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Cassina
Inspiration
27/12/2023
Iconic design collection turns 50
Back in 1973, Cassina began selecting and collecting the most significant designers and iconic furniture of the modern movement under the name Cassina iMaestri Collection. Last year, in 2023, Cassina's iMaestri Collection turned 50 and celebrated by expanding the collection with iconic designers who made design history: Vico Magistretti, Gio Ponti, Carlo Scarpa and, in 2024, Charles and Ray Eames.
About Cassina
Cassina has been a major player in the design industry for almost a century, with a particular focus on modern design furniture in the premium segment. It is a prominent name in furniture design and has been a market leader since it was founded by Cesare and Umberto Cassina in 1927.
With a heritage spanning almost a century, the company is based in northern Italy and known worldwide for its production of exclusive designer furniture.
Cassina's success can be largely attributed to its ability to constantly innovate and to collaborate with some of the world's most prominent architects and designers such as Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright. Since 2015, legendary designer Patricia Urquiola has taken up the position of Creative Director at the company, maintaining its high standards.
Particularly significant is the fact that Cassina has had the exclusive right to produce all of Le Corbusier's works since 1964. This includes famous classics such as LC1, LC2, LC3 and LC4. The product portfolio also includes furniture by Frank Lloyd Wright, Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Gerrit Rietveld.
Designed by Rietveld in 1918, the 635 Red and Blue armchair is a masterpiece, with a black-painted birch frame and details in blue, red and yellow.
Another Rietveld piece, the Utrecht armchair, is unique in its design where the armrests become the front legs and the backrest becomes the back legs.
Cassina's iMaestri Collection was officially presented in 1973 with models by Gerrit Thomas Rietveld and Charles Rennie Mackintosh. For some time, the company had already begun to analyze and select the most significant furniture by leading figures of the modern movement.
iMaestri had its origins in a process that began in 1965 with the mass production of the first four models designed by Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand.
Over time, the collection has brought together some of the most iconic furniture of the 20th century with works by Gerrit Thomas Rietveld, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Erik Gunnar Asplund, Charlotte Perriand, Franco Albini, Marco Zanuso, Ico Parisi and Giacomo Balla.
This year, Cassina's iMaestri Collection celebrates its 50th anniversary by expanding the collection with iconic designers who have made design history: Vico Magistretti, Gio Ponti, Carlo Scarpa and, in 2024, Charles and Ray Eames.
Vico Magistretti has created many iconic pieces of furniture for Cassina over the decades, including the Maralunga seating series, his most famous design.
Gio Ponti's collaboration with Cassina began as early as 1929 and lasted until 1963. It can therefore be said that his stylish products have set the standard for the brand. Two of the designs that became extremely popular were the modern Superleggera and Superlight chairs.
Carlo Scarpa refined some of Cassina's existing products but also designed his own furniture, such as the W01 table. The table is a typical example of Scarpa's attention to detail and love of beautiful shapes and materials.
Next year, Charles and Ray Eames will also join the Cassina iMaestri Collection. During Milan Design Week, a prototype of the Galaxy lamp was displayed at Cassina's Milan store in conjunction with the presentation of the Cassina lighting collection, whose origin was the discovery of Charles and Ray Eames lighting designs preserved at the Eames Office, the design studio founded by Charles and Ray in 1941.
Cassina continues to be a driving force in the design industry. NO GA introduced Cassina back in the 1960s and has been in close contact with the brand ever since, visiting the headquarters in central Milan and the production in Brianza.
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