oblique sides of the “Hayama” cabinet give a different perspective that communicates a very essential language. Cassina has developed the ancient technique of lacquering to industrially produce this family, offering a new finish that has a rippled effect.’

This year, Cassina also celebrates its masters, from Gio Ponti to Gerrit Rietveld, with an exhibition titled 'Echoes', at Palazzo Broggi.  

Cassina, Via Durini 16

cassina.com
patriciaurquiola.com

From 25 – 29 October, we turn to the biannual Orgatec trade fair for the latest prime picks of office furniture and workspace design. This time around, sustainability heads the thematic list, along with flexibility, and – acknowledging home and hybrid working – a cosy, at-home feeling that is gracefully fulfilled by Cassina with its Cassina Pro collection, on display at Orgatec for the first time. 

Five projects new to Cassina Pro comprise seating and desks, by Mario Bellini, Charlotte Perriand, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec and Le Corbusier. Each piece, though designed from a different starting point, fulfils the same end goal – to enhance the office experience visually and in tactility. Designers such as Linde Freya Tangelder and Mikal Harrsen also join the team for Orgatec, accentuating Cassina’s design collaborations.

In ‘Cab Office’, an evolution of the ‘Cab’ chair, originally designed in 1977 by Mario Bellini, the brand has revamped the simple structure into a swivel chair. The chair comes in five subtle colours and three designs with varying backrest heights and seat depths, covering maximum comfort and minimal forms in one go; each version sits on a five-spoke, cast-aluminium base in either a brushed polish or black finish. 

For the communal and hospitality working zones, Cassina offers up Charlotte Perriand’s ‘Banquette Mauritanie’ bench, a combination of latticed carpentry and plush upholstery, with modular elements such as changeable backrests and integrated USB sockets.

Also among the brand’s repertoire of benches, the ‘Cotone Slim’ bench by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec combines simplicity and versatility, and Le Corbusier's ‘LC16 Bureau’, originally created in 1957 as a children’s desk, has been pulled from the archives and reproduced in an adult-sized iteration.

orgatec.com

Cassina presents ‘Tramonto a New York’, a new piece by Gaetano Pesce that pays tribute to the city of New York through an artistic reproduction of its skyline in bright colour. 

The Italian, New York-based designer and Cassina are long-term collaborators, the Italian company being the manufacturer of Pesce’s 1986 Feltri armchair, described as ‘the result of representational research played out on the hybrid field between art and practicality.’

For this new piece, the designer takes a new route, creating a more artistic design that reproduces the city with stylized, colourful and patterned shapes. The piece follows Pesce’s ‘Tramonto a New York’ sofa, but the semi-transparent polyurethane resin elements of the screen allows the light to shimmer through the bold hues to create a glimmering effect. 

Speaking of the polyurethane resin, Pesce notes: ‘The material used to make it is dear to me because it has more quality than glass in terms of transparency, brightness and non-fragility: resin is a better material than its traditional counterparts for its ease of workmanship and high-quality of its products.’

The screen is formed of three panels, each a unique signed piece, joined together with specially developed bronzed brass hinges. To recreate the vibrant skyline, Pesce poured coloured resin into moulds in different phases, choosing a palette that includes bright blue, pink and green, surmounted by a large red sun. No piece is alike, as the colours were mixed ad-hoc to recreate the right intensity. 

‘New York is a place thriving with innovation and colours,’ observes Pesce. ‘My screen recalls the shapes of its towers with the tints of their spatial vitality. The result is a positive, innovative, happy object that will bring value to the space where it will be placed.’

INFORMATION
cassina.com

The Design Museum's ‘Charlotte Perriand: The Modern Life’ showcased the work and ideas of the French architect and designer through a series of thematic displays, presenting her creative process with an impressive series of sketches, photographs, notebooks, as well as furniture design prototypes, final pieces and faithful reconstructions of some of her most famous interiors.

‘Charlotte Perriand: The Modern Life’ at the Design Museum

This new exhibition marked 25 years since Charlotte Perriand’s last exhibition at London’s Design Museum, held in 1996, and was put together in collaboration with the Perriand family and the Fondation Louis Vuitton, with the support of Cassina (whose catalogue includes numerous Perriand furniture reissues), and exhibition design contributions by Assemble and A Practice for Everyday Life. 

‘Charlotte Perriand was a hugely influential figure in design,’ said Design Museum chief curator Justin McGuirk. ‘Her life spanned the 20th century and her career reflects the twists and turns of the modernist movement.’ 

The Design Museum exhibition explored her work through three thematic sections, which will help outline Perriand’s design approach: ‘The Machine Age’; ‘Nature and the Synthesis of the Arts’; and ‘Modular Design for Modern Living’. Perriand’s creative transition from a modern machine aesthetic to her preference for natural forms sculpted from wood is chronicled through the show, and this process comes together in her all-encompassing vision of a ‘synthesis of the arts’, where design, art and architecture combine. 

Described as ‘a free spirit who championed design for all’, Perriand subscribed to modernist aesthetics that were reflected in her furniture and architecture designs. She famously said ‘dwellings should be designed not only to satisfy material specifications; they should also create conditions that foster harmonious balance and spiritual freedom in people’s lives’, and the Design Museum exhibition helps bring her ideas back to life. 

Exhibition design and graphics

The Museum collaborated with Assemble for the exhibition design, and A Practice for Everyday life supplied the graphics for the space (and designed the accompanying monograph), including a threedimensional typeface made of bent steel tubes that referenced Perriand's furniture. The exhibition’s bold colour palette reflected Perriand’s own use of colour, and partitions throughout the space frame compositions of her works and interiors spaces. Bespoke folded metal captions were integrated into display surfaces and structures, made of modular concrete blocks.

