Carlo Mollino Designs

Mollino feared that products might become depersonalised and industrial designers sidelined. This accounts for the fact that his domestic objects – such as these eight pieces - evidence his kaleidoscopic interests, from aerobatics to literature, photography and skiing. His passion for the mountains, in all their myriad facets, was one of the cornerstones of his work, as was Surrealism. According to Pier Paolo Peruccio, his approach to design was in fact much more complex and linked to other factors – such as his love of literature, graphic skills, the contribution of craftsmen and technique, instilled in him by his engineer father and the fundamental role of the client-customer, “without that figure we are just artists discussing coffee,” said Mollino.

Lastly, as in the book, here are the magnificent eight, in chronological order: the 1938 Carlino bedside table, with its single tapering leg and sinuous, undulating drawer; the Milo mirror, its feminine profile taken from the Venus de Milo, for Casa Miller; the Ardea lounge chair with its tall backrest and curved headrest with “ears” ensuring maximum comfort and privacy, for Casa Minola; the Reale table with its trestle-style base with struts and rods supporting the glass tabletop; the sculptural Cavour desk, an exercise in perfect structural form, for Casa Vladi Orengo; the Arabesco coffee table, one of the most celebrated Italian Design products; the Gilda reclining chair with a complex frame in which the front and back legs come together in the armrest, and Fenis, which draws on the vernacular furniture of Val d’Aosta.