Zanotta – Leonardo work table 200x100

Leonardo is a table “of the memory”, being the archetype of worktables on trestles. Its design reflects the philosophy of his designer according to whom “design has always existed and the best objects are those not signed by the architects”. This product resembles the elements of Zanotta’s production philosophy: essentiality, simplicity, best quality of the materials, excellence of workmanship, care to detail.

It must have been the conversations and the thinking, as well as the excursions and the fun, between Cici and Pipo (Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni), and the leadership and educated prompts of someone who had a critical eye for the world, such as Michelino (Provinciali), to make even Aurelio (Zanotta) fall in love with the idea of using a work table sawhorse, and combine it with some typical constructive details of a carpenter’s bench, so to create a perfect work of high cabinetry, which looks as if it has been here since forever. While it is here thanks to them – the ‘fantastic four’, who were immersed in the energy of those years, full of hope and future – and it was created (i.e. perfected) ‘only’ during the twentieth century, but it might as well remain unchanged for the next 20 centuries. In future years, Leonardo and Bramanteas tables and Merlino as a bookstand will talk to us about a constructive beauty, which shows itself proudly, and about functional certainties that communicate in a clear way.

Achille Castiglioni

Achille Castiglioni was born in Milan in 1918 and since 1940 he has been experimenting industrial products with his brothers Livio (1911-1979) and Pier Giacomo (1913-1968). After graduating in architecture in 1944, he began to looking into forms and techniques and new materials, conceiving a complete design process. He was one of the founders of ADI in 1956. He achieved in 1969 the teaching qualification on "Artistic Design for Industry" and he also taught at Università di Architettura di Torino until 1980. Afterwards he acquired the teaching post in Politecnico di Milano until 1993 as fulltime "Industrial Design' professor. Since 1950 he kept experimenting about exhibitions and mountings (Triennale di Milano, Montecatini, Agip, Rai).

Fourteen of his works are exhibited at the MoMA in New York. Other works are in museums: Victoria and Albert Museum (London), Kunstgewerbe Museum (Zurich), Staatliches Museum fur Angewandte Kunst (Munich), Design Museum (Prato), Uneleckoprumyslove Prague Museum (Prague), Israel Museum (Jerusalem), The Denver Art Museum, Vitra Design Museum (Weil am Rhein), Angewandte Kunst Museum (Hamburg and Cologne). From 1984 to1986 he organized a personal exhibition about his work by the Museum fur Angewandte Kunst (Vienna), then at the Akademie der Kunst (Berlin), the Triennale di Milsno (Milan), the Kunstgewerbe Museum (Zurich), the Haags Gemeentemuseum (The Hague), the Circulo de Bellas Artes (Madrid) and the Center Georges Pompidou (Paris). He was awarded nine Compasso D'oro. Achille Castiglioni died in 2002.

Zanotta

Founded in 1954, Zanotta is recognized as one of the major protagonists of the history of Italian design. In particular since the 1960s, guided by the intuition and extraordinary entrepreneurial ability of its founder Aurelio Zanotta, conquer the international scene thanks to emblematic products for formal innovation. The technological research supported by the continuous evolution of the quality of materials and production processes is one of the best in the world.

The cultured and precious history of Zanotta is renewed in 2017 in the union with Tecno starting a common project. This implies the consequent strengthening of synergies and commercial strategies at the international level under the guidance of Giuliano Mosconi. It brings irony to the domestic universe, which suggests different ways to feel better in the world of the home, which for the first time has included in its catalog the works of the great masters of design, creating an unparalleled "collection" of masterpieces, awarded and exhibited in the most important design museums.