Maralunga Sofa

An industrial designer, furniture designer, architect and urban planner, Vico Magistretti was born in Milan. Heavily influenced by the humanist work of his mentor, Ernesto Nathan Rogers, combined with the rebuilding needs after World War II, Magistretti built with human scale in mind. His architectural work includes his involvement in the experimental neighborhood of QT8, where he designed a round church. His product design abilities led him to collaborations with Artemide, Cassina, De Padova, Flou, Fritz Hansen, Kartell and Schiffini.

Magistretti’s decades-long collaboration with Cassina was built on experimentation, idea promotion, and working directly with artisans and producers. Magistretti stated, “from the beginning…we worked together, in a way that is unique in the world…we discussed projects together from the start. I never produced finished designs…the design grew out of discussions, after looking at the technology available, the machines which the company used.” His work is still produced by Cassina to this day, including the Claritas Floor Lamp and the Maralunga 40 sofa.