Triennale Design Museum - Tuesday, June 7th, 2011
Sella Chair by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, 1957
On June 7th, we visited the Triennalle Design Museum. The exhibit we visited was called "Dream Factories" and was all about the history of contemporary Italian Industrial Design. The most predominant objects were chairs, so Anne, Amanda and myself decided to each talk about our favourite chair shown in the exhibit. My favourite is the Sella Chair by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, designed in 1957 for Zanotta. It is still proudly in Zanotta's collection.
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| Triennale Design Museum Exhibit - Dream Factories: People, Ideas and Paradoxes of Italian Design |
The Sella, a stool made from a bicycle seat and cast iron base, stemmed from Achille Castiglioni’s desire for a comfortable seat in a telephone kiosk where he liked “to move around” and “to sit, but not completely”. Also in the 50s, telephones were located on the wall along a narrow corridor or awkwardly in a front entrance with no room for a full sized chair. This made the Sella (saddle in italian) the perfect rocking stool.
There is a reason for the pink tube steel as well. The winner of the annual bike tour of Italy called the Giro D'Italia (similar to the Tour de France) wears a pink jersey called the maglia rosa.
I love this chair because it comes from a direct initiative and serves a simple purpose. It is practical and functional, just like all of Achille Castiglioni's products.
Castiglioni was born in Milan in 1918, graduated from Architecture in 1944, and was one of the founders of ADI (Association of Industrial Design) in 1956. His interests were in urban planning, architecture, product design, and was always looking into new techniques and materials while developing a process of "integral design". The MoMa (Museum of Modern Art) in New York currently has 14 of his works in their permanent collection.
If you are interested in purchasing one of these convenient stools for a phone booth near you, Zanotta will sell you one for $1,116.00.
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| Sella Chair in the Triennale Design Museum |
By Laura Van Staveren, Anne Charbonneau and Amanda Cox
Keywords: Design History
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