Set of Johannes Andersen 'Juliane' Dining Chairs and Mangiarotti Marble Table

Italian architect, designer, teacher and urban planner Angelo Mangiarotti was a leading light in the international design community from the 1960s onward. While he was an adherent of the rationalist principles of purity of line and simplicity of construction, he sought to imbue his designs with a sense of character and lightness of spirit that was often lacking in late-20th-century modernist architecture and design. 

Born in Milan, Mangiarotti studied architecture at Milan Polytechnic, graduating in 1948. Five years later, he won a visiting professorship at the Illinois Institute of Technology — beginning a peripatetic academic career that would see him teaching in numerous Italian institutions as well as in schools as far afield as Hawaii and Australia. He worked with Bauhaus eminences Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and met such greats as Frank Lloyd Wright and Walter Gropius. He returned to Italy in 1955 and would go on to work on numerous industrial, residential, commercial and civic projects in his home country, most notably a group of six railway stations in Milan.

As a designer, Mangiarotti and the development of his career embodies the evolution of modernism in the latter decades of the 20th century. In the late 1950s and early ’60s, after early experiments in plywood furniture and one-piece foam-core seating — including the 1110 lounge chair for Cassina — Mangiarotti began to design using more classic materials, from delicate, curvaceous blown-glass table lamps for Artemide to chandeliers with crystal links for Vistosi. In 1971, Mangiarotti introduced what became his signature designs: a series of tables in marble and other stones that featured “gravity joints,” their legs held in place by the weight of the tabletop. Tables in his Eros collection (1971) have muscular proportions that anticipate the robust, overscaled lines of postmodern works that would appear 10 years later: His Eccentrico table, for example, is a striking assemblage in marble featuring a top that is cantilevered dramatically on a canted columnar base. 

But simplicity and practicality were consistently the primary watchwords of Mangiarotti’s designs. The purity and elegance of the objects he created offer a graceful counterpoint to a traditional decor, yet they have a singular sculptural presence that allows them to stand out powerfully in a modern interior.

Denmark has a long tradition of producing some of the most acclaimed furniture designers of the 20th century. Johannes Andersen is no exception — his name is synonymous with mid-century modern design. He elevated Scandinavian modernism’s prioritization of practicality and space conservation to new heights and worked with luxurious woods like teak, mahogany and rosewood for a range of designs that merged grace and function.

After completing his cabinetmaker apprenticeship in his early 20s, Andersen began to design for several furniture makers, including CFC Silkeborg and Trensum. A few years later, he opened his own workshop and enjoyed success from the outset. Free of the constraints of working under another studio, Andersen quickly developed his own, distinctive style that drew on Danish functionalism and human-centered design.

After the end of World War II, Andersen noticed the worldwide postwar consumption boom and the burgeoning interest in Scandinavian modern design. He took full advantage of this and began to sell his shapely and eye-pleasing tables, chairs and sideboards to markets outside of Denmark. Other Scandinavian manufacturers took notice of Andersen’s work, which led to many successful, career-long collaborations for the furniture maker.

Like Finn Juhl and Alvar Aalto, Andersen was deeply drawn to organic shapes and flowing lines. He transformed furniture’s traditionally square or rectangular panels and surfaces — like the tops of coffee tables and seat-backs of dining room chairs — into imaginative half-moons with rounded corners, beveled edges and fluid contours. His unexpected use of curves is the highlight of his sleek Capri line for Trensum and can be found in his comfortable saddle-shaped Allegra bar stool and playful but elegant Smile coffee table, which sports an anthropomorphic grin in the slot intended to hold magazines.

Andersen wanted his furniture to be compact — he experimented with reducing the footprints of bulky furniture, and his simple, iconic credenzas, sideboards and folding bar cabinets were born. These and other vintage Johannes Andersen furnishings are in high demand today by collectors and mid-century modern enthusiasts all over the world.

On 1stDibs, find a wide range of Johannes Andersen tables, seating, cabinets and other furniture.