Charlotte Perriand: her life in art, design and architecture

Perriand was born in Paris in 1903, and studied furniture design at the École de l'Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs. She came to prominence soon after graduating in 1925, with projects such as the 1927 ‘Bar sous le toit’ (Bar under the roof) created for her own apartment-studio in Paris’ Saint-Sulpice. This minimalist and functional apartment space that she designed for her life and work was faithfully reproduced at the exhibition’s entrance.

Early examples of modular metal furniture, as well as the sketches, models and plans behind the designs formed the core of ‘The Machine Age’. Several vignettes recreated Perriand’s interiors, demonstrating the modernity of her aesthetic and approach to space and living. It was during this time that she started working with Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret, a decade-long collaboration that resulted in furniture pieces such as the 1928 ‘Chaise longue basculante’ or the ‘Fauteil grand confort’ from the same year, as well as several interiors, including an installation proposing single-room living at the Salon d’Automne in 1929. 

In the 1930s, Perriand’s interest shifted from metal furniture and industrialised production towards nature, and her artistic work took a turn in this direction. Brilliantly exemplified through ‘Nature and the Synthesis of the Arts’, this shift included organic furniture forms in wood and leather, inspired by personal collections of found natural objects such as rocks, sticks and fossils. The exhibition included black and white photography and experimental sketches; mixed with furniture from the time, these give a sense of how these inspirations were translated through Perriand’s sensibility.

‘Modular Designs for Modern Living’ forms a synthesis of Perriand’s trajectory through modernity, and shows her work in modular furnishings, interior design and architecture. She strived to create affordable and adaptable interiors, and some of her best known furniture works include bookcase designs originally conceived for student dormitories – a fitting example of democratic design, featuring a simple, modular construction in wood and plastic. The exhibition culminates with the legendary work for the French ski resort Les Arcs in 1968, with a life-sized model and a film that helps visitors immerse themselves in her pragmatic design thinking. 

Perhaps most poetically, the show’s last item on display demonstrates Perriand’s curiosity and humour. It’s a vase she had bought in Brazil in the 1960s, made from an everyday plastic bottle that, she had said, captured the essence of good design to be resourceful, intelligent and infused with humanity. 

‘The last time Perriand had an exhibition at the Design Museum, in 1996, she was concerned at first that she was being presented as a furniture designer,’ says McGuirk. ‘Twenty-five years later, there is no risk of any misunderstanding. Here, she is presented as a synthesiser, a collaborator, an integrator. A Perriand interior remains kind of ideal, a harmony of contrasts and disciplines that is difficult to replicate. And it is this ideal that she offered as a framework to those who wished to live a modern life, like her own.’

INFORMATION

‘Charlotte Perriand: The Modern Life' is at the Design Museum, London, 19 June-5 September 2021

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Cassina unveils its first interior project in London, a new apartment in the city’s refurbished BBC Television Centre. Conceived by the Italian furniture company’s design team in collaboration with the building’s architects, Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM, who have both reimagined the historic location and also created a series of interiors for the flats), the 205 sq m apartment features Cassina’s pieces throughout, mixing midcentury icons with new designs.

Part of a series of interiors projects initiated by Paul Monaghan titled The Architects’ Series, and featuring the likes of Coffey Architects and Archer Humphreys, the Cassina apartment reflects the brand’s complete design offering and style.

The layout of the apartment is conceived to accentuate the views onto Hammersmith Park, while inside the colour palette is kept minimal with muted tones punctuated throughout by artworks curated by London-based set designer Laura Fulmine.

A design project ‘for the culturally savvy,’ the interior features a succession of pieces from Cassina’s vast icons catalogue mixed with more innovative contemporary commissions by the like of Jaime Hayon and Rodolfo Dordoni. The timeless environment is imagined as a conversation between past, present and future, an expression of Cassina’s commitment to design and an appropriate tribute to the building’s history.

‘To have brought ‘The Cassina Perspective’ to such an iconic landmark in London has allowed us to express our interior design know-how by creating a complete, warm and welcoming home environment,’ says Luca Fuso, the company’s CEO. The interiors feature some of the most groundbreaking midcentury pieces taken from the Cassina archives, from Franco Albini’s Infinito bookcase and Cicognino tables to the LC4 Villa Church chaise-longue, a collaborative piece by Le Corbusier, Charlotte Perriand and Pierre Jeanneret.

The trio also features in the dining area, with their 1928 LC6 dining table surrounded by Perriand’s curvaceous Indochine armchairs from 1943. Contemporary pieces include beds by Mario Bellini and Philippe Starck, and the Dress-Up! sofa by Italian designer Rodolfo Dordoni anchoring the living room.

It’s a carefully curated space that demonstrate Cassina multifaceted approach to design, merging history with innovation through well-presented collaborative work. Property developers Stanhope have been working on the BBC’s original west London studios since acquiring it in 2012, with special attention to the heritage of the building and its iconic status. 

‘Designed with sophistication, the space brings together both iconic and contemporary pieces, bespoke artwork and luxurious finishes to present an installation unlike any other currently on the market,’ says Stanhope’s sales director, Peter Allen. ‘Cassina’s distinctive offering is an exciting addition to the collection of homes at Television Centre and further reinforces the design credentials of the scheme.’

INFORMATION

cassina.com

Last year, Italian brand Cassina broadened its horizons. With Patricia Urquiola spearheading as art director, it launched The Cassina Perspective – a visual path of its creativity that celebrates reborn classics and contemporary design. For 2020, Cassina are shifting this lens outdoor with a collection of pieces designed by Rodolfo Dordoni, Philippe Starck and Urquiola, plus of course, some refreshed midcentury icons.

