Franco Albini

A rationalist architect by training, Franco Albini (Robbiate, Como, 1905 - Milan, 1977) anticipated contemporary design trends by creating aerodynamic furnishings which became milestones in the history of Italian design. Among these is the very famous 838 Veliero bookcase (made in 1938 and still produced by Cassina), which evokes the image of the tie rods of a biplane with its combination of thin steel wires that support glass tops and pierced wooden uprights. Among Albini's most successful pieces are also the Luisa armchair produced by Cassina, the Fiorenza armchair designed for Arflex, the LB10 bookcase for Poggi, with its adjustable shelves and floor-to-ceiling uprights. The innovative shapes of these furnishings are the result of careful calculations of proportions: their simplicity hides knots, complex joints, and pins, which Albini used in order to create functional furniture that can be dismantled or folded, distinguished by a sober elegance often illuminated by bold colors. Franca Helg entered Albini's studio in 1951 and signed with him every project: among the most sought-after by collectors are the rattan armchairs Margherita and Gala, designed for Bonacina in 1950.

Designer items

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Gio Ponti

Piero Fornasetti

Fratelli Castiglioni

Joe Colombo

Nanda Vigo

Ettore Sottsass

Marco Zanuso

Luigi Caccia Dominioni

Ico Parisi

Charles & Ray Eames

Gae Aulenti

Pietro Chiesa

Vico Magistretti

Giotto Stoppino

Tobia Scarpa

Carlo Nason

Marcello Cuneo

Vittorio Dassi

Paolo Buffa

Max Ingrand

Gastone Rinaldi

Pia Guidetti Crippa

Gaetano Pesce

Richard Sapper

Ingo Maurer

Gabriella Crespi

Paul McCobb

Paul Tuttle

Nendo

Alvaro Siza

Carl Jacob Jucker

Ernesto Basile

Sergio Mazza

Osvaldo Borsani

Oscar Torlasco

Le Corbusier

Willy Rizzo

Gaetano Sciolari

Carlo De Carli

Angelo Lelli

Gino Sarfatti

Marcel Breuer

Carlo Scarpa

Massimo & Lella Vignelli

Claudio Salocchi

Toni Zuccheri

Aldo Tura

Verner Panton

Giancarlo Piretti

Gianfranco Frattini

Guglielmo Ulrich

Franco Albini

Philippe Starck

Angelo Mangiarotti

Enzo Mari

Tito Agnoli

Kazuide Takahama

Eero Saarinen

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Carlo Ratti

Alessandro Mendini

Mario Bellini

Cleto Munari

Carlo Mollino

Bruno Munari

Hans J. Wegner

Studio BBPR

Giovanni Michelucci

Norman Foster