Platinum

Established in 1927, Cassina has been designing the future for eighty five years. During the 50’s the company, founded in Meda (Milan) by Cesare and Umberto Cassina, launched industrial design in Italy. In the rich and complex turmoil of that era, it was pioneering in the way it encouraged architects and designers to envision fresh designs and most of all translate their inspirations into reality. Taking a completely new approach, which saw a shift from handcraftsmanship to serial production, the company began to work side by side with designers. Since then, Cassina has shown a striking inclination for research and the ability to spark multi-participant dialogues between the most talented designers of both the 20th and 21st centuries, including architects and designers with quite diverse sensibilities, styles and creative spirits. The result: a mesh of stimulating ideas, from which Cassina always draws the best. This transversal culture of absolute quality defines the uniqueness of each Cassina piece.


CULTURE. Know-how and design.
Cassina’s identity lies in an innovative fusion that closely links technological skill with traditional craftsmanship. True to this identity, the company preserves its traditional passion for carpentry for which it is known worldwide and that is still the hub around which its designs are centred. Though its production facilities are organised on an industrial scale, they still include areas for handcraftsmanship: wood and other materials, especially leather and fabrics, are worked here, with the help of the most sophisticated machinery. But it is the manual skill of each craftsman, carefully honed through years of apprenticeship, that provides the fundamental drive for all the phases of production. A continuity between past and present that inspires remarkable, dynamic designs. One striking example is the 699 Superleggera chair (1957) by Gio Ponti: an iconic and completely modern interpretation of the Ligurian “chiavarina” chair, with expert woodworking that creates an incomparable synthesis of solidity and lightness.


RESEARCH. Language, technology, materials.
Since its beginning, Cassina has always identified the market potential of a product and at the same time its compatibility with specific lifestyles or foreshadowing of new lifestyles, particularly on an industrial scale, constantly carrying out research of materials and technology. Innovation offers surprising opportunities for expression. Experimentation on new materials and the development of new structural technology, never as goals in themselves but always focused on careful consideration of the specific function of each piece, has freed the company from the typical formal paradigms of furniture.
During the 60’s Cassina discovered the capabilities of plastics and injected materials. “Ciprea” (1968) by Afra and Tobia Scarpa, is a single piece in expanded polyurethane that shattered the stereotype of the padded armchair. In 1970, “Teneride”, an office chair by Mario Bellini, launched a new ergonomic style with volume and thickness adjustments. Shortly thereafter, “AEO” (1973) by Paolo Deganello – Archizoom combined diverse materials in a chair, that for the first time could be disassembled and washed and was compatible with any style of furnishings.
Unusual structural solutions resulted in the revisiting of the “exclusive club” style, with the Maralunga sofa (1973) by Vico Magistretti and the “Wink” chaise longue/armchair (1980) by Toshiyuki Kita, a highly adaptable piece expressing an informal relation between man and furniture.
In a fruitful synergy between the Research and Development Centre and designers and architects, new chapters are continually being written in the art of living. This happened with “I Feltri” (1987) by Gaetano Pesce: soft armchair-sculptures created out of specially treated felt, and later with Philippe Starck and the leather sofa system “Privé” (2007) that exudes a sophisticated, provocative classicism with its elegant capitonné workmanship.


QUALITY. The excellence of Made in Cassina
Each piece of Cassina furniture is known worldwide for its exceptional quality, a consistent level of excellence based on the meticulous selection of raw materials. Wood ageing is carried out in the factory and the different varieties of wood are worked with true mastery to best develop their unique characteristics. In addition to wood, only the most precious leathers and fabrics of guaranteed quality are chosen. A rigorous monitoring system is implemented involving all phases of the production process. Each individual Cassina piece is thus created to last a lifetime.


I MAESTRI, I CONTEMPORANEI. From origins to the future.
Cassina has two souls, two collections that represent its uniqueness. The Cassina I Maestri Collection encompasses the origins of design, the great architects of modern classics. Cassina has the worldwide exclusive to re-edit these iconic works by Le Corbusier, Gerrit T. Rietveld, Charles R. Mackintosh, E. Gunnar Asplund, Frank Lloyd Wright, Charlotte Perriand and Franco Albini. Passionate and meticulous philological reconstructions that discover and enhance the innovative heart of each project, even in light of the most advanced technological solutions. The goal of each project is to inject new life into these original ideas, fully respecting the original project while also translating it into a piece attractive to contemporary users and encouraging today’s public to appreciate the unique and universal works of the great Maestri of the past.
The Cassina I Contemporanei Collection includes innovative and unexpected proposals by renowned Italian and international designers and emerging talents which embody still unspoken desires and needs. Cassina continues its cultivation of eclecticism and expressive diversity, which it consistently transforms into timeless products, forever adaptable to contemporary tastes.


CASSINA TODAY
A protagonist in international contemporary furniture design, Cassina produces chairs, tables, upholstered items, beds and containers and collaborates with the most important Italian and international designers and architects, from Mario Bellini to Rodolfo Dordoni, Piero Lissoni to Philippe Starck.

Since 2005, the company is part of the Poltrona Frau Group, world leader in the high-end furniture sector and spokesperson on the international scene for the best ‘made in Italy’ designs. The Group includes highly prominent companies such as Poltrona Frau, Cassina and Cappellini.
On the 20th of June 2013, Poltrona Frau Group, through Cassina, announced the acquisition of Simon – the historical Italian furniture design brand founded by Dino Gavina and Maria Simoncini - from Estel S.p.a.: a positive sign which gives further value to the Italian heritage of industrial design. This meeting tells the industrial story of two companies and two pioneering entrepreneurs united today by an experimental approach and the expression of the relationship between culture and production. SimonCollezione, a catalogue of excellence inserted in the Cassina I Contemporanei Collection, brings together renowned names such as Carlo Scarpa, Marcel Breuer and Kazuhide Takahama.

As well as the Residential Division, Cassina’s structure also includes a Contract Division that boasts extensive experience in the sector since the 50’s and 60’s. During those years, the company furnished 58 ships, including the Andrea Doria, the Raffaello, the Michelangelo and all the ships of Costa Armatori, and hundreds of hotels, bars, restaurants and residences. Currently the Cassina Contract Division operates worldwide and in synergy with the Contract Division of the Poltrona Frau Group, offering specific and targeted services. In particular, the company is dedicated to the interior design of boutiques, showrooms and the most exclusive restaurants and hotels (the SETAI Hotel in New York, the Sanderson Hotel in London, the Le Royal Monceau Hotel in Paris and the Conservatorium Hotel in Amsterdam), as well as additional special projects (The Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar, the London-Paris Eurostar lounge and the NTV CasaItalo lounges in Italy). The Division offers turnkey solutions, working alongside architects and designers, to plan and create elegant ad hoc furnishings, often characterised by special handcrafted workmanship.

The Italian market absorbs 25% of Cassina’s production output while 75% is exported worldwide. The brand has flagship showrooms in Milan, Paris, London, New York and Japan: Aoyama Tokyo, Fukuoka and Osaka.