Executive Desk Fabio

Italian designer Fabio Lenci’s bold Space Age furniture exudes a spirit of adventure and playfulness. Experimenting with plexiglass for the framework of his famous Hyaline lounge chairs and sofas, for instance, he made seating that creates the illusion of a sitter suspended in the air.

Lenci was born in 1935 in Rome, where his father was an industrial manufacturer. He initially entered the Italian Air Force and later pursued decorating and product design. Lenci’s career took shape in 1962 and he quickly made a name for himself, winning the Trieste award in 1965 for his innovative kitchen design.

In the late 1960s, and throughout the ’70s, Lenci collaborated extensively with Bernini and Italian lighting company Guzzini. The latter partnership produced an array of more than 400 pendants, floor lamps, table lamps and other fixtures that look like lighting from the future.

In 2016, Lenci received the prestigious Compasso d'Oro award for a lifetime of forward-looking design. His pieces are found in museums throughout the world, including a Chain armchair in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. He has created hundreds of products over the course of his career and continues to design out of his studio in Rome, and his work is celebrated by critics and collectors everywhere. 

On 1stDibs, explore Fabio Lenci’s futuristic tables, seating and lighting.

Choosing the perfect writing desk or writing table is a profoundly personal journey, one that people have been embarking upon for centuries.

Queen Atossa of Persia, from her writing table circa 500 B.C., is said to have been the originator of the art of handwritten letters. Hers was reportedly the first in a long and colorful history of penned correspondence that grew in popularity alongside literacy. The demand for suitable writing desks, which would serve the composer of the letters as well as ensure the comfort of the recipient naturally followed, and the design of these necessary furnishings has evolved throughout history.

Once people began to seek freedom from the outwardly ornate styles of the walnut and rosewood writing desks and drafting tables introduced in the name of Queen Victoria and King Louis XV, radical shifts occurred, such as those that materialized during the Art Nouveau period, when designers longed to produce furniture inspired by the natural world’s beauty. A prime example is the work of the famous late-19th-century Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí — his rolltop desk featured deep side drawers and was adorned with carved motifs that paid tribute to nature. Gaudí regularly combined structural precision with decorative elements, creating beautiful pieces of furniture in wood and metal.

Soon afterward, preferences for sleek, geometric, stylized forms in furniture that saw an emphasis on natural wood grains and traditional craftsmanship took hold. Today, Art Deco desks are still favored by designers who seek to infuse interiors with an air of luxury. One of the most prominent figures of the Art Deco movement was French decorator and furniture designer Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann. With his use of neoclassical motifs as well as expensive and exotic materials such as imported dark woods and inlays of precious metals for his writing desks, Ruhlmann came to symbolize good taste and modernity.

The rise in appreciation for Scandinavian modernism continues to influence the design of contemporary writing desks. It employs the “no fuss” or “less is more” approach to creating a tasteful, sophisticated space. Sweden’s master cabinetmaker Bruno Mathsson created gallery-worthy designs that are as functional as they are beautiful. Finnish architect Alvar Aalto never viewed himself as an artist, but, like Mathsson, his furniture designs reflected a fondness for organic materials and a humanistic approach. Danish designers such as Hans Wegner introduced elegant shapes and lines to mid-century desks and writing tables, often working in oak and solid teak.

From vintage desks to contemporary styles, 1stDibs offers a broad spectrum of choices for conducting all personal and business writing and reading activities.