Cassina

About

Cassina works industrially in the contemporary furnishing sector. It produces chairs, tables, armchairs, beds, and furniture in general with a particular flair for upholstered items and work in wood, leather and other top-quality materials.

- excerpt from www.cassina.com

The company, originally named ‘Amadeo Cassina’, was founded in 1927 by two brothers, Cesare and Umberto Cassina. Starting out with small furniture wood pieces, it continued to expand, growing in size, reputation, and excellence, right after the war was over. Year 1948 marked the start of many of the company’s collaborations with external designers. Architect Franco Albini was the first when he designed the Mod.430 armchairs. In the fifties, it was Gio Ponti who dominated the scene. The work from this period was characterized by both classicism and modernism. The sixties, on the other hand, with the advent of plastics and injection molding, introduced pieces that moved away from the classic upholstered items to a single block of injected polyurethane and solid wood pieces. Tobia Scarpa and his wife Afra began to work with Cassina in 1963.

The Maestri collection was also born during this era (1964) which showcased works made by the most prominent names of 20th century design, including Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret, Charlotte Perriand, Gerrit T. Rietveld (1971), and Charles R. Mackintosh (1972). The reconstructions of these pieces followed a strict adherence to original drawings and specifications made by the designers. The seventies, influenced by radical design, saw pieces that were more artistic. Moreover, the production was more geared towards limited quantities rather than towards mass-production. Designers during this time included Gaetano Pesce, Paolo Deganello (Archizoom) and Mario Bellini who, together with the company’s research arm, introduced a new shape and technology with the sofa and bed Le Mura. In the eighties the work was more experimental, having new forms and functions that allowed more flexibility. Adjustable pieces such as the Wink armchair by Toshiyuki Kita were introduced. In addition, Pesce continued to push for works that were more metaphorical, making them into means of expression rather than plain objects. The nineties featured designers who worked with Cassina for only short periods of time. The bed collection was born during this period. Further down the road, the company started working with new designers from Philippe Starck to Jean Marie Massaud.

Today, Cassina continues to lead the furniture design industry in quality, research and innovation. Their emphasis on detail and craftsmanship allows them to produce pieces that are true to the original design especially those of the more transcendent works from the earlier days.

What We Learned

Cassina, indeed, belongs to the only few companies in Italy that could maintain the culture and high level of quality when producing such remarkable pieces of design. In every aspect of their manufacturing processes, the company ensures that time is a crucial element to maintain a product’s longevity starting from the selection of raw materials. During the manufacturing processes, quality is assured in every step of the way through precise technologies along with the care that can only be done by hand. They have a network of suppliers outside their production department, but all manufacturing happens at the one Cassina factory in Italy. This allows them to focus on their customer needs, insuring that even custom pieces are incorporated into the design and make of the product.