‘Today the outdoors is considered an important part of our lives,’ says Luca Fuso, CEO of Cassina. The Cassina Perspective Goes Outdoor range takes inspiration from plenty of al fresco joy – for Starck, it was nature. For the French designer’s seating and coffee table, he employed hand craft to create a tactile and warm aura. Meanwhile, the charm of 1950s holiday resorts are the source of inspiration for Dordoni, who creates an urban range titled Sail Out, which includes modular seating and dining arrangements, that could easily style a city outdoor environment.

Urquiola’s design travels further north – ‘During a trip to Greenland I noted these little trampolines outside the locals’ houses. This playful object inspired me to design Trampoline.’ Described as a love bed, the curvaceous structure invites guests with soft upholstery and rope detailing.

Combining these new products with midcentury marvels was a natural decision for the Cassina team, ‘our values are based on avant-gardism, authenticity, excellence and the combination of technological capacity with skilled hand craftsmanship... whether a new product or classic reedition,’ Fuso says. Charlotte Perriand’s 1947 The Doron Hotel armchair, a design in teak that echoes her adoration for the mountains and winter voyages, has been given an outdoor hydro oil finish. Meanwhile, the versatile LC Collection, realised by Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret and Perriand as simple and functional forms, has been relaunched in outdoor-friendly iterations too.

Cassina works with Le Corbusier Foundation to reconstruct natural details for these designs, while engaging with the three pioneers’ passion for the outdoors – Le Corbusier cities in The Decorative Art of Today, 1st ed. Paris, G. Crès, coll. ‘The New Spirit,’ 1925, Paris, Flammarion, 1996, p.198 – ‘My childhood years were spent with my classmates amongst nature […] I knew flowers inside out, the shapes and colours of birds, how a tree grows, and it balances even in the eye of a storm. The tree, a man’s friend, a symbol of all organic creation; the tree, the image of a complete construction.’

INFORMATION

cassina.com

A reconstruction of the living room of the model home presented by Charlotte Perriand, Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret at the 1929 Salon d’Automne in Paris, when the trio’s now iconic tubular chrome furniture was first shown to the public. The pieces, which visitors are welcome to try, were recreated by Cassina in the finishes and colours used at the time. The designs were later named, from left to right, ‘LC6’ dining table, ‘LC7’ chair, ‘LC3’ and ‘LC2’ armchairs, ‘LC1 Villa Church’ chair, and ‘LC4’ chaise longue.

This October, the Fondation Louis Vuitton is dedicating all of its 11 galleries, covering the four floors of the Frank Gehry-designed building in Paris’ Bois de Boulogne, to the pioneering French architect and designer Charlotte Perriand (1903-1999). Including 180 pieces of design and 180 artworks by 17 different artists, drawn from the Archives Charlotte Perriand, but also from private collectors, international museums and the Italian furniture brand Cassina, the show shines the spotlight on an exceptional woman who defined an entirely new way of living, and narrates the evolution from modern to contemporary society.

Reconstruction is the show’s modus operandi. Exhibitions and interiors devised by Perriand have been reassembled to her exact specifications. Her groundbreaking tubular chrome furniture, created alongside Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret, and later, independently designed pieces in wood and bamboo come to life in their original context. Perriand liked to juxtapose her pieces with artwork from the likes of Fernand Léger, Pablo Picasso, Hans Hartung and Alexander Calder, and these too have been painstakingly sourced to recreate her intended displays.

The reconstructions start with Perriand’s Saint-Sulpice apartment from 1927, followed by the 1929 Salon d’Automne, and La Maison du Jeune Homme, shown at the Universal Exposition in Brussels in 1935. A painting by Léger, commissioned by Perriand for that project, was presumed lost, but curators tracked it down in a private collection and have secured it for the show. Further reproductions include the Refuge Tonneau, a mountain shelter designed in 1938 with Jeanneret and since created by Cassina; rooms for the Maison du Mexique and student housing units for the Maison de la Tunisie in 1952; and the Maison de Thé, made in 1993 for Unesco. Also present will be her 1934 Maison au Bord de L’eau, reproduced in 2013 by Louis Vuitton for Design Miami, and now fittingly displayed next to the Fondation Louis Vuitton’s outdoor water features.

To illustrate the years Perriand spent living in Japan, where she worked as the official advisor on industrial design to the Japanese government, and her dialogue with its culture, the show also includes reproductions of her exhibitions in Tokyo: ‘Sélection, Tradition, Création’ from 1941, and ‘Proposition d’une Synthèse des Arts’, from 1955.

Perriand collaborated with Le Corbusier and Jeanneret on the now-iconic chaise longue and the ‘Grand Confort’ armchair. These were presented to the public at the 1929 Salon d’Automne, within a 90 sq m model home that served as a manifesto for modern living. According to Jean-Paul Claverie, art advisor to the president at the Fondation Louis Vuitton, the best way to present these pieces was to remake the original display entirely, including drawing room, bedroom, bathroom and kitchen. To oversee this resuscitation, the foundation called upon Arthur Rüegg, the architect and historian responsible for the recent restoration of the Pavilion Le Corbusier in Zurich. Cassina, with whom Perriand started a working relationship in 1964, not only provided pieces from its Perriand collection, made expressly in the finishes and colours used at the time, but replicated the metal cabinets that doubled as partitions between the drawing room and the rest of the space, and produced new replicas of several pieces, including a double bed and a daybed. In a departure from standard museum practice, visitors are encouraged to use the furniture in the recreated living space.

The show took four years to plan and execute. Aside from the usual research and careful negotiation with private collectors, galleries, estates and over 40 different international museums to coax essential works, it also involved complex restoration work and the recreation of total environments. In this the foundation collaborated closely with Pernette Perriand, who had worked alongside her mother and now manages her estate, and Pernette’s husband Jacques Barsac, Perriand’s biographer.

