Italian designer Marco Zanuso helped cement his country’s place as a world leader in furniture design that used new materials in revolutionary ways.
Zanuso was part of a generation of furniture designers who encouraged a sharp departure from the traditionalism and classicalism that reigned over the design industry before the war. These designers, who are associated with what we now call mid-century modernism, experimented with new technologies and materials to deliver on the world’s newfound need for streamlined products that represented the future.
After graduating from the Polytechnic University of Milan in 1939 with a degree in architecture, Zanuso served in the Navy during World War II. Soon after the war, he opened his own design firm in Milan in 1945. He later became an editor at well-regarded design magazines Domus and Casabella.
Zanuso used this editorial platform to both promote new Italian designs as well as his own pieces, some of which he made using unconventional materials like foam and latex. For instance, his famous Lady armchair from 1951 is a composition of foam rubber and Nastro Cord, a recently invented textile band of rubberized fabric that eliminated the need for metal springs. It was one of several pieces he designed for Italian manufacturer Arflex, along with the 1949 Antropus chair and the 1951 Sleep-o-matic sofa.
Zanuso often collaborated with other like-minded creatives. From 1955 until 1957, he was Olivetti’s architect, designing factories across Brazil, and for nearly two decades, he collaborated with German designer Richard Sapper. The pair’s most famous product is the 4999 children’s chair, manufactured in the 1960s by Kartell in Italy. The stackable chair was the first to be manufactured entirely of injection-molded plastic.
Zanuso and Sapper also partnered on the 1962 Brionvega Doney 14, the first European-made portable transistor TV; its sleek, compact and curvy form deeply influenced the design of television sets that followed, which were far more sculptural in form than the rigid boxes that characterized early models.
From the 1970s onward, Zanuso taught architecture and industrial design at the Polytechnic University of Milan. He still exercised his creative talents, planning the headquarters for computer companies and renovating Italian theaters.
Each of Zanuso’s elegant works were demonstrative of a forward-looking sensibility. His projects saw an integration of novel industrial materials that not only helped emphasize the beauty of good design but also played a role in rendering these well-made products accessible to everyday consumers.
On 1stDibs, find a collection of vintage Marco Zanuso furniture, including armchairs, sofas, table lamps and other items.
LB65 Vitrine by Marco Zanuso for Poggi, Italy, 1970s
By Marco Zanuso, Poggi
Located in Milan, IT
Rare vitrine - storage unit model Lb65 by Marco Zanuso for Poggi. Glass shelves three doors featuring Carabottino wood frame. An apparently simple piece, mastery assembled by Poggi.
Glass, Wood
$12,890
H 118.12 in W 35.44 in D 15.75 in
Midcentury LB7 modular bookcase designed by Franco Albini for Poggi, Italy 1957
By Franco Albini, Poggi
Located in Piacenza, Italy
Modular bookcase model LB7 designed by Franco Albini for Poggi. Marked Poggi Pavia. An extremely flexible bookcase, with different modular options, suited to being against a wall or...
Wood
$31,639
H 109.45 in W 104.34 in D 13.78 in
Franco Albini Rosewood Mid-Century Modern “LB7” Modular Bookcase for Poggi, 1957
By Franco Albini, Poggi
Located in Vicenza, IT
LB7 bookcase, designed by Franco Albini and manufactured by Poggi in 1957. Modular bookstore composed by upholds, containers with flying and doors, shelve. The industrial standard for every product component allows permanent and different solutions, from the bearing structures to the elements. The structure does not need anchorages to the wall and can be placed in the middle of the space. This set is composed of 3 modules, ten shelves, and three containers. It is made of Rosewood, iron, and brass. Excellent vintage condition. Franco Albini was born in Robbiate in 1905, and after his childhood and part of his youth, he moved to Milan. He graduated at Politecnico of Milan, Faculty of Architecture, in 1929, and He collaborated for three years in Giò Ponti and Emilio Lancia’s office. He probably had his international contacts here, at The International Exposition of 1929 in Barcelona and Paris, where he visited le Corbusier’s office, as Franca Helg used to tell. Throughout these first three years, his works were undoubtedly related to XIXth Century. His meeting with Edoardo Persico marks an evident turnover towards rationalism and writers for “Casabella” magazine. Persico’s thoughtful and ironical comments on some of Albini’s drawings for office furniture caused him deep upsetting. “I spent days of real anxiety – tells Albini – I had to answer all questions. I had a long fever”. The new phase that the meeting provoked begins with opening his own first office at Via Panizza with Renato Camus and Giancarlo Palanti. The group of Architects starts taking care of social housing, participating in the competition for the Baracca neighborhood in 1932, and then realizing the Ifacp neighborhood: Fabio Filzi (1936/38), Gabriele D’Annunzio, and Ettore Ponti (1939). During those years, He also worked for his first private villa (Pestarini). It is mainly in the context of exhibitions that the Italian architect experiments the compromise between rigor and poetic fantasy that Pagano was talking about; He conceived all the elements that would become recurrent in all types of his work – Architecture, Interiors, Design. The 1933 opening of the new Triennale of Milano, in Palazzo dell’Arte, becomes an occasion to express the highly innovative character of rationalist thinking. In this place, to experiment with new materials and solutions, but most of all a “method”. Young rationalist architects cultivated the art of exhibiting as a communication lab, an open field to space solutions. Albini, with Giancarlo Palanti, sets the steel structure house (with R. Camus, G. Mazzoleni, G. Minoletti and coordination by G. Pagano) designing also its furniture. For the next Triennale in 1936, marked by Persico’s early death, Franco Albini, together with a group of young architects around Pagano, takes care of the exhibition of Dwelling, where he presented 3 types of lodgings. In the same year, Albini and Romano design the exhibition for Ancient Italian jewelry: vertical uprights, simple linear poles design space. This element is recurring in other works, like the Scipione exhibition (1941), Vanzetti stand (1942), and Olivetti shop in Paris (1956). The architectural space is readable through a grid, introducing a third dimension, the vertical one, with a sense of lightness and transparency. Upright is also used in design objects, such as the Veliero bookcase...
