Ico Parisi Colorful Bookcase in Wood and Metal

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About the Item

Ico Parisi for Brugnoli Mobili Cantú, bookcase model 457, lacquered wood, mahogany, brass, Italy, 1955 Beautiful small bookcase designed by Ico Parisi. This open bookcase with four shelves in different colors has a low height of 108 cm. Originally it was designed for a boy's bedroom and therefore it was created to be easily accessible for children. The shelves can be arranged to your own liking in the way that the order of colors can be changed. But not only the colorful appearance catches the eye. Also the way the shelves end in a round shape that reminds of a handle serves not only the functional need to prevent items to fall over but also it has a decorative aspect. Ico Parisi (1916-1996) is one of the pioneers who helped shape postwar Italian design. Parisi is now known for fluent, curved and delicate simplified modern design. In Italy, reform took place not in a new institute such as the Bauhaus, but in the sophisticated upperclass private spaces. Here paths crossed of Ponti, Campigli, Melotti and also Ico and his wife Luisa. At the age of twenty Parisi graduates from the Istituto Tecnico G. Castellini as an Industrial Head Technician. According to Parisi himself, his first design dates from this time. He also starts to work as a painter and photographer before he had to work as a soldier in the war. His life really starts after the war when he meet his wife Luisa Aiani. From here onwards his designs are recognized and exhibited and he starts to collaborate with MIM Roma in 1958 and Stildomus in 1959. Please note that the item is in good, used condition. There is some loss of paint visible on various parts of the piece. Refinishing is possible before shipping by our experienced craftsman and -women in our own in-house restoration atelier. With high attention for the original, they make sure every piece retains its value and is ready for the many years to come. We kindly ask you to contact our design experts for further information about the endless possibilities our restoration and upholstery atelier has to offer. Of course, a locally organized reupholstery is possible as well. The mahogany type of this piece does not require an export license.

Creator:
Brugnoli Mobili Cantú (Manufacturer),Ico Parisi (Designer)
Dimensions:
Height: 42.52 in (108 cm)Width: 41.74 in (106 cm)Depth: 9.45 in (24 cm)
Style:
Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Mahogany,Wood
Place of Origin:
Italy
Period:
1950-1959
Date of Manufacture:
1955
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use. Every item Morentz offers is checked by our team of 30 craftsmen in our in-house workshop. Special restoration or reupholstery requests can be done. We guarantee a very highquality standard, ask our design specialists for detailed information.
Seller Location:
Waalwijk, NL
Reference Number:
Seller: 450149181stDibs: LU933125289042

Shop All Ico Parisi

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.