“Cronache minori dalla periferia del design”, a book by Adele Cassina
The MAG - 02.23
Recommended Reading
Adele Cassina’s Cronache Minori dalla Periferia del design (Minor Chronicles from the Fringes of Design) (Maurizio Corraini, 2021).
The book’s preface by Giampiero Bosoni reads: “Memories and recollections are needed, like those delightfully collected here by Adele Cassina and that give us a sense of what things were like almost seventy years ago, when after a world war, visionaries were able to imagine and create the future”.
Adele, with the help of her daughter Chiara, writes her autobiography in a personal way and with passion and sincerity, offering news, anecdotes and reflections on the furniture manufacturing context and the designers who collaborated with Cassina, the company her father, Cesare, founded.
Giò Ponti designed the Superleggera chair for Cassina, in 1962 Carlo Scarpa designed the Carimate house for Cesare, and Vico Magistretti – who designed iconic pieces, including sofa Maralunga and Sinbad, designed a rug that becomes a sofa, one of Adele’s favorite pieces.
Understanding the history of Italian design through the memories and tales of its creators, industrialists and designers, and not just through the commentaries of critics makes it a compelling read fueled by the courage and pioneering and creative vision of its protagonists.
The book’s concise and fluid writing, which is dense with previously-unknown tidbits and information, makes it an essential read for those who cra a true understanding of the history of Italian design.
