Zanotta Lia

Chair. Armchair. Aluminium alloy frame, polished or lacquered black, graphite or white. Seat, backrest and armrests padded with polyurethane. Removable cover in fabric or leather, or non-removable in cowhide. On request, two loose covers without fastening can be supplied: in 100% white cotton, either short, covering only the seat and backrest, or long, also covering the legs. In 1999, as part of what was by then an established line of research into chairs with aluminium frames, Zanotta presented the Lia chair, innovative for its ever more advanced use of die-casting: the side of the chair consists of a single aluminium-alloy element carrying the front and rear legs and the backrest of the chair. Roberto Barbieri's skill in designing this chair also lay in deftly merging an important technological innovation with a neutral, unobtrusive idea of form that can easily adapt to any setting and any furnishing style. He always started from the Thonet No. 14, the chair par excellence, and from that model of comfort with its double-curved backrest, on both the vertical and horizontal axes. With these certainties as a starting point, he then experimented with new construction possibilities, sharing his challenges in order to achieve new successes with the company. Openness, collaboration, flexibility and innovation: these are the cornerstones of the Microsoft House, the headquarters of Microsoft Italia at Viale Pasubio 21 in Milan, in the vibrant Porta Volta district.