Within a partial reconstruction of the 1955 Synthèse des Arts exhibition in Japan, ‘you will really see how Perriand straddles disciplines’, says chief curator Olivier Michelon. ‘You will see a table, but also tapestries by Le Corbusier and Léger, a drawing by Hartung, and so on. She had a specific vision of art and space. The art alone could have warranted its own show, but here you get to see it in a real context.’

Claverie hopes visitors to the show will come to recognise Perriand as a pioneer of modernity, who touched on every aspect of our lives. ‘She elevated the place of the woman in society, highlighted our relationship with the environment and nature, and championed the integration of the artist and art.’

In a life that bookended the 20th century, Perriand never stopped creating. More than a designer, she was a visionary who was committed to changing the world softly. And our way of living today would not be the same without her.

As originally featured in the October 2019 issue of Wallpaper* (W*247)

INFORMATION

‘Charlotte Perriand’ is on view from 2 October – 4 February. fondationlouisvuitton.com

ADDRESS

Fondation Louis Vuitton
8 Avenue du Mahatma Gandhi
75116 Paris

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Calvin Klein has marked its exhibition debut at Design Miami/Basel, with ‘An Expansive International Landscape’; featuring a selection of Cassina 'Feltri' chairs presented against a barnyard scene

This year, a change of structure at Design Miami/ Basel allowed visitors to navigate from the fair to Unlimited, Art Basel’s exhibition displaying large-scale artworks. Marking this structural change and connecting the two shows was one of this edition’s most special projects, serving as a gateway between art and design, celebrating both.

Calvin Klein made its Design Miami debut with the project, titled ‘An Expansive International Landscape’, featuring a combination of design, culture and craftsmanship curated by chief creative officer Raf Simons. For his installation, Simons focused on Feltri, an armchair created by Italian designer Gaetano Pesce for Cassina in 1987 as an ironic take on a royal throne.

The chair’s shape features a thin wool-felt structure, created using a special technique that allows the base (infused with thermosetting resin) to be structurally firm, while the top is soft and enveloping, two flaps of the material sticking out into a now-renowned shape. Simons made great use of the chair’s fluid and soft structure, combining it with a series of one-of-a-kind American heirloom quilts that date to the 19th and 20th centuries, that create what he calls a ‘cultural correspondence’: an eclectic icon of contemporary design meets an emblem of American craft and culture.

Since joining Calvin Klein in 2015, Simons has been on a mission to explore the different guises of the quintessential American spirit. His collection’s have made reference to tropes of US culture, like Hollywood startlets, cartoon characters, masculine heroes and prairie maidens. Quilts have featured predominantly, being used as linings on parkas; carried by models on the catwalk; their graphic  motifs replicated on shirts and flowing dresses.

The 50 pieces are shown in a vast open space, the chairs scattered across a purple carpet anchored by a large-scale barn, concepted by Simons for the CALVIN KLEIN 205W39NYC A/W 2018 runway show, and reconstructed from reclaimed 19th-century wood. Large-scale images of artwork by Andy Warhol feature prominently on the barn’s walls, part of the brand’s ongoing collaboration with The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. The multi-faceted project is evidence of Simons’ ability to merge cultural references and aesthetics, and a perfect fit for Design Miami/Basel: so much so, that all 50 chairs were snapped up on day one. §

See more from Design Miami/ Basel 2018

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Design Miami/Basel website; the Calvin Klein website

Karl Lagerfeld, one-time guest editor of Wallpaper*, is a fan of Cassina furniture. He’s been collecting pieces from the Italian stalwart for half a century – his first ‘order’ was the famous ‘LC4’ chaise longue by Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand in the 1960s. Having lived with, laid upon, and loved, each piece he has owned, Lagerfeld was the ideal photographer for a new photobook, Cassina as seen by Karl that documents (and salutes) the brand’s 90-year history.

It’s the first time Lagerfeld has collaborated with a furniture manufacturer on a venture of this nature, where his favourite design references would ‘pose’ in front of the lens. The project was entrusted to him in 2013, alongside Gerhard Steidl. The renowned German publisher, who has been involved at every turn, printed the limited edition photos which were first shown at first in the Cassina Saint-Germain showroom during Paris Design Week, and then internationally. Now, the dynamic snaps have been stuck into a beautifully leather-bound commemorative publication by hand, imbuing it with an uncommon sense of fragility, not dissimilar to that of a treasured family photo album.

Described as an ‘anthology of haute-couture design’, Cassina as seen by Karl features pieces from Lagerfeld’s own collection, including the Le Corbusier-Jeanneret-Perriand masterwork, and the ‘Auckland’ armchair by Jean-Marie Massaud. Arranged in graphic compositions, the familiar shapes are seen as if for the first time. Chairs are stacked in colourful jumbes, bookshelves talk to each other, a table becomes the protagonist on a darkened stage. It’s a book, says Steidl, that ‘rivals Cassina’s furniture in terms of quality materials, craftsmanship and longevity.’

Indeed, Lagerfeld’s passion is punched into the pages. ‘I had never worked on this kind of project,’ he says. ‘To visually reinterpret examples of perfect design is completely new for me, and therefore stimulating, exciting even.’

The publication – which will please both furniture fans and Lagerfeld lovers – presents a rare picture of the storied aesthete as not just a designer, but a design devotee.

