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Model 547 by Castiglioni and Caccia Dominioni for Phonola, Italy

About the Item

Model 547 radio receiver by Piergiacomo and Livio Castiglioni and Luigi Caccia Dominioni for Phonola. The Phonola 547 model is a radio receiver designed by Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Livio Castiglioni and Luigi Caccia Dominioni in 1939-40 and produced in Italy by Fimi-Phonola of Saronno. The radio, black in colour, has a very innovative shape: in fact, it resembles that of a telephone with a rectangular base and a projecting and slightly inclined speaker, covered by a convex grille, with large cylindrical holes useful for increasing diffusion in the environment of sound waves. When designing the Phonola 547, the designers took military devices as a reference for their small size, functionality and practicality. Fimi-Phonola's intent, in fact, was to market a device that cost little, was made with economical materials, but did not neglect attention to qualitative, functional and aesthetic aspects. The creation of the 547 model saw great collaboration between the designers and technicians of Fimi, so much so that the development of the shape of the radio, which follows the layout of the internal devices, was precisely the fruit of this cooperation. However, the perfect synergy between function and form, of the form adapting perfectly to the content, enhancing its qualities, would not have been possible without the invention of plastic materials. The chassis of the radio, in fact, is a single die-cast body in phenolic resin, the famous Bakelite, the first entirely synthetic plastic patented by Leo Hendrik Baekland in 1907 and also known as the "material with a thousand uses"

Creator:

Luigi Caccia Dominioni (Designer),Pier Giacomo Castiglioni (Designer)

Dimensions:

Height: 8.27 in (21 cm)Width: 9.85 in (25 cm)Depth: 10.63 in (27 cm)

Materials and Techniques:

Bakelite

Place of Origin:

Italy

Period:

1930-1939

Date of Manufacture:

1939

Condition:

Wear consistent with age and use.

Seller Location:

Argelato, IT

Reference Number:

1stDibs: LU7342238686452

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Shop All Luigi Caccia Dominioni

Luigi Caccia Dominioni

To join the centenarian club is a remarkable feat in itself, but to live for over a century and leave a lasting impact on the world of Italian mid-century modern furniture design — just as pioneering industrial designer and architect Luigi Caccia Dominioni had — is extraordinary. His vintage table lamps, coffee tables, chairs and other furnishings are demonstrative of exemplary technique, theory and quality workmanship — all characteristics of the Milanese designer’s signature style.

Caccia Dominioni graduated from Milan’s oldest university, the Polytechnic University of Milan, in 1936. A leading center for design innovation during the first half of the 20th century, the institution’s alumni includes notable Italian architects and designers such as Gio Ponti, Vittoriano Vigano and brothers Livio and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni. In 1937, the Castiglioni brothers and Caccia Dominioni opened a multi-award winning studio together and presented groundbreaking designs for radios in Bakelite shells at the 1940 Milan Triennial.

The Second World War forced Caccia Dominioni to pause his professional ambitions in order to serve in the Italian military, and the postwar years saw much of his most esteemed designs take shape. In 1947, alongside Ignazio Gardella and Corrado Corradi Dell’Acqua, Caccia Dominioni founded the furniture manufacturing company Azucena, where he designed iconic pieces such as the Catalina chair and a range of lighting that includes the Lp10 wall light, the Lsp3 wall light and the Lsp6 flush mount light.

Like a fine Italian wine, Caccia Dominioni got even better with time. He collaborated with the likes of Olivari and Lualdi well into his 80s, debuting legendary pieces such as the C.d.o. chair and the Super door. And while many of his celebrated architectural works materialized during the 1950s and 1960s — such as the Teatro Filodrammatici and the Galleria Strasburgo — one of Caccia Dominioni’s best known structures, the fountain in Milan’s Piazza San Babila, was built near the end of 20th century when the designer was 83 years old.

Caccia Dominioni was a winner of the Compasso d’Oro, one of the oldest and most prestigious awards in the design industry. When he died at 103 in 2016, he left behind an exceptional legacy of furniture design and architectural innovations.

Find vintage Luigi Caccia Dominioni chandeliers and pendants, floor lamps, armchairs and other furniture on 1stDibs.