Chapter Two
The catalogue, piece by piece
Sofas, chairs, armchairs, tables and the small objects that surround them. Open any entry for the materials, the construction and the thinking behind the shape.
- Entries
- Eighteen studies
- Categories
- Sofas to accessories
- Span
- 1912 to 2024
- Note
- Periods given, never guessed
Showing 18 of 18 pieces.
Sofas
5 pieces- Open the studyFig. 01
Chester
1912, in the first catalogueRenzo Frau
The Edwardian English club sofa revisited, with rolled pleated arms level with the back and a deeply capitonné front.
- Open the studyFig. 02
Chester One
After the 1912 modelAfter Renzo Frau
The Chester rebuilt for how people actually sit now, with seats fifteen centimetres deeper and configurations up to five seats.
- Open the studyFig. 03
Kennedee
2006Jean-Marie Massaud
A low modular seating system with fine quilting to the backrest and cushions, configurable linear, corner or curved.
- Open the studyFig. 04
GranTorino
2013Jean-Marie Massaud
A lean sofa drawn from saddlery, combining a thick Saddle Extra leather with fabric across the same piece.
- Open the studyFig. 05
Ouverture
1982Pierluigi Cerri
A modular sofa that puts its own structure on show: a T-shaped steel bar and a metal frame perforated with circles.
Chairs
3 pieces- Open the studyFig. 01
DU 30
Designed 1953Gastone Rinaldi
Seat and back cut from a single shaped steel sheet on four bent-tube supports, winner of the first Compasso d'Oro.
- Open the studyFig. 02
Intervista
1989Lella and Massimo Vignelli
Designed for a television studio, for a newsreader shot at full length rather than head and shoulders.
- Open the studyFig. 03
Cockpit
2017Ferrari Design Centre
The first office chair designed by Ferrari, derived from a racing seat and built for Ferrari's seventieth anniversary.
Armchairs
6 pieces- Open the studyFig. 01
Vanity Fair
1930, as model 904From drawings by Renzo Frau
The armchair that defined the house: enveloping arms, an arched back, a fully buttoned front and a row of leather-covered pins.
- Open the studyFig. 02
1919
1919Renzo Frau
A reinterpretation of the bergère, unusual for carrying its capitonné on the backrest, and made to order as a numbered piece.
- Open the studyFig. 03
Dezza
1965Gio Ponti
Ponti's squared modernist armchair, the first product of the Tolentino era and continuously in production since.
- Open the studyFig. 04
Sanluca
Designed 1960Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni
An armchair built from three formally independent parts, seat, backrest and headrest, meeting along visible seams.
- Open the studyFig. 05
Antropovarius
1982Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
An ergonomic reclining lounge chair whose adjustable rib elements are modelled on the human vertebral column.
- Open the studyFig. 06
Archibald
2009Jean-Marie Massaud
A softly rounded armchair on cast-aluminium feet, with vertical folds and edge stitching worked across the shell.
Tables
2 pieces- Open the studyFig. 01
Mesa
ContemporaryLella and Massimo Vignelli
A table reduced to a plane and its supports, made in rectangular and elliptical versions.
- Open the studyFig. 02
Titano
Late 1990sPierluigi Cerri
A table whose structure is made in titanium, and the piece that brought the house its first Compasso d'Oro.
Accessories
2 pieces- Open the studyFig. 01
Ren
ContemporaryNeri&Hu
A family of objects for the room around the furniture: bookcase, dressing table, valet stand, standing mirror, side table and magazine rack.
- Open the studyFig. 02
Stock 'n Roll
2024Sebastian Herkner
A leather nightstand from the Imagine collection, presented at Salone del Mobile in 2024.