Tabouret, Cassina
Le Corbusier

28 November 2013

A crate of whisky drifting among the waves: that’s what the Tabouret calls to mind. It was designed by Le Corbusier  for his Cabanon, a cabin of just 15 square meters that he built to use as his personal retreat in the last period of his life. In reality, there’s much more in this simple boxlike volume and it represents a synthesis of his idea of equipment for inhabiting space. It is pure proportion centered on the three dimensions of physics. To these correspond the same number of functions: container, stool and bookcase unit, depending on which way up it is placed. The minimal, but crucial detail of a slit to be used as a handle when moving it around to suit different purposes is decisive. Designed in 1952, but relaunched by Cassina only three years ago, it is a demonstration of the farsightedness of this great theorist of living space and architecture. A pioneer in the reappraisal of anonymous design, he showed here that he was capable of inventing a complement that is truly minimal in its aesthetics and maximal in its function. Manufacturer: Cassina.

Tabouret, design di Le Corbusier. Prodotto da Cassina.

Tabouret, design di Le Corbusier. Prodotto da Cassina.

Tabouret, design di Le Corbusier. Prodotto da Cassina.

Tabouret, design di Le Corbusier. Prodotto da Cassina.

Tabouret, design di Le Corbusier. Prodotto da Cassina.

Tabouret, design di Le Corbusier. Prodotto da Cassina.

Tabouret, design di Le Corbusier. Prodotto da Cassina.


Domitilla Dardi

Torn between the history of art and the history of architecture, she came across design at the end of the last century and has not let go of it since. She loves to deal with everything that entails the use of ingredients, their choice, mixing and transformation: from writing to cooking, from knitting to design, from perfumes to colors. She is curator for design at the MAXXI and professor of the History of Design at the IED.


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