INFORMATION

Cassina as seen by Karl, published by Gerhard Steidl. For more information, visit the website

‘Kite’ armchair, from €1,733, by GamFratesi, for Porro. ‘Formakami’ lamps, from £133, by Jaime Hayon, for &Tradition. ‘Woodlines’ rug, from £652, by Naja Utzon Popov, for Carl Hansen & Søn. ‘Offset’ coffee table, £1,485; stool/side table, £308, both by Philippe Malouin, for Resident. ‘Pin’ bowls, from $27, by Jonas Wagell, for From the Bay. ‘Chrysalis Cocoon’ floor lamp, from £2,099, by Marcel Wanders, for Flos. ‘Bonsai’ sofa, from €3,676, by Claesson Koivisto Rune, for Arflex. ‘Fondale’ vase, £284, by Office for Product Design, for Rosenthal. ‘Jeu de Signes’ fabric panels, part of the Voyage à Kyõto-Shi collection, £161 per m, by Misia

‘Alfred’ table, price on request, by David Dolcini, for Porada. ‘Jens’ chairs, from £1,173 each, by Antonio Citterio, for B&B Italia. Pinch pot, £40, by Constantinos Hoursoglou, for Shibui. ‘Piippu’ pot with filter holder, €165, by Kaksikko, for Skagerak. ‘Ceramics’ pot, SEK3,320 (€340), by Carina Seth Andersson, for Fogia. ‘Taranto’ rug, part of the Fresco & Nimbus collection, £1,367 per sq m, by Luke Irwin. ‘Bankside’ sofa, from £1,888, by Jasper Morrison, for B&B Italia. ‘T’ lamp, £2,121, by Marcel Wanders, for Moooi. ‘Salix’ fabric, £135 per m, by Sahco

‘Sign Filo’ chair, €1,409, by Piergiorgio Cazzaniga, for MDF Italia. ‘Kanji’ lamps, from £430, by Denis Guidone, for Fontana Arte. ‘Blau’ low table, from €1,050, by Fran Silvestre, for Gandia Blasco. ‘Yixing’ ceramics (scattered throughout), from £40, by Christopher Jenner. ‘Ren’ magazine rack, £1,404; side table, £1,536, both by Neri & Hu, for Poltrona Frau. ‘Cato Blues’ rug, part of the Mosaic collection, from £15,783, by Luke Irwin. ‘Torii-S’ stool, £179, by Satoshi Seto, for Karimoku New Standard. ‘20.Venti’ desk, from €4,494, by 967Arch, for MDF Italia. ‘Hven’ armchair, DKK3,995 (€537), by Anton Björsing, for Skagerak. ‘Wander’ light, $250, by Jonas Wagell, for From the Bay. ‘Pensée Masaï’ fabric, part of the Rêve de Burchell collection, £147 per m, by Misia

‘SW’ sofa, from £2,597, by OeO, for Stellar Works. ‘Rift’ mirror, from €4,440, by Giancarlo Bosio and Centro Ricerche, for Giorgetti. ‘Grey Sari Silk’ rugs, part of the Sari Silk collection, price on request, by Luke Irwin. ‘Jens’ chair, from £1,173, by Antonio Citterio, for B&B Italia. ‘Georg’ stool, £239, by Chris Liljenberg Halstrøm, for Skagerak. Bureau, £3,080, by Patricio de Arkaia, for Arkaia. ‘Gaia’ pendant, €798, by Emiliana Martinelli, for Martinelli Luce. ‘Noah’ bed, from €3,785, by Philippe Allaeys, for E15. ‘Kosi Bank’ bench, €1,336, by Moritz von Schmeling, for Zeitraum. ‘Night Owl’ table lamp, £122, by Nicholai Wiig Hansen, for Republic of Fritz Hansen

‘Axy’ table, from €2,545, by Claudio Bellini, for MDF Italia. ‘Dash Dot’ desk set, $425, by Quentin de Coster, for Othr. ‘AP’ stool, £290, by Shin Azumi, for Lapalma. ‘Teorema’ stackable unit, £883, by Ron Gilad, for Molteni & C. ‘Splendido 1000’ rug, price on request, by Matteo Thun, for Object Carpet. ‘Float’ stool, €550, by Nendo, for Moroso. ‘Cutter’ bench, £639, by Niels Hvass, for Skagerak. ‘Tokyo’ chaise longue, from €4,750, by Charlotte Perriand, for Cassina. ‘Cupolone’ pendant, £389, by Elio Martinelli, for Martinelli Luce

Illustrator: Tishk Barzanji. Interiors: Amy Heffernan. As originally featured in the January 2018 issue of Wallpaper* (W*226)

From missteps, to mishaps to inevitable self-doubt, the creative process isn’t for the faint of heart. But instead of succumbing to the pressure, Spanish designer and architect Patricia Urquiola embraces the chaos of creativity.

‘She throws herself into each project,’ says Donna Corbin, Louis C Madeira IV associate curator at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. ‘She doesn’t just design something and walk away from it.’ In ‘Patricia Urquiola: Between Craft and Industry’, her first solo exhibition in the United States, the museum offers an intimate look at the method behind the madness.

‘The design is not enough,’ says Urquiola. ‘What matters more is the transparency of the process: concepts, initial choices, prototyping, applied technologies, materials, logistics, human relations and ultimately the way to work with four hands between designer and publisher.’

‘Process is so important to [Patricia],’ Corbin says. ‘[You’ll] have a better understanding of her work if [you] understand the process.’ Inside, one wall is adorned with photographs, sketches and models of some of her biggest architectural and interior accomplishments, including the Mandarin Oriental in Barcelona (2014), Lake Como’s Il Sereno Hotel (2016) and various Cassina showrooms.

Another wall highlights her prolific works for many major Italian players including the Flos ‘Chasen’ lamp (2007) and B&B Italia’s ‘Crinoline’ armchair (2008). When she designed ‘Crinoline’, Corbin explains, Urquiola prioritised consulting and collaborating with local craftsmen. ‘She has this amazing ability to connect with people, and it’s so much part of what she does,’ she said.

