I had seen the Utrecht Chair and the curved threesome, but not the twosome version of the Utrecht chair yet. Here it was at the 2012 IMM Cologne booth of Cassina.
Tag: Cassina
Red 111 Wink Easy Chair by Toshiyuki Kita – 2012 IMM Cologne (01)
Yes I spent an afternoon at IMM – Cologne and took some photos. Here the 111 Wink in red by Toshiyuki Kita at the Cassina booth.
Utrecht or Metz chair by Gerrit Rietveld Reissued by Cassina
The reissue by Cassina of Gerrit Rietveld’s Utrecht or Metz Chair:
IMM Furniture Show
Cassina presented its Maestri collection which re-produces classical designs in new materials. The exclusive reproduction rights have been acquired by the company for Le Corbusier, Rietveld, Mackintosh and some more.
Via Core77.
Aspen Sofa by Jean Marie Massaud
When two names like Cassina and Jean Marie Massaud team up the results are bound to be impressive, and more than likely very contemporary. The Aspen opposing sofas work well together as a long sleek single seating surface, or as individual chaise lounges. Cassina’s Aspen collection includes an end table suspended on a center cylinder that blends into the side of the sofa in a very smooth transition. The sofa comes in 180 and 260cm lengths and delicately floats on two feet that remind me of ice skate blades. Here Aspen is combined with another Massaud design, the Auklund lounge chair and ottoman shown in black leather, for a most stunning modern statement.
Contemporary Rietveld Utrecht Chair at Christie’s
Rietveld Utrecht Chair
Photo thanks to Christie’s
Italian manufacurer Cassina claims:
Advertising announcement appeared in the “Corriere della Sera” published on 16th March 1972: The text quotes:
“Cassina S.p.A. announces that it has purchased the exclusive reproduction rights for all furniture and objects by Rietveld and by his heirs, resident in Amsterdam. Gerrit T. Rietveld is one of the most significant members of the ”DE STIJL”, the artistic movement born in Holland around 1920 which has given this century ‘s greatest Dutch contribution to figurative art, architecture and design. His work has deeply influenced the european artistic language by setting an original syntax of forms, materials and space”.
This advertising announcement was the crowning point of the complex but pleasant negotiations between Cassina – or more precisely, the Cassina family – and the Rietveld family who were represented at the time by the oldest daughter, Elisabeth, who was assisted by her husband, Dr. Eskes.
The agreement for the purchase of the reproduction rights was consequently signed by the two parties at the Eskes-Rietveld home in Amsterdam, in September 1971, and it is still in force. The necessary consultancy for the initial reconstruction work of the two pieces of furniture under production, the Zig-Zag chair and Red and Blue armchair, in addition to the graphic design of communication instruments, was supplied by Daniele Baroni. The first prototypes were realized at Cassina’s Centro Ricerche e Sviluppo together with G.A. van de Groenekan, Rietveld’s close collaborator. This permitted an interesting comparison between the original construction techniques and the technological know-how of Cassina’s wood craftsmen.
The construction method was later enriched, with Filippo Alison’s help, from the comparison between two different cultures, both of which are involved in the realization of the same objective: the realization, using present day materials and technologies, of design ideas dating back to 1927 through 1935.
The production of the Utrecht model, armchair and sofa designed in 1935, has been started in 1988, to celebrate the centenary of Rietveld’s birth.
Two of these chairs were in auction at Christie’s Amsterdam today.
I am a bit confused as these chair seems very much the same design as th Metz & Co desing of my prior post.
Luckily the firm Design Matcher which has its seat in The Hague (where I live) sheds some light here:
The Utrecht chair was Rietveld’s first upholstered furniture design. Probably he made the chair because the customers of Metz & Co and his own private principals had a need for easy chairs.
The chair was presented by Metz & Co for the first time in the flyer of 1937 with the number R.31 and was lined up in the show house ‘the new home’ in 1937 in The Hague (nr. 267). A 3-seater could be supplied based on this model. After the war the chair was again taken in production by Metz. In a flyer of Metz from 1963 an arm chair, 2-seater and a 3-seater are offered with woolen upholster. The round version, which now is made by Cassina has never been produced by Metz (design date 1936, produced from 1986).
They also point out Rietveld’s clever design idea of the 90 degree angle between the seat and the back and the 90 degree angle between the arm rests and the front legs.
Last edited by gje on October 17, 2010 at 12:18 AM