21 January 2014
A tractor seat (Mezzadro), a chair for undesired guests (Singer), a checkered table (Quaderna): today undisputed classics of Italian design, icons of the Made in Italy label all over the world, at the time groundbreaking pieces of furniture, highly innovative developments on the domestic scene. The company founded sixty years ago at Nova Milanese, run by the visionary entrepreneur Aurelio Zanotta, brought about a momentous revolution: it was willing to experiment, coming up with unprecedented solutions that created a culture and not just products and betting on a design rooted in ideas and not just material. A quality it has maintained over the decades, from the period of Radical Design to the present day, passing through the most significant tendencies of the second half of the last century. Many great designers have worked with Zanotta, helping to define its identity and style: a minimalism that is not formalist, but of substance; an approach to manufacturing capable of telling a story, but also of overturning habits, always with a touch of ironic elegance and never through facile stage effects. Happy birthday!
Throw-Away, design by Willie Landels for Zanotta, 1965.
Quaderna, design by Superstudio for Zanotta, 1970.
Sacco, design by Gatti, Paolini, Teodoro for Zanotta, 1968.
Mezzadro, design by A. and P.G. Castiglioni for Zanotta, 1957.
Lia, design by Roberto Barbieri for Zanotta, 1998-1999 and Quaderna, design by Superstudio for Zanotta, 1970.
Singer, design by Bruno Munari for Zanotta, 1945.
Mezzadro, design by A. and P.G. Castiglioni for Zanotta, 1957.
Eva, design by Ora Ïto for Zanotta, 2013.
Macaone, design by Alessandro Mendini for Zanotta, 1985.
Quaderna, design by Superstudio for Zanotta, 1970.
Blanco, design by Jacopo Zibardi for Zanotta, 2010.
Tonietta, design by Enzo Mari for Zanotta, 1985.
Sacco, design by Gatti, Paolini, Teodoro for Zanotta, 1968.
Sciangai, design by De Pas, D’Urbino, Lomazzi for Zanotta, 1973.
Servomuto, design by Achille Castiglioni for Zanotta, 1974.
Celestina, design by Marco Zanuso for Zanotta, 1978.