Fantastico Mollino

In the early 1950s, the genius designer from Turin introduced complications into his furniture, resulting in incredible, fantasy-inspired pieces.

Originally published in Domus 270/May 1952

New furniture by Mollino
Anyone who has followed Mollino's career has been able to observe a transformation in his furniture that is like the development of an idea – the modified continuation of a discovery. From shaped and molded solid wood to bent and carved plywood; from the optical effect of momentum and tension to elasticity itself; from the construction of individual parts bolted together to the single piece to the continuous sheet of bent plywood.

Signature chair by Mollino (Domus 245) in solid curved wood, naturally polished with three or four legs in conical oxalated steel; the solid wood back supporting the curve of the spinal column is made in elastic material on a tubular brass frame. Above: the laboratory of Apelli and Varesio, the skilled Turin craftsmen who fabricate Mollino’s furniture.

And while, on the one hand, this could be a path towards simplification, on the other hand, Mollino-esquely, it is a fantastic opportunity to create exciting new complications.

Chair in polished natural wood with curved plywood seat and back: swinging back, nailed joints without the use of glue (Domus 245).

It seems that Mollino's fantasy faced the synthetic possibilities offered by new technique, not to reduce design "to a minimum" but rather to multiply it by extracting all the possible new effects from the material and the technique. He explores. And the only immutable thing is the quality of his imagination. In these new forms, we find the animated and figurative quality that his object always have.

He explores. And the only immutable thing is the quality of his imagination

The above idea is taken and developed with greater flexibility in the new chair shown here.

He personifies, creates characters, images, comparisons, definitions. His carved plywood chair, similar to an object polished by use or by a centuries-old stream, dramatically thinned, the armrest of his chair, the leg that widens like a plant, the continuous hieroglyph of his spectral and elastic table are all forms that refer to nature, not literally like the Liberty style, but by analogy - in other words poetically.

Bent ash wood plywood chair, natural polish, with elastic back on rubber pads and elastic seat; joints reinforced without the use of glue.

Fantastico Mollino

In the early 1950s, the genius designer from Turin introduced complications into his furniture, resulting in incredible, fantasy-inspired pieces.

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