Pair of Maralunga Sofas by Vico Magistretti for Cassina, Italy, 1970s

While origin stories behind the world’s timeless designs vary widely, the story of the Maralunga sofa is one of the best in design lore: As legend has it, when Cassina founder Cesare Cassina first saw the prototype for the piece in the mid-1970s by Italian furniture designer Vico Magistretti (1920–2006), he was so disgusted by it that he punched it, breaking the back of the sofa, which crumbled over itself . . . into the shape the piece would eventually take. (“Right, great, it looks perfect to me like that,” Magistretti allegedly responded.)

Whether it was his accidental adjustment or further consideration of the design, Cassina clearly came around: His company debuted Magistretti’s design in 1973. The Maralunga is characterized by what looks like a slumped backrest but is really an adjustable-height headrest, moved by way of a bicycle chain that runs underneath its plush foam cushions.

The effect is a sofa that serves two functions: It’s both a backdrop for social conversation and a setting for solo relaxation. “My intention with Maralunga was to design an object that represented a whole range of interior architecture with a familiar feel,” Magistretti said of the design. “Two positions, two possible uses, two different ways to create your own personal space inside a room.”

While the Maralunga’s boxy shape is pure ’70s, the sofa holds its own in a range of interiors and remains popular today. Cassina now produces it in a variety of upholstery options and, in 2014, enlisted a slew of designers to reinterpret it in celebration of its 40th anniversary.

Furniture manufacturer Cassina is a prolific design house for more reasons than one: It not only owns the licenses to an exquisite collection of iconic chairs, sofas, tables and other pieces from the 20th and 21st centuries but also produces original works that are characterized by innovation and the finest Italian craftsmanship.

Cassina’s illustrious legacy includes being one of the first companies to bring industrial design to Italy in the 1950s. Founded in 1927 in Meda, Italy, by brothers Cesare and Umberto Cassina, the Italian manufacturing giant originally specialized in bespoke woodworking. In nearly a century since its founding, the company has shown incredible foresight about design trends and the evolution of technology.

In 1964, Cassina signed an exclusive licensing agreement to manufacture furniture by Le Corbusier and his collaborators — such as the LC4 chaise longue made with trailblazing French modernist Charlotte Perriand and Pierre Jeanneret — a move that would shape the future of the company. Cassina’s I Maestri collection is an ongoing initiative to restyle landmark designs from the 20th century, such as pieces by Gerrit Rietveld (the Red and Blue armchair from 1918), Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Erik Gunnar Asplund, Franco Albini and Frank Lloyd Wright. The company preserves the intentions and original styles of their designs but adds updated techniques, materials and processes — rendering them the best possible combination of past, present and future. The brand has also worked with contemporary icons like Zaha Hadid, Gio Ponti and Philippe Starck.

Cassina’s original designs are cutting-edge as well. They include pieces for everyday use, the development of which is guided by comfort and the marriage of Italian craftsmanship with industrial technology.

Some of Cassina’s pieces, both from its contemporary and I Maestri collections, can be found in the collections of museums like the Museum of Modern Art and the Vitra Design Museum. In 2014, the company became part of Haworth in its acquisition of Italian furniture group Poltrona Frau, and in 2015, Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola joined Cassina as its art director, leading the brand into its next century of inventive style.

Find a collection of new and vintage Cassina furniture on 1stDibs.