Gianfranco Frattini is widely regarded as a mid-century master of Italian modern design. He was an award-winning architect and designer, and specialized in creating furniture and decor that is both decorative and practical — Frattini’s vintage desks, armchairs, nesting tables and other works are celebrated for their sophisticated merging of function and form.
Born in Padua in 1926, Frattini studied architecture at the Polytechnic University of Milan. He later apprenticed with his teacher and mentor, Gio Ponti. Through Ponti — arguably the most important figure in 20th-century Italian architecture and design — Frattini met many notable modernist designers such as Oscar Niemeyer and Le Corbusier, but an introduction to famed Italian entrepreneur Cesare Cassina would prove incredibly significant in helping launch his career.
During the mid-1950s, Frattini began to collaborate with Cassina’s eponymous company. He designed the brand’s acclaimed leather and walnut Model 849 lounge chair — a winner of the Compasso d’Oro award — the Marema nesting tables and the iconic Sesann collection. The latter, an enduring 1970s suite of impossibly welcoming leather-covered seating, is now produced by Tacchini. In addition to Cassina, Frattini created furniture and lighting for other manufacturers such as Bernini, Arteluce, Artemide, Knoll and more.
While many of his designs incorporate glass, tubular steel and other materials, Frattini loved working with wood. The sculptural Albero bookcase — an innovative floor-to-ceiling structure made in walnut that swings on a 360-degree vertical swivel axis — is a striking example of Frattini’s dedication to traditional woodworking techniques. In the early 1970s, he traveled to Japan with friend and collaborator Pierluigi Ghianda — a master Milanese cabinet maker — in order to study the work of artisans in Kyoto. The trip inspired his design of the Kyoto table, a work of solid beech with Canaletto walnut inserts that is part of the permanent collection of the Milan Triennale’s Design Museum. The Kyoto and Albero have been revived by Poltrona Frau.
Frattini’s designs are in the permanent collections of prestigious museums such as the Museum of Modern Art and the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.
Find vintage Gianfranco Frattini furniture, lighting and decor on 1stDibs.
Customizable Tacchini Sesann Sofa by Gianfranco Frattini
By Gianfranco Frattini, Tacchini
Located in New York, NY
A reissue of a historic design by Gianfranco Frattini, Sesann is a collection of sofas and armchairs with soft, cozy forms that evoke feelings of warmth and sensuality, thanks to the...
Leather, Fabric
Customizable Tacchini Sesann Sofa by Gianfranco Frattini
By Tacchini, Gianfranco Frattini
Located in New York, NY
A reissue of a historic design by Gianfranco Frattini, Sesann is a collection of sofas and armchairs with soft, cosy forms that evoke feelings of warmth and sensuality, thanks to the...
Leather, Fabric
Customizable Tacchini Sesann Sofa by Gianfranco Frattini
By Tacchini, Gianfranco Frattini
Located in New York, NY
price listed for starting fabric and chrome frame A reissue of a historic design by Gianfranco Frattini, Sesann is a collection of sofas and armchairs with soft, cosy forms that evo...
Leather, Fabric
Customizable Tacchini Grand Sesann Sofa by Gianfranco Frattini
By Gianfranco Frattini, Tacchini
Located in New York, NY
Base: painted or chromed metal. Feet: walnut or gray stained ash. Upholstery: not removable. Sesann is reborn in new dimensions to offer greater comfort and sensuality with a deep and welcoming seat that further enhances the important volumes of this historic sofa. Grand Sesann...
Fabric, Leather, Textile
Customizable Tacchini Sella Sofa by Carlo de Carli
By Carlo di Carli, Tacchini
Located in New York, NY
price for fabric Sella is inspired by the armchair of the same name designed in 1966 by the famous Italian architect Carlo de Carli. The highly elegant sofa is made using the very f...
Leather, Fabric
Customizable Tacchini Le Mura XL Modular Sofa by Mario Bellini
By Tacchini, Mario Bellini
Located in New York, NY
LM4 - composition L 360 P 285 cm W 141,73” D 112,20” +6 pillows Three years after the reissue of Mario Bellini’s original project, Tacchini enhances the natural comfort of the Le Mu...
Textile
Tacchini Sesann Sofa by Gianfranco Frattini in STOCK
By Gianfranco Frattini, Tacchini
Located in New York, NY
Sesann 180cm Sofa Mays Color 01 - Cat. M Frame T07 Painted Black Walnut T43 Feet A reissue of a historic design by Gianfranco Frattini, Sesann is a collection of sofas and armchairs...
Fabric
Gianfranco Frattini Sesann Sofa in Dedar Karakorum by Tacchini
By Tacchini
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
The Sesann sofa is a masterpiece of modern style and comfortable elegance. It features a tubular metal frame that accentuates and shapes the plush cushions forming a timeless silhoue...
Chrome
Tacchini Le Mura Modular Sofa designed by Mario Bellini
By Tacchini, Mario Bellini
Located in Brooklyn, NY
The project Le Mura by Mario Bellini represents the manifesto of a radical design that went through all the Italian 70s: design was as an answer to questions n...
Upholstery
Tacchini Le Mura sectional in chenille fabric sofa designed by Mario Bellini
By Tacchini, Mario Bellini
Located in Offenburg, Baden Wurthemberg
in 1972 famous architect Mario Bellini designed the Le Mura sectional sofa for Cassina. after 50 years, in 2022 , famous Italian manufacturer launched this re-edition, celebrating on...
Fabric, Foam, Plywood
Julep Sofa in Vladimiro Corda by Tacchini
By Tacchini
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
The pinnacle of what it means to be made in Italy, Tacchini is a luxury furniture manufacturer that is driven by the philosophy that every piece has a creator, and every creator has a story. When you see a Tacchini piece, you are seeing the result of a redefinition of what it means to be contemporary through the hands of an Italian Master, or called “Maestri". Paying homage to the great Italian designers of the past, Tacchini devotes time to recreating classic pieces from the likes of Achille Castiglioni, Gianfranco Frattini, Carlo De Carli, and Martin Eisler. Available at MONC XIII
Fabric
Italian modern Le Bambole sofa in fabric by Mario Bellini for B&B, 1980s
By B&B Italia, Mario Bellini
Located in MIlano, IT
Italian modern Le Bambole sofa in fabric by Mario Bellini for B&B, 1980s Sofa model Bibambola, form Le Bambole series, in light blue fabric. The two-seater couch features a soft, ro...
Fabric
