Zanotta Reale

Who knows what Carlo Mollino might have achieved today if he had had access to carbon fibre or other composite materials. In the 1950s, with solid wood and skilled craftsmen, he was able to create slender, sleek and filigree structures matched only by the contemporary constructions of Franco Albini and the lighter struts of his Veliero bookcase. Artfully designed, complex forms which, once understood, can nevertheless astonish through the constructive intelligence of a perfect mechanism in which every element is precisely joined, fitting together like twins by means of precise (and bespoke) metal connection systems. True masterpieces such as the Reale table, created with a compact, transparent skeleton and adorned with a crystal top that seems to frame it. In the mid-1980s, Zanotta came across the work of Carlo Mollino and began producing certain pieces of furniture designed by this versatile architect from Turin. Critically opposing the theories of the International Style, Mollino proposed a new poetic language, favouring organic, sentimental forms and the use of natural materials such as wood. Mollino's works are a concentrate of imagination and irony. In 1990, Zanotta reissued the Reale table, designed in 1947 for the offices of the Reale Mutua insurance company in Turin. With the production of the Reale, Zanotta continues its research into recovering objects from the past that represent important moments in the history of architecture and Italian design.