Carlo Mollino – Chair for Mollino Office (1959)

 Carlo Mollino designed the chair in 1959 for his office at the faculty of Architecture in Torino, where he late in his life became Head of Faculty. Carlo Mollino started working in interior design between the 1930s and 1940s. He was an eclectic man: he was an architect, a car and airplane pilot, a ski instructor, a writer and a photographer. His creative talent and brilliant mind allowed him to, in a completely original way mix natural shapes and artistic elements from Baroque, Rococo, Art Nouveau and Surrealism.

Especially his chairs were distinctive, many made from sculptured wood. The Chair for Mollino Office originally designed for Mollino’s own personal use, was later reissued by Zanotta in 1986 and called the ‘Fenis’ Chair.

Carlo Mollino’s furniture clearly highlights his unique style: his pieces are free from the influence of mainstream style, which typically reflected geometry and rationalisms. The Chair for Mollino Office is a chair with anthropomorphic lines and organic inspiration, a tangible proof of the high level of harmony that Mollino could reach between artisan skills and experimentation. The chair is like a domestic sculpture, creating furnishing that is highly contemporary and represents and express design with the idea of a highly theatrical interior architecture.

Author: Anna Marie Fisker

Photo: Accademia Viva Italia