From his early start at his father’s boutique furniture and cabinetry atelier — Arredamenti Borsani (ABV) — Italian designer Osvaldo Borsani began to steadily dream to life the movement-inducing pieces that would eventually lead to him founding his innovative furniture company, Tecno, with his twin brother, Fulgenzio.
Born in the commune of Varedo in northern Italy’s Lombardy region, Borsani studied at the Brera Academy in Milan — the same school attended by such luminaries as designer Piero Fornasetti and artist Lucio Fontana — as well as the Polytechnic University of Milan. He first worked for the family furniture-making firm, ABV, an atelier influenced by the more expressive and curvaceous wing of Art Deco design. Borsani took over Arredamenti Borsani in 1937.
With his stylish and technically innovative furniture, Borsani helped change the face of Italian design in the 1950s and ’60s. His sofas and chairs, featuring deeply upholstered seating and adjustable position settings, have an aura of optimism and efficiency that still seems fresh and lively today.
While he is today recognized as a master of mid-century modernist Italian furniture, Borsani is most famous these days for cofounding Tecno. (He and Fulgenzio also created Villa Borsani, a visionary mid-century estate cherished for its modern lines and exquisite custom furnishings.)
When Borsani opened Tecno, an office-focused maker of industrial design, his design sensibilities had evolved toward furnishings with strong, simple forms enhanced by mechanical innovations, as with the P40 adjustable armchair.
When they were originally released, Tecno pieces like the P40 and the award-winning D70 sofa bed were acclaimed as cutting-edge, and they are still considered groundbreaking in their adaptability and functionality. The firm quickly garnered widespread acclaim for its tech-forward designs and quality craftsmanship.
Borsani would be Tecno’s lead designer for 30 years, while partnering on projects with the likes of architect Eugenio Gerli and fostering work by Vico Magistretti, Carlo De Carli, Robin Day and others.
Borsani designed pieces for Tecno until shortly before his death in 1985, when his daughter Valeria and her husband, Marco Fantoni, took over the creative work.
Today, the family’s legacy is preserved by Borsani’s architect grandson Tommaso Fantoni, who, along with Norman Foster, curated a blockbuster retrospective of Osvaldo Borsani’s work at Milan’s Triennale Design Museum in 2018.
Find vintage Tecno chairs, tables, desks and other furniture on 1stDibs.
Mid-Century Modern Vintage Glass Metal Dining Table Osvaldo Borsani Tecno, Italy
By Osvaldo Borsani, Tecno
Located in Vienna, AT
Mid-Century Modern vintage dining table, which was designed by Osvaldo Borsani for Tecno, Italy, 1963. A timeless design icon, which will never be out of time. The base with curved l...
Metal
$746Sale Price|20% Off
Small Coffee Table by Osvaldo Borsani
By Tecno, Osvaldo Borsani
Located in Milano, IT
Discover the refined elegance of the 1960s with this Osvaldo Borsani wooden coffee table for Tecno, embodying the essence of mid-century modern design. This table is celebrated for i...
Wood
Osvaldo and Valeria Borsani Unique Revolving Occasional Table
By Osvaldo Borsani, Tecno
Located in Chicago, IL
Unique revolving occasional table by Osvaldo and Valeria Borsani for Tecno Provenance Ziuta Gerstenzang Akston (1901-1994) and Joseph James Akston (1895-1983), Palm Beach, Florida.
Marble, Aluminum, Steel
20th Century, Osvaldo Borsani for Tecno Coffee Table mod. T61/b, '50s
By Osvaldo Borsani, Tecno
Located in Turin, Turin
Osvaldo Borsani in 1953, together with his brother Fulgenzio, realized his most complex project: a company idea named after the "techne" of the Greeks, which means both art and techn...
Metal
Osvaldo Borsani Blond Walnut Center Table, Coffee Table, Italy 1940s
By Osvaldo Borsani
Located in Roma, IT
Marvellous round coffee table in a fantastic old walnut. This fantastic piece was design by Osvaldo Borsani in the 1940s in Italy. The coffee table, fully made in a gorgeous walnut,...
Wood, Glass, Walnut
$46,660
H 31.11 in W 94.1 in D 43.31 in
Table 30s 40s, Osvaldo Borsani for ABV 'Atelier Borsani Varedo'
By Osvaldo Borsani
Located in Milano, IT
Table with wooden structure and supporting sculptural elements, glass top and planter in the base.
Crystal
$1,800
H 28.75 in Dm 40 in
Mid-Century Modern Milo Baughman Style Round Chrome & Glass Dining Center Table
By Milo Baughman
Located in Lambertville, NJ
1970s Mid-Century Modern chrome and glass dining or center table in the style of Milo Baughman. Sculptural polished chrome base features a flat bar octagon design. Existing round cle...
