Ico Parisi Sofa, 1950

About the Item

The sophisticated and avantgardistic design language of Ico Parisi is epitomized in this beautiful three seater. For the entrance of a villa in Como, Ico Parisi designed this beautiful seater. It consists of beautiful ash wood, brass and upholstery of velvet in elegant blue. Excellent condition. The model in question takes up the motif given by the repetition of the wooden X-shaped crosses that draw the three seats and resolve the support of the padded backrests. In this case, the supporting structure, carved in solid ash, is completed by short legs, a logical continuation of the uprights, which mark the seats. The upholstery is not original. About the designer: Ico Parisi was born in Palermo in 1916. He graduated in construction and served his apprenticeship in the studio of Giuseppe Terragni. In 1937 he made a photographic study of the Casa del Fascio for the magazine Quadrante, which marked the whole of Parisi's research into "meditating on the legacies and contradictions of the enormous store of ideas and forms constituted by the experience of the masters". His activity, marked by continuous experimentation, consists in an incessant research in the fields of architecture, art and design. Between 1948 and 1950 he devoted himself to the study of furniture elements. In the field of design, the crucial encounters with Munari and Fontana (1951), and Melotti profoundly marked his experience. In 1948 he founded, with his wife Luisa Aiani, planner and designer, the studio La ruota which ceased its activity in 1995. In 1954 he won the Gold Medal at the Milan Triennial X with the work Padiglione soggiorno, with Silvio Longhi and Luigi Antonietti. In 1957 he presented the work Casa per vacanze at the exhibition Colori e forme della casa d'oggi, the result of a collaboration with Manlio Rho, Francesco Somaini and Gian Paolo Allevi.He died in Como in 1996.

Creator:
Ariberto Colombo (Manufacturer),Ico Parisi (Designer)
Dimensions:
Height: 32.68 in (83 cm)Width: 79.53 in (202 cm)Depth: 27.56 in (70 cm)
Style:
Modern (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Ash,Brass,Upholstery,Velvet
Place of Origin:
Italy
Period:
Mid-20th Century
Date of Manufacture:
1950
Condition:
Reupholstered. The upholstery is not original.
Seller Location:
Berlin, DE
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU983131021982
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Ico Parisi

Domenico “Ico” Parisi was one half of a prolific postwar design duo he comprised with his wife, Luisa. Their furniture designs are known for running the stylistic gamut, with celebrated mid-century modern pieces ranging from elegantly skeletal — like dramatic ebonized dining chairs — to plush and shapely, like the iconic 1951 Egg chair, in a plethora of materials.

The son of an art teacher father, Ico Parisi was exposed to art at an early age. Born in 1916 in the Sicilian capital of Palermo, he and his family moved to Como in 1925. There, the young Parisi would begin to develop his interest in architecture and design. After earning a degree as a building inspector in 1936 and working as a civil engineer, Parisi took on an apprenticeship in the studio of Giuseppe Terragni, the modernist, fascist Italian architect, pioneer of the Rationalist movement and creator of the iconic Casa del Fascio.

While working for Terragni, Parisi crossed paths with such contemporary design talents as Lucio Fontana, Bruno Munari and Pietro Lingeri, though he briefly moved away from design and architecture to explore photography and film. His artistic work would soon be interrupted, however, by the outbreak of World War II, during which he served at the front before returning to Como in 1943. There, he resumed work as a designer and architect, founding two architecture groups: the Alta Quota and the Gruppo Como.

Through his creative circles, Parisi met Luisa Aiani, a former student of the prolific architect and furniture designer Gio Ponti, who was affiliated with the Alta Quota. They married in 1947 and founded the studio La Ruota — a cross between a design firm and an intellectual salon — in Como shortly thereafter. In 1950, Parisi finally completed his architectural schooling, studying under the nationalist architect Alberto Sartoris at the Athenaeum Architecture School in Lausanne, Switzerland. He and Aiani began several decades of sophisticated output, designing curved sofas upholstered in yellow velvet and armchairs with slender mahogany frames for enduring Italian manufacturers such as Cassina and others.

Much like Charles and Ray Eames in America, the Parisis worked as a team and relied on experimentation in style and material for many of their designs. Ico Parisi died in Como in 1996.

Find a collection of vintage Ico Parisi coffee tables, dining chairs and more on 1stDibs.