Brass, Iron
$10,546
H 118.12 in W 35.44 in D 13.78 in
Franco Albini LB7 Bookcase in Teak Wood by Poggi Pavia 1950s Italy
By Franco Albini, Poggi
Located in Cascina, Pisa
LB7 bookcase composed of a single module with shelves and a storage unit with two doors, made in veneered solid teak wood, and black lacquered metal details. Designed by Franco Alb...
Metal
$4,921 / set
H 86.62 in W 38.59 in D 14.97 in
Italian modern modular black bookcase Congresso by Lips Vago, 1970s
By Lips Vago
Located in MIlano, IT
Italian modern modular black bookcase Congresso by Lips Vago, 1970s Modular bookcase model Congress made entirely of black painted metal. The structure is composed of two modules, wh...
Metal
Italian Franco Albini for Poggi Sideboard
By Franco Albini, Poggi
Located in Hudson, NY
An Italian model MB 51 sideboard designed by Franco Albini for Poggi. Made of solid teak with a minimalist design and sharp lines.
Teak
$3,749
H 105.12 in W 109.85 in D 18.12 in
Libreria da parete di Gianni Moscatelli per Formanova anni 70
Located in Milano, IT
Libreria progettata da Gianni Moscatelli per Formanova negli anni '70, caratterizzata da un design modulare con ancoraggio a muro che ne garantisce la stabilità. Realizzata in legno ...
Smoked Glass, Wood
Italian wall unit, 1970s
Located in bruxelles, BE
Modular Italian wall unit made of wood and brass, composed of 9 shelves and 2 boxes. Wear due to time and age FOR SHIPPING, REQUEST US FOR RECEIVE THE BEST PRICE
Brass
John Ild Bookshelf by Philippe Starck for Disform, 1970s
By Disform, Philippe Starck
Located in Renens, CH
Bookshelf designed by Philippe Starck in 1977, produced by Disform. The “John Ild” shelving unit consists of 5 black lacquered wooden shelves, along black me...
Metal
$4,218
H 59.65 in W 30.12 in D 15.56 in
Wood & Glass Vitrine Cabinet or Bookcase LB65 by Marco Zanuso for Poggi, 68
By Succ. Carlo Poggi, Marco Zanuso Jr.
Located in Varese, Lombardia
This bookcase or vitrine cabinet is made from a wooden structure with a grid design front side. It features a unique door with a magnetic closure and 4 thi...
Glass, Wood
$5,004
H 106.3 in W 56.7 in D 19.1 in
Italian modern black wood bookcase E22 by Osvaldo Borsani for Tecno, 1970s
By Tecno, Osvaldo Borsani
Located in MIlano, IT
Italian modern black wood bookcase E22 by Osvaldo Borsani for Tecno, 1970s Wall bookcase mod. E22 in wood and metal. It features three metal uprights, seven black lacquered wooden s...
Metal
$5,741
H 74.81 in W 72.84 in D 11.82 in
Modular Bookcase / Room Divider by Carlo De Carli for Fiarm, Italy, 1970s
By Fiarm
Located in Boom, Vlaams Gewest
Beautiful modular bookcase by Carlo De Carli by Carlo De Carli for Fiarm, Italy, dating from the 1970s. This versatile shelving system is composed of sculptural, rounded rectangular ...
Wood
$1,992
H 86.62 in W 30.91 in D 14.97 in
Italian modern modular white bookcase Congresso by Lips Vago, 1970s
By Lips Vago
Located in MIlano, IT
Italian modern modular white bookcase Congresso by Lips Vago, 1970s Modular bookcase model Congresso made entirely of white painted metal. Shelves and brackets are manually interlock...
Metal
Plastic Coffee Table, Marco Zanuso, 1970
By Marco Zanuso
Located in Renens, CH
Beautiful coffee table with graphic storage for magazines, in white plastic by Marco Zanuso. Nice details of "gutters" for cables. (Originally TV furniture...
Plastic