Chrome
$6,850
H 26.5 in Dm 47.25 in
Osvaldo Borsani Round Dining / Center / Game Table with Travertine Top, Signed
By Osvaldo Borsani, Tecno
Located in Kansas City, MO
Osvaldo Borsani dining table or center table or game table with the original one inch thick travertine top with a slightly tapered edge. Black steel base with aluminum panels. The t...
Travertine, Aluminum, Steel
Osvaldo Borsani Dining Table
By Osvaldo Borsani
Located in Highland, IN
This elegant pedestal table by Borsani has a sexy curved base in chromed and black lacquered steel which supports a walnut top with a beveled edge.
Steel
Osvaldo Borsani round table in rosewood for Tecno, mod. T41, Italy 1958
By Ignazio Gardella, Osvaldo Borsani
Located in Argelato, BO
Osvaldo Borsani, Tecno T41 round rosewood table, dining or coffee table, Italy, 1958 It is one of the most elegant and refined tables of 1950s Italian desig...
Metal
Osvaldo Borsani T47 Coffee Table 1955
By Osvaldo Borsani
Located in Rome, IT
a rare coffe table T47 designed by Osvaldo Borsani for TECNO 1955; Zebrawood and black laquared feet; detachable feet Biblio:G.Bosoni "T...
Zebra Wood, Walnut
$2,426Sale Price|20% Off
H 30.32 in Dm 47.25 in
Osvaldo Borsani round dining table, walnut, four feet, circa 1951
By Osvaldo Borsani
Located in Rome, IT
Osvaldo Borsani round dining or center table, circa 1951 produced by Arredamento Borsani Varedo 1951 the table is one of a series od table designed as prototype of model T40 walnut...
Walnut
Osvaldo Borsani for Stow Davis Mid Century Dining Table
By Stow Davis, Osvaldo Borsani
Located in Franklin Park, IL
Osvaldo Borsani for Stow Davis Mid Century Dining Table This dining table measures: 48 wide x 48 deep x 28.25 inches high, with a chair clearance of 26.75 inches Fair Vintage Condi...
Chrome
Borsani-Gerli by Tekno Round Glass and Metal Dinning Room Table, 1960
By Osvaldo Borsani
Located in Roma, Lazio
Elegant and essential glass table, with Italian design from the first half of the last century. Table of Tecno mod. T69, designed by Osvaldo Borsani and Eugenio Gerli. Table with gl...
Metal
$3,746
H 17.72 in W 39.38 in D 25.6 in
Italian Coffee Table in Walnut Wood by Osvaldo Borsani, c.1950s
By Osvaldo Borsani
Located in London, GB
Coffee table in walnut wood by Osvaldo Borsani, c.1950s. Walnut wood, cut and coloured glass Dimensions: W100 x D65 x H45 cm.
Wood
Osvaldo Borsani, Side Table, Wood, Metal, Italy, 1957
By Tecno, Osvaldo Borsani
Located in High Point, NC
A black-painted metal and moulded veneered plywood side table, model T44, designed by Osvaldo Borsani and produced by Tecno, Italy, c. 1957. Overall Dimensions (inches): 19.25"H x 2...
Metal
Sold
H 29.34 in W 70.87 in D 43.31 in
Osvaldo Borsani & Eugenio Gerli for Tecno Oval Dining Table in Marble
By Eugenio Gerli, Tecno, Osvaldo Borsani
Located in Waalwijk, NL
Osvaldo Borsani and Eugenio Gerli for Tecno, dining table 'T102', lady onyx marble, brass-plated steel, Italy, 1964 The designers Borsani and Gerli created an outstanding piece of furniture together that deserves a prominent place in one's living room. Designed for Italian manufacturer Tecno, this dining room table originates from 1964. The tabletop owns its intricate appearance due to the lady onyx marble with its expressive grey veins alternated by pink hues. In addition, the brass base carries a concave construction that gently remind of organic occurring dynamics. Osvaldo Borsani (1911-1985) was an Italian designer and architect, raised by a family of fine furniture makers in Varedo. At the age of 16, he joined his father’s furniture shop, the Atelier di Varedo, which was fully engaged in designing and furnishing homes inspired by the Italian Art Deco movement. The designer of the atelier was the Italian architect Gino Maggioni (1898-1955) who was known for his Viennese Jugendstil orientation of the early 20th century. In the 1930s, he graduated from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera and Politecnico di Milano, where he studied Fine Arts and Architecture respectively. In 1932, the family company was renamed ‘Arredamenti Borsani’ and opened its first studio in Milan. During this period, he encountered Avant-Garde artists of various artistic disciplines like Lucio Fontana (1899-1968), Agenore Fabbri (1911-1998), Aligi Sassu (1912-2000), Roberto Crippa (1921-1972), Fausto Melotti (1901-1986), Arnaldo Pomodoro (1926-) and Giò Pomodoro (1930-2002). These collaborations resulted in the creation of furniture and interior design projects with a high-level of craftsmanship and artistry. In 1953, Borsani founded together with his twin brother Fulgenzio Borsani ‘Tecno’, a design and manufacturing company that produced items based on mechanical innovations and refined technicality. The ‘P40’ adjustable lounge chair (1953) has become the ideological manifesto of Borsani's Tecno program, and still remains the best known, exemplary piece in the Tecno catalogue. Other iconic works that were produced by Tecno were created by Gio Ponti (1891-1979), Vico cham...
