Radio in Cristallo

Radio in Cristallo: A quest to uncover the essential 

This radio, mounted between two support­ing sheets of tempered glass, was orig­i­nally conceived by Franco Albini as a proto­type model for his own home in 1938. The idea was born when the archi­tect received a tradi­tional wooden-cased radio as a wedding present. Due to its embalmed and clumsy aspect, he decided to take apart and reassem­ble to main­tain only its essen­tial electrical components. 

The project that Cassina proposes results today from a subse­quent step devel­oped by Albini for indus­trial produc­tion presented at the compe­ti­tion for modern furni­ture held by the Swiss company Wohnbe­darf in Zurich in 1940. 

Radio in Cristallo is a symbol of Franco Albini’s design method. The archi­tect believed that this tech­no­log­i­cal object, at the time contained in a cumber­some and above all incon­gru­ent wooden container, could be restored to authen­tic moder­nity. He wanted to show what he thought was neces­sary: the tech­ni­cal-func­tional compo­nents, by remov­ing the excess mate­r­ial and break­ing down the device to enhance the true essence of the project.

The radio is a clear sign of the trans­for­ma­tion towards the modern. It repre­sents the architect’s commit­ment to research and inno­va­tion while under­lin­ing his desire to develop alter­na­tive solu­tions, always inspired by those prin­ci­ples of simplic­ity and ​‘light­ness’ at the core of his method — the allure of the radio and its devel­op­ment with new tech essen­tials. The radio is a call for inno­va­tion, a commu­ni­ca­tion device, revo­lu­tion­ary at the time and perhaps today, in contrast, that has always been loved for its great evocative capacity. 

In close collab­o­ra­tion with the Fondazione Franco Albini, Cassina has devel­oped the radio presented at the 1940 Wohnbe­darf. This model, with iden­ti­cal propor­tions, follows the same concept as the radio disas­sem­bled for Albini’s own home but, prob­a­bly aware of the diffi­cul­ties for serial produc­tion, he decides to encase the tech­ni­cal part in a mono­lith suspended in the support­ing glass structure.

Today the Radio in Cristallo has a state-of-the-art B&C speaker. FM radio and Blue­tooth pairing func­tions can be navi­gated with the four stain­less knobs on the front glass plate together with a 7″ display.

In a sign of authen­tic­ity, each radio bears the logo and signa­ture of Franco Albini and the progres­sive number corre­spond­ing to the iden­tity card that accom­pa­nies each piece, like all items in the Cassina I Maestri Collection. 

The excel­lent sound perfor­mance of the radio can be further enhanced with an optional subwoofer that, thanks to the trans­mis­sion of low frequen­cies, creates an even more immersive experience.