Maralunga Sofa by Vico Magistretti for Cassina, 1980s

Learn More About Vico Magistretti

Architect and industrial designer Ludovico ‘Vico’ Magistretti was born in Milan in 1920. After graduating from the Faculty of Architecture at the Royal Polytechnic in Milan in 1945, he immediately began his career working for his father’s small architectural firm. Magistretti notably took part in the ninth (1955) and tenth (1956) editions of the prestigious Triennials in Milan, where he won the Gold Medal and Grand Prix respectively. As a young architect in the 1950s, Vico Magistretti was brimming with new ideas and proposals, which saw him rise to the status of one of the most brilliant exponents of the “third generation.” During this period Vico Magistretti worked for such companies as Artemide , Cassina, De Padova, Flou, Fritz Hansen , Kartell and Schiffini.

Vico Magistretti’s best known pieces

Magistretti’s skill as a designer blossomed in the 1950s, when he moved into the field of mass-produced furniture and lamps. Working with craftsmen and entrepreneurs who had long produced furniture in areas north of Milan, Vico Magistretti’s first great success came in the form of the internationally acclaimed Carimate chair (1960) produced by the Cassina company. Designed for a golf club he was working on that same year, the Carimate chair combined rural simplicity with urban sophistication. The bright pop of red mixed with the smooth lines of the wooden supports further contribute to the chair’s worldwide success. Magistretti’s style oozed simplicity and elegance, and his pieces concealed the complexities of production. His world famous Eclisse lamp (1967) could ‘eclipse’ the light source and the lamp itself, by moving the rotating inner shades of the structure.

Vico Magistretti’s legacy

Vico Magistretti won numerous awards across the globe for his design classics, including the Compasso d’Oro award in 1967 for the Eclisse lamp. Magistretti’s designs can be seen in museums and galleries around the world, including twelve of his projects in the permanent design collection of MoMA, New York. After Magistretti passed away in September 2006, his studio was converted into a museum devoted to the study of his work.

Italian furniture manufacturing giant Cassina, originally named Amedeo Cassina, was founded by brothers Cesare (1909-1979) and Umberto (1910-1992) Cassina in Meda, Italy in 1927. Although initially specialized in bespoke woodworking and high-end interiors, by the 1950s the brothers took the company in a new direction, anticipating the growing demand for mass-produced home furnishings. Cassina is often credited with introducing industrial design to Italy and has built an international reputation for collaborating with some of the world’s most respected designers.

Notably, in 1964 (while famed architect Le Corbusier was still alive), Cassina signed the first exclusive licensing agreement covering the edition rights for designs by Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret, and Charlotte Perriand. The company soon after launched the I Maestri Collection which over the decades has gathered major icons of design under the Cassina brand, such as the LC4 Lounge (1928) jointly designed by Le Corbusier, Jeanneret, and Perriand, as well as Dutch architect Gerrit Rietveld’s 635 Red & Blue Armchair (1918), Scottish architect-designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s Hill House Chair (1902), and many more.

With a focus more on partnering with the best designers rather than creating and maintaining a particular style, Cassina is responsible for some of the most recognized and beloved designs of the 20^th and 21^st centuries. Highlights include Italian architect-designer Gio Ponti’s Superleggera Chair (1957), German designer Konstantin Grcic’s Kanu Chair (2009), Iranian-British architect Zaha Hadid’s Zephyr Sofa (2013), and French designer Philippe Starck’s My World Sofa (2013).  Throughout its visionary collaborations with both design luminaries and cutting-edge experiments with new talents, Cassina has remained dedicated to the Italian design ideals of craftsmanship and quality, and the brand continues to excel in the fusion of industrial technology and artisanal production.

Cassina’s designs are included in permanent collections the world over, such as the Museum of Modern Art (New York), Vitra Design Museum (Weil am Rhein) and London Design Museum.

Cassina is now a part of the prestigious Poltrona Frau Group.

* All images courtesy of Cassina.