Marble, Steel, Brass
Osvaldo Borsani for Tecno Coffee Table in Brass and Wood
By Tecno, Osvaldo Borsani
Located in Milano, IT
Imagine a living room that exudes timeless elegance, where every piece of furniture is carefully chosen to express refinement and restraint. In this context, the coffee table designe...
Brass
T69 Table for Tecno by O. Borsani & E. Gerli
By Eugenio Gerli, Tecno, Osvaldo Borsani
Located in Milano, IT
Step into the elegance of mid-century modern design with the T69 table by Osvaldo Borsani and Eugenio Gerli for Tecno. Crafted in the 1960s, this piece showcases the era's innovative...
Brass
Tecno Coffee Table by Osvaldo Borsani
By Tecno, Osvaldo Borsani
Located in Milano, IT
Discover the refined elegance of the 1960s with this Osvaldo Borsani wooden coffee table for Tecno, embodying the essence of mid-century modern design. This table is celebrated for i...
Wood
Tecno Side Table by Osvaldo Borsani
By Tecno, Osvaldo Borsani
Located in Milano, IT
Discover the refined elegance of the 1960s with this Osvaldo Borsani wooden coffee table for Tecno, embodying the essence of mid-century modern design. This table is celebrated for i...
Wood
Sold
H 26.38 in Dm 51.19 in
Mid-Century Modern Italian T69 Round Table by O. Borsani and E. Gerli for Tecno
By Eugenio Gerli, Osvaldo Borsani, Tecno
Located in Prato, IT
Mid-Century Modern Italian "T69" table with round carrara marble top and gold and black aluminum saber legs by Osvaldo Borsani and Eugenio Gerli for Tecno. 1970s The marble top pres...
Carrara Marble, Aluminum
Table "T69" Design Osvaldo Borsani & Eugenio Gerli for Tecno, 1975
By Tecno, Osvaldo Borsani, Eugenio Gerli
Located in taranto, IT
Superb and very rare T69 table designed by osvaldo borsani and eugenio gerli for tecno Iroko top, with the four famous saber feet by tecno Top diameter cm....
Metal, Steel
Stunning "Nomos" Dining Table by Norman Foster, Made by Tecno Spa, Milan
By Tecno, Sir Norman Foster
Located in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent
A dining table designed by British architect Sir Norman Foster. The “Nomos” dining table was designed by Foster after he started working with anothe...
Chrome
Sold
H 28.15 in Dm 47.25 in
Italian Midcentury Teak Table Model T41 by Osvaldo Borsani for Tecno, 1958
By Tecno, Osvaldo Borsani
Located in MIlano, IT
Italian midcentury teak table model T41 by Osvaldo Borsani for Tecno, 1958. Dining table model T41 in teak with black painted metal structure and brass details, convertible into a c...
Brass, Steel
Sold
H 28.15 in Dm 47.25 in
Italian Midcentury Teak Table Model T41 by Osvaldo Borsani for Tecno, 1958
By Tecno, Osvaldo Borsani
Located in MIlano, IT
Italian midcentury teak table model T41 by Osvaldo Borsani for Tecno, 1958 Dining table model T41 in teak with black painted metal structure and brass details, convertible into a cof...
Brass, Steel
Sold
H 28.35 in Dm 51.19 in
Osvaldo Borsani and Eugenio Gerli Italian Marble Dining Table "T69" for Tecno
By Eugenio Gerli, Osvaldo Borsani, Tecno
Located in Reggio Emilia, IT
Italian rare and famous circle Mid-Century Modern design dining table model T69 designed by Osvaldo Borsani and Eugenio Gerli for Tecno in 1963 with White Carrara marble-top and with...
Carrara Marble, Metal
Small Table, Plywood Metaly, Italy 1950s-1960s Osvaldo Borsani, Tecno
By Osvaldo Borsani, Tecno
Located in Milano, IT
Small center table, mahogany veneered plywood top, lacquered metal legs. Good conditions; may show sings of wear; may have been restored.
Metal