But while Urquiola’s process boils down to a detailed, awe-inspiring science, her pieces continue to have an element of surprise. ‘She makes a conscious effort not to repeat things,’ he continues. ‘She challenges herself and we wanted to represent that.’

In total, there are 28 pieces on display, from as early as 2002. Admittedly, Urquiola’s ‘Antibodi’ chaise for Moroso (2006), ‘Landscape’ tea set for Rosenthal AG (2008) and ‘Fishbone’ inlay for Budri (2012) look incongruous in the same room, yet they deftly encapsulate her Midas-touched and 15-plus-year career.

But her influence doesn’t end there: Urquiola, who is also art director of Cassina, received the Design Excellence Award from Collab, a group of individuals who support modern and contemporary design at the museum.

INFORMATION

’Patricia Urquiola: Between Craft and Industry’ is on view until 4 March 2018. For more information, visit the Philadelphia Museum of Art website

ADDRESS

Philadelphia Museum of Art
2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Philadelphia
PA 19130

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As part of this year’s  anniversary celebrations, Cassina commissioned photographers Armin Linke and Giulia Bruno to follow the work of its artisans. Here, a master carpenter assembles a ‘’699 Superleggera’’ chair, an iconic model designed by Gio Ponti for Cassina. Made of a natural ashwood frame and India cane seat, the ‘‘super lightweight’’ chair has been in production without interruption since its creation in 1957.

A squat 1940s workshop, set behind a single train track in blue-collar Meda, Lombardy, produced the first industrialised models for the Italian furniture maker Cassina. For a while, the Cassina family lived here too, running a small shop on the premises. While Milan, 20km away, became the pretty face of modern Italian design, here in Meda is where the Cassinas got their fingernails dirty. This year Cassina turns 90, and to mark the occasion, the pioneer of 20th-century Italian design got a manicure, facelift and more besides.

In Meda the Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola – Cassina’s art director for nearly three years – has transformed the old production facility into a post-industrial nirvana. Urquiola has sheathed the front courtyard in theatrical perforated-aluminium curtains,  smoothed the rough stone surfaces, built an ‘tower’ in perforated Cassina-red metal and reached into the back catalogue of Cassina maestri to furnish the cavernous spaces: 1949 side tables by Piero Lissoni as well as low ‘Refolo’ tables by Charlotte Perriand and ‘LC2’ sofas by Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret and Perriand in updated sorbet-green and blue. To create an intimate breakout space she’s installed a replica of the Refuge Tonneau in the ‘refreshment room’. The futuristic mobile shelter was designed by Perriand and Jeanneret in 1938 and produced for the first time by Cassina in 2012.

The renovated central courtyard now features an ‘office tower’ in Cassina-red perforated metal, designed by the brand’s art director Patricia Urquiola. © Armin Linke and Giulia Bruno, 2017. Courtesy of Galleria Vistamare, Pescara

It all encapsulates beautifully Cassina’s philosophy, something managing director Gianluca Armento calls looking back to move forward. It’s counterintuitive, but I believe the truer you are to where you’ve come from, the more innovative you’ll be, he says, after unveiling the space to employees last summer. Inaugurating this new, bolder look for Cassina HQ is the culmination of two years of dusting-off and deconstructing old classics – from Gerrit Rietveld’s 1935 ‘Utrecht’ armchair, upholstered with Bertjan Pot’s triangle-pattern jacquard, to the relaunch of the ‘Pampas’ chair by Le Corbusier, Jeanneret and Perriand. Similarly, Urquiola’s streamlining and ‘challenging of the original architecture at Meda shows the real spirit of Cassina in a more modern way’, says Armento.

‘The soul of Cassina is making advancements on how we create things. What do we want to leave behind? Not just midcentury modern pieces, but an evolution. Keeping it authentic while modifying the angle and story is a science of how to maintain a glorious heritage. And anniversaries are part of that.’ A rather literal expression of that sentiment can be found in the HQ’s new gallery, metres from where co-founder Cesare Cassina first tested the soundness of Gio Ponti’s ‘699 Superleggera’ chair in the 1950s. The inaugural exhibition, by photographers Armin Linke and Giulia Bruno, follows Cassina artisans as they piece together furnishings such as the ‘Cicognino’ table by Franco Albini and the new ‘646 Leggera’, an updated version of the classic ‘Superleggera’.

Linke’s photographs zoom in on the tools of the trade: Bacci CNC routers for fashioning round-edged ash legs and computers equipped with sophisticated 3D programmes. Ultimately, though, the same hands-on method from the 1950s takes over. The process of capturing it, Linke says, was downright anthropological. ‘The “Leggera” chair is shaped by artisans who have been working this way for centuries, but also by the classical industrial process and finally the era of robotics. So you have one piece of furniture from three different eras.’

And so continues the dialogue between modernism and the present day, the intertwining of handcraft – ‘which is now often forgotten, but fascinating,’ says Linke – with the outer limits of digital technology. ‘Every component has a story, and finding that language to fit them together has an elegance, like writing software code or choreography.’

To expound further on the theme, this month Cassina releases its 90th-anniversary monograph – no mere coffee-table retrospective, but rather a treatise on the industry moving forward. Edited by Pin-Up magazine founder Felix Burrichter, This Will Be the Place taps contemporary experts including designer Konstantin Grcic, architectural historian Beatriz Colomina and architect Zhao Yang, and asks them to arrive at a vision of the future home based on their appreciation of the past.

