One-Off 1964 Rotating Bookshelf Centro, Claudio Salocchi for Sormani, Italy

Vivo Collection was designed by Claudio Salocchi for Sormani in the late Seventies. The aim was to set up an entire collection for the home (lounge, dining, sleeping room & amp.) with just a few wooden panels, suited for a highly productive industry. The collection was the first one of its kind in Italy, with a design that, once again, surpassed the traditional manufacturing methods. The two small vintage cabinets...

The whole idea of the Ellisse collection was to use extruded aluminum as main feature: three extruded pieces to form a whole series of high class containers used as bar units, chests of drawers and tilt-door wall-mounted sideboards This double sided bar...

Dining table, it belongs to the Ellisse collection by Claudio Salocchi, who developed most of his cutting edge designs for the Sormani Ccompany in Arosio, Italy. Ellisse, together w...

This piece by designer Emilio Rossi has been manufactured by Sormani for the French distributor Roche Bobois. It is a very particular item, with special curved doors, that rotate by ...

This is an original piece of 1967, that was meant to be put in the middle of a room, thus its name "centro". It is a white cube with a tilt-top that turns into a mirror with a built-in light on two sides. Size is cm 59 H x 81 x 81 (ft: H 1' 11" 15/64 x 2' 7" 57/64 x 2' 7" 57/64). Even the two light bulbs are still the original ones, perfectly functioning. A transformer must be applied for US plugging. All drawers (4 rotating on the back and two on the front) work perfectly. The finish is slightly damaged on the lower back drawers (shows some not very noticeable swelling) and one of the front drawers has a slightly different hue (due to light and time). All the hardware and the tilting hardware in chrome-stained brass are perfect. Amina was a disruptive series of extremely contemporary containers for the home, envisaged by Claudio Salocchi for Sormani in the mid-1960s. It was the first series of totally white, squared furniture for the living- dining- and bedroom of international level. Almost a scandal for an era still tied to traditional wooden finishes and shapes. From scandal to success, this chest of drawers or coiffeuse was displayed with the rest of the collection of beds, tables, modular shelving units, in several movies of the early Seventies such as "L'Invasion" of Yves Allergret, with Michel Piccoli and Lisa Gastoni. The piece comes with a certificate of provenance on original Sormani letterhead. Please check also LU3681116076542 to have a matching ensemble

In the early 1980s, Luigi Sormani envisaged what would become a hit of the 1990s, later adopted by Antonio Citterio with B&B Italia: a modular shelving that tipped the modularity fro...

Swivel center bookcase lacquered in white with central metal support. This is the "CENTRO " model created by designer Claudio Salocchi, poroducted by the Italian company SORMANI b...

Made in Italy, 1950s - 1960s. This bookshelf and secretaire features a walnut frame with nickel-plated brass handles and black varnished metal feet, which are not original. As a matt...

Bookcase by Claudio Salocchi, Sormani Italy 1960. Claudio Salocchi (1934 - 2012) was a highly regarded designer and architect, known for detailed research into furniture layouts.

A fantastic HiFi cabinet designed by Claudio Salocchi, manufactured by Sormani in Italy around 1960. This beautiful and rare piece is made of high quality rosewood with one door bei...

Modular pivoting central bookcase, elements in off-white lacquered wood, central upright in black lacquered metal. Bibliography: Il Soggiorno, coll. Lo dice l’Architetto, Ed. Görlich, Milan, ill. p. 27 G. Gramigna, « Repertorio Del Design Italiano 1950-2000, Per l’Arredamento Domestico, Vol. 1 » Ed. Umberto Allemandi & C, Turin, 2003, model reproduced on p. 82 Biography Claudio Salocchi (March 22, 1934 – December 7, 2012) was an Italian designer and architect. Born in Milan in 1934, he graduated in architecture from the Politecnico di Milano. He taught Building Distribution at Milan’s Politecnico di Milano and Architectural Composition at Rome’s Valle Giulia La Sapienza Faculty. In 1965, he opened his own design studio, and two years later began a long collaboration with Sormani, with whom he exhibited at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile that same year. That year, Salocchi presented the Ellisse collection for Sormani, which became the first company to experiment with extruded aluminum. In 1973, he founded the « Doorty Research Center » with his friends and colleagues Ugo Carrega and Vincenzo Ferrari, with whom he exhibited in 1968 and 1973 at the 14th and 15th Milan Triennales, presenting the film Healthy Objects, Sick objects. In 1979, he won the Compasso d’Oro award for Metrosistema kitchen equipment for homes, produced by Alberti Cucine, also receiving two mentions for two other projects. In 1987, he was again mentioned in the XIV edition of the award. A member of the Association pour les dessins et modèles industriels since 1967, he was vice-president from 1988 to 1990. 4] He has been curator and jury member of various design awards, including the prestigious Red Dot Design Awards in 2004 and 2006. To know more, please click on this Wikipedia link Story Italian furniture pioneer Sormani was founded in 1961 in Arosio by designer Luigi Sormani (1932-2017). The company was an early advocate of modernized production techniques – rejecting the slow, traditional craft techniques and hardwoods so commonly used in the 1950s, in favor of new materials such as Rio rosewood (first imported by Sormani), lacquered wood, then plastic and aluminum in the 1960s and 1970s. Sormani presented its first collection at the Milan Furniture Fair in 1961. This collection, known as Fleeting by Studio ABC, was one of the first modular cabinet systems. In 1966, Sormani began producing thermoformed objects, such as armchair shells, accessories and accent pieces, using molds (a technology derived from the automotive industry which, at the time, was only used for electric household appliances). The Nike and Auriga armchairs by Richard Neagle are prime examples. In the same year, Sormani was the first to experiment with extruded aluminum, with Claudio Salocchi’s Ellisse Collection (1967). During this period, Sormani also established and expanded into the American and Japanese markets, where success was immediate. In 1968, he began a collaboration with architect-designer Gio Ponti, which resulted in a range of colorful storage units. In the early 1970s, Sormani continued to research and analyze the various possibilities offered by new materials. With the creation of an engineering division in the early 1980s, he carried out a number of turnkey projects, operating at all levels of engineering and residential and contract architecture, including the complete restoration and interior decoration of hotels, offices, banks, government buildings, universities, etc. Over the years, Sormani has collaborated with many important Italian designers, including Joe Colombo, Gio Ponti, Carlo De Carli, Claudio Salocchi, Cesare Casati, Emanuele Ponzio, Nani Prina, Antonello Mosca, Fabrizio Cocchia, Gianni Songia, De Pas, D’Urbino, & Lomazzi, Studio A.R.D.I.T.I., Studio ABC (Achilli...

Italian Mid-Century Modern design revolving bookcase model “Centro” designed by Claudio Salocchi (Milano 1934 - Milano 2012) and produced by Sormani Arosio with central revolving str...