Pair of Franco Albini Midcentury Rattan and Bamboo Italian Stools, 1960s

View Similar Items

1960s Italian Franco Albini Bamboo Rattan Bohemian French Riviera Stool

Franco Albini Midcentury Rattan and Bamboo Round Ottoman Stool, Italy 1960s

Franco Albini for Bonacina Pair of Rattan and Bamboo Stools, Italy, 1960s

Midcentury Ottoman Stool in Bamboo and Rattan Franco Albini Style, Italy, 1960s

Italian Round Ottoman Stool in Rattan and Bamboo, Franco Albini 1960s

Mid-Century Modern Bamboo Rattan Stool Attributed to Franco Albini, Italy, 1960s

Franco Albini Pair of Rattan Armchairs, Italy 1960s

Pair of Italian Bamboo Rattan Stools in the Style of Franco Albini

Pair of Italian Mid-Century Modern Rattan and Bamboo Stools by Franco Albini

Franco Albini Mid-Century Rattan, Bamboo and Wicker, Pouf, Ottoman, Italy 1960s

Midcentury Bonacina Rattan Italian Pouf Stool, Italy, 1960s

Pair of Bamboo Rattan Round Stools or Side Tables, Franco Albini Style

Want more images or videos?

Request additional images or videos from the seller

1 of 17

Pair of Franco Albini Midcentury Rattan and Bamboo Italian Stools, 1960s

About the Item

Pair of Midcentury rattan and bamboo stools. These ottomans were designed by Franco Albini in Italy during 1960s. The extraordinary architectural ideas by Franco Albini emerge in their purity and poetry of form. A must-have for midcentury rattan design lovers, as this pair will perfectly suit a modern living room. Franco Albini (17 October 1905 – 1 November 1977) was an Italian Neo-Rationalist architect, designer and university instructor in design. A native of Robbiate, near Milan, Albini obtained his degree in architecture at Politecnico di Milano University in 1929 and began his professional career working for Gio Ponti. He started displaying his works at Milan Triennale. In 1930 he opened his own practice. Through his creations, the modern furniture design merged the Italian traditional artisanship with the new forms of modernism. In his creations, he used raw, inexpensive materials. He exploited the very skilled Italian craftsmanship. This also meant an elegant design based on a minimalist aesthetic. One of his first successful works in 1939 was a radio, encased in glass, so to show its internal components. In 1928 Albini designed the now-iconic "Albini Desk", combining steel, glass and wood with a striking minimalistic balance, and introduced by Knoll in 1949. In 1950 he designed the famous and fashionable "Margherita" and "Gala" chairs, made of woven cane. In 1952 he created the "Fiorenza" armchair for Arflex; in 1955 the "Luisa" chair; in 1956 the "Rocking chaise" for Poggi. In the 1960s he worked on industrial design as well as important architectural projects. In 1961 he designed the Rome Rinascente building. Three years later he designed with Franca Helg and Bob Noorda the Milan Metro Line 1 subway stations, and from 1969 also Milan Metro Line 2 subway stations. In 1964 the television set he created for Brionvega was displayed at the Milan Triennial XIII. In the same year, he created various lamps for Arteluce. Albini worked for companies including Brionvega, Cassina, Arflex, Arteluce and Poggi. He was also an architect and interior designer. Among others, in 1945 he created the Zanini Fur Shop located in Milan. As writer and editor, from 1945 to 1946 he worked for the Italian magazine Casabella. In the 1950s and 1960s he taught interior design at the Venice School of Architecture (Università Iuav di Venezia). From 1963-1977 he taught design at Milan Polytechnic (Politecnico di Milano). Albini obtained three Compasso d'Oro awards, the most prestigious Italian design prize.

Creator:
Franco Albini (Illustrator)
Dimensions:
Height: 15.16 in (38.5 cm)Diameter: 15.75 in (40 cm)Seat Height: 15.16 in (38.5 cm)
Sold As:
Set of 2
Style:
Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Bamboo,Rattan
Place of Origin:
Italy
Period:
Mid-20th Century
Date of Manufacture:
1960s
Condition:
Seller Location:
Roma, IT
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU3067319801502

Shop All Franco Albini

Franco Albini

While working under the polymath Gio Ponti — arguably the most important figure in 20th-century Italian modernism — furniture designer Franco Albini nurtured a love for modern forms combined with traditional craft techniques.

Albini is widely known for working with organic materials such as rattan and cane for his chairs and other seating, but he also played a pivotal role in the Italian rationalist movement of the early 20th century, which saw architects and furniture makers applying a strict emphasis on geometry in their work. Rationalists drew on Ancient Roman architecture but rejected ornament, much in the way that Le Corbusier and celebrated Bauhaus figures such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe had in their modernist furniture.

Albini received his degree in architecture from the Polytechnic University of Milan in 1929, and, in 1931, he founded his practice in Milan, where he tackled workers’ housing and other reconstruction projects. A gifted urban planner, he also developed the Palazzo Bianco, Palazzo Rosso and Tesoro di San Lorenzo museums in Genoa. While Albini is revered for his Margherita chair — a Triennale Milano award winner created for Bonacina in 1951 — he also collaborated with manufacturers Poggi and Cassina in the 1940s on seating, tables and more that embodied his artistic vision. Of that mid-century work, the one piece that perhaps best captures this vision is the iconic Luisa chair.

With its cherry red upholstery and sinuous wooden legs that seem to float aboveground, the Luisa is a genuine masterpiece. It is also a testament to Albini’s perfectionism, as it endured several prototypes — including one made by Knoll in the late 1940s — and took approximately 15 years to design. Poggi launched the final version of the armchair in 1955, earning Albini the prestigious Compasso d’Oro from Italy’s Association for Industrial Design. It is produced today by Cassina. Albini named the chair for someone who likely saw the process firsthand: his personal secretary of two decades, Luisa Colombini.

Find vintage Franco Albini furniture on 1stDibs.