The significance of history ‘as a point of reference of excellence’ is something Barbara Lehmann, director of Cassina’s archives, sets up in her introduction. ‘There can be no future without a knowledge of the past,’ she writes. Armento insists the brand has always looked forward a generation for creative input. ‘Some of the furniture we produce was designed over 100 years ago, but remember, the designers were in their twenties, thirties and forties, creating change, creating progress,’ he says. ‘That is still our responsibility, and that is what I want to pay tribute to.’

As originally featured in the October 2017 issue of Wallpaper* (W*223)

A replica of Charlotte Perriand and Pierre Jeanneret’s 1938 Refuge Tonneau takes centre stage in the communal area of Cassina’s Meda HQ.

Models from the Cassina archive, including ‘Superleggera’ and ‘Leggera’ chairs, photographed by Linke and Bruno for the inaugural exhibition of the HQ’s new gallery space.

Cassina’s 90th-anniversary monograph This Will Be the Place (Rizzoli, €80).

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Cassina website

Left, coat, €1,365, by Dirk Bikkembergs. Jumper, £350; trousers, £295, both by Coach. Shoes, £2,092, by Raf Simons. Socks (worn throughout), £15, by Falke. Right, jacket, £760; roll-neck, £135, both by Paul Smith. Trousers, £295, by Coach. Belt, £230, by Marni. Shoes, £710, by Prada. Fashion: Jason Hughes. As originally featured in the September 2017 issue of Wallpaper* (W*222)

At just 23, Anders Hayward has already fit three careers under his beautifully buckled belt. Among his many talents, the dancer, model and experimental choreographer has the rare ability to turn a hectic fashion shoot into a carefully orchestrated waltz.

For our September 2017 Style Special, we tapped Hayward to direct the movement for a menswear fashion shoot photographed by Liam Warwick, in which we celebrate clashing checks and plucky plaids. Creating a sense of movement beneath all these juxtaposing Prada, Calvin Klein and Salvatore Ferragamo patterns was essential. ‘During the styling process, I chose thematic movements that I felt would suit the clothes,’ Hayward explains, ‘I’m interested in designers that create clothes for characters – I enjoy creating fashion narratives.’

Game to become the leading men were our models, Georges Labbat and Baptiste Faure – despite their differing levels of dance experience. Labbat was the perfect match for Hayward, having trained in Belgium under intensely musical choreographer Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker. But Anders enjoys the surprise and (sometimes inelegant) quirks that come from working with models with minimal formal dance training, like Faure. ‘It’s great to see a model who has never really been choreographed before come out with some really interesting, organic movement. On the other side I love pushing more experienced dancers, like Labbat, to move in ways that they’re not necessarily familiar with.’

Hayward also grappled with a sculptural set and an eclectic mix of refined furniture – including pieces from Aram, B&B Italia and Rodolfo Dordoni. ‘I had sketches and blueprints of what the space was going to look like before, so I had a few ideas in mind – especially for the image with the two boys in the circle,’ says Hayward. ‘We found that it worked best if they were constantly moving. When the two were in constant flow, I could just tweak a hand movement, a shoe placement, or the flourish of a lapel.’

Though we’re only treated to the static, freeze-framed result, the arching backs, awkward necks and stretching fingers of each model capture Hayward’s momentum-filled choreography – while proving one can do impressive backbends in a tailored Fendi suit.

Left, coat, £1,560; top, £780; trousers, £620, all by Calvin Klein 205W39NCY. Right, coat, £1,825; trousers (part of suit), price on request, both by Salvatore Ferragamo. Roll-neck, £155, by John Smedley. Belt, £310; shoes, £710, both by Prada. ‘Pollock’ armchair, £1,755, by Charles Pollock, for Knoll, from The Conran Shop. ‘Cesar’ side table, £808, by Rodolfo Dordoni, for Minotti

The global trend for affordable design accommodation continues apace, finally making a presence in Milan, thanks to the canny collaboration between Spanish architect and designer Patricia Urquiola and budget friendly hotel group Room Mate.

Located smack in the city centre, a quick two-minute stride from the Piazza del Duomo, the 85-room Giulia is saturated in optimistic colour, with just a whiff of Milan’s famous mid-century mood. ‘It’s new, fresh, fun and welcoming,’ Urquiola states of the cheerful interiors. 

The prices might be economic, but the finishings are top-rate, with most of the furnishings designed by Urquiola and custom-made by Cassina, where she has recently been appointed creative director. In the guest rooms, bold armchairs by design brands Kartell and Moroso sit alongside lamps by lighting companies Flos and Oluce, while grid patterned Kvadrat curtains add visual texture. Downstairs, an eclectic mishmash of furnishings and colour combinations make up the lobby space, which is also lined with artwork commissioned by local creatives. 

The third property in Italy, following two openings in Florence, this is a busy time for Room Mate Hotels, who along with a Malaga launch, also this month, continues its international expansion at a dizzying rate.

ADDRESS

Via Silvio Pellico 4

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Vico Magistretti’s Maralunga sofa is a masterwork of versatility. Its back rests famously fold out at varying heights to become headrests, affording maximum comfort to users of all sizes. Whether upholstered in fabric or leather, it is at once cosy, fun and refined. It also comes in a dizzying array of colours, recently including a glamorous silver which well deserved its Wallpaper* Design Award for Best Reissue this year. And it works as a centrepiece for every living room, as demonstrated in a new short film by manufacturer Cassina, first shown as a trailer to the documentary 'Le Corbusier 50' at this year's Salone del Mobile. Titled 'Cool since 1974', the film shows Maralunga in every decade since its inception- belonging to families of all configurations, and in rooms accessorised with record players, Polaroid cameras, and eventually iPads. technology has advanced, tastes have changed and people have grown. Maralunga, however, continues to comfort and captivate.

