Gianfranco Frattini for Cantieri Carugati Large Library in Walnut

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About the Item

Gianfranco Frattini for Cantiere Carugati, bookcase / wall unit, cherry, walnut, mahogany, iron, Italy, 1958 This library unit is designed by Italian designer Gianfranco Frattini and offers a variety of storage possibilities. The sophisticated composition is based on five vertical columns that are structured by multiple shelves and compartments equipped with black coated iron handles. It comes with an ingenious system which allows the user to adjust the shelves and compartments to one's own requirement. You can hide your belongings by putting them behind the doors or be placed on the shelves with the open and clean layout, allowing the user to display objects such as books and glassware to one’s taste. Excellent craftsmanship is combined with a well-balanced eye for the composition of functional and decorative elements. Altogether, this unit will bring great joy to every bibliomaniac or art collector with a keen eye for Italian Mid-Century design. Cantiere Carugati established their furniture business in 1925 and worked with prominent architects and designers in designing hotels, office spaces, shops, and ships. In the post-war era, they created a series of furniture in the Italian region Rovellasca (Como), which was a great success. Gianfranco Frattini (1926-2004) was born in Padua and studiesd architecture at the Milan Politechnico. After his studies, Frattini started working for Gio Ponti until 1956. Afterwards, he opene his own practice in Milan and began creating his own desgins. His work is mostly part of the generation that created the Italian design movement of the late 1950s through the 1960s. The designer eventually died in Milan in 2004.

Creator:
Cantieri Carugati (Manufacturer),Gianfranco Frattini (Designer)
Dimensions:
Height: 82.29 in (209 cm)Width: 120.08 in (305 cm)Depth: 13.78 in (35 cm)
Style:
Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Iron,Walnut
Place of Origin:
Italy
Period:
1950-1959
Date of Manufacture:
1950s
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use. Every item Morentz offers is checked by our team of 30 craftspeople in our in-house workshop. Special restoration or reupholstery requests can be done. Check ‘About the item’ or ask our design specialists for detailed information on the condition.
Seller Location:
Waalwijk, NL
Reference Number:
Seller: 501156051stDibs: LU933138923772

Shop All Gianfranco Frattini

Gianfranco Frattini

Gianfranco Frattini is widely regarded as a mid-century master of Italian modern design. He was an award-winning architect and designer, and specialized in creating furniture and decor that is both decorative and practical — Frattini’s vintage desks, armchairs, nesting tables and other works are celebrated for their sophisticated merging of function and form.

Born in Padua in 1926, Frattini studied architecture at the Polytechnic University of Milan. He later apprenticed with his teacher and mentor, Gio Ponti. Through Ponti — arguably the most important figure in 20th-century Italian architecture and design — Frattini met many notable modernist designers such as Oscar Niemeyer and Le Corbusier, but an introduction to famed Italian entrepreneur Cesare Cassina would prove incredibly significant in helping launch his career.

During the mid-1950s, Frattini began to collaborate with Cassina’s eponymous company. He designed the brand’s acclaimed leather and walnut Model 849 lounge chair — a winner of the Compasso d’Oro award — the Marema nesting tables and the iconic Sesann collection. The latter, an enduring 1970s suite of impossibly welcoming leather-covered seating, is now produced by Tacchini. In addition to Cassina, Frattini created furniture and lighting for other manufacturers such as Bernini, Arteluce, Artemide, Knoll and more.

While many of his designs incorporate glass, tubular steel and other materials, Frattini loved working with wood. The sculptural Albero bookcase — an innovative floor-to-ceiling structure made in walnut that swings on a 360-degree vertical swivel axis — is a striking example of Frattini’s dedication to traditional woodworking techniques. In the early 1970s, he traveled to Japan with friend and collaborator Pierluigi Ghianda — a master Milanese cabinet maker — in order to study the work of artisans in Kyoto. The trip inspired his design of the Kyoto table, a work of solid beech with Canaletto walnut inserts that is part of the permanent collection of the Milan Triennale’s Design Museum. The Kyoto and Albero have been revived by Poltrona Frau.

Frattini’s designs are in the permanent collections of prestigious museums such as the Museum of Modern Art and the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.

Find vintage Gianfranco Frattini furniture, lighting and decor on 1stDibs.