Like its fashion siblings, Milan's design retail scene is dominated by Italian behemoths running their own single brand stores. Multi-brand shops specialising in a quality edit of contemporary design can be hard to find, which is why Spotti is one of the city's best-kept secrets.

Opened in 1986 by brothers Claudio and Mauro Spotti, the shop hangs quietly on the fringes of Milan's central shopping district and features a considered selection of new furniture, lighting and carpet designs jumbled seamlessly with iconic re-issues.

Inside, the shop's good mood and fresh scene are owed to its twice-yearly installations curated by Arianna Lelli Mami and Chiara di Pinto of local design firm Studiopepe. The latest incarnation, entitled 'Summer Tales', features a colourful mix of Kettal's outdoor 'Bitta' sofa (in a new rope version), 'Modernica Bubble' lamps and chairs by George Nelson, exclusive ceramic sculptures by Livia Polidoro and Adobe terracotta desktop accessories, all set against a canvas of tropical wallpaper by Cole & Son.

See all of Spotti’s past in-store collaborations with Studiopepe

The store first enlisted Studiopepe in 2009 because of their unconventionally Milanese approach to interiors. 'We knew that they could make a difference,' says Claudio Spotti, 'especially in a city where design is everywhere but it's often presented in a stiff way.' Lelli Mami's and di Pinto's first project involved transforming the store's interiors completely in white and since then has grown in scope to also include research of young designers and specially commissioned pieces.

For each seasonal store takeover, the studio is now given total creative control of Spotti's showroom design, window and product installations, reigned in only if there are new launches to include such as the Kvadrat and Raf Simons collaboration from this year's Salone del Mobile or Lina Bo Bardi's 'Bowl' Chair for Arper.

Spotti also offers interior design services for homes and offices, kitchens produced by Valcucine, and custom-made furniture under its eponymous label, including pieces designed by Studiopepe. The presentation of 'Summer Tales', which will run in-store throughout October, is the shop's tenth exhibit with Lelli Mami and di Pinto.

ADDRESS

Spotti Milano
Viale Piave, 27
20129 Milano
Italy

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Design aficionados will have a new Piero Lissoni-designed destination to mark on their maps when Italian brand Cassina opens the doors to its very first London showroom on 8 November.

The brand's new outpost occupies two floors of a listed building on the Brompton Road that was previously the home of Priscilla Carluccio's interiors emporium, Few and Far. Right in the heart of the Brompton Design District, Cassina is in good company, counting design stores Skandium, B&B Italia and Mint as its well-heeled neighbours.

Italian designer Piero Lissoni has stripped the 300 sq m space - which he describes as 'a perfect London interior, without antics or puns' - to reveal the building's overlapping layers of architectural history. Further adding to the raw, industrial look of the interior is a caged area at the entrance of the showroom that can be partitioned off for meetings or used as an exhibition space.

The exposed brickwork, solid oak staircase and oak flooring are all finished in tonal shades of grey that recall London's distinctive skyline. The overall effect creates the perfect backdrop for Cassina's extensive portfolio of designs including a rather striking set of bright green 'Tre Pezzi' armchairs by Franco Albini & Franca Helg.

ADDRESS

Cassina showroom
242 Brompton Road,
Knightsbridge,
London SW3 2BB

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There's been many a show of modernist master Charlotte Perriand's work but none that taps into her mind quite like the Petit Palais' current offering in Paris. Focusing on the part photography played in the making of her work, it takes us right to the source of her designs, placing inspiration shots and realised products side by side.

From the fish bones that prompted her 'Banquette Tokyo' to the reclining figure that inspired her 'Chaise Longue Basculante', the photographs lay bare her creative process. Perriand began using photography for preliminary studies from the moment she joined the Le Corbusier/Pierre Jeanneret studio as furniture design associate in 1928, looking at the 'laws of nature' in urban and mountain contexts, and many of the 380 photographs show objects discovered on her many walks.

'The most important thing to realise is that what drives the modern movement is a spirit of enquiry,' she once said. 'It's a process of analysis and not a style.' The Petit Palais exhibition certainly shows an inquisitive mind - someone with a keen eye for the world around her. Perriand was also the first designer to use photography as an integral part of her furniture and interior design projects, as the show reveals.

ADDRESS

Petit Palais
City of Paris Fine Art Museum
Avenue Winston Churchill
75008 Paris

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Modernist master Le Corbusier had strict design principles, which he applied just as rigorously to furniture design as to his more widely known architectural projects. For him, 'the smallest pencil stroke had to have a point, to fulfil a need, or respond to a gesture or posture', recalled Charlotte Perriand, his long-time furniture collaborator. This ruthless purity of approach paid off, making his designs as relevant today as they were over half a century ago - so much so that Cassina has just revived four of his remarkable pieces for its ongoing 'Cassina I Maestri' collection, started by the great man himself in 1964.

Ranging from a satisfyingly simple, box-like chestnut 'Tabouret' stool, designed in 1952 for his holiday 'Cabanon' in the south of France - where he laboured over the search for the perfect human scale, known as the 'Modulor' - to a small wooden writing desk created for the children's bedrooms at the Unité d'Habitation in 1957, these pieces were originally produced in small numbers. Now, thanks to an exacting study of his original drawings and prototypes, and a collaboration with the Le Corbusier Foundation, Cassina has realised these designs on a commercial scale for the first time.

The Italian brand, which has owned the exclusive rights to Le Corbusier furniture since 1964, has also taken an aptly rigorous approach to craftsmanship, seen from the precise dovetail joints on the 'Tabouret' stool and the moulded wooden, mushroom-shaped knobs on the 'Porte Manteau' coat rack. The authenticity of Cassina's approach ensures that each piece is a small distillation of Le Corbusier history.