.png)
First of all, how do we recognize a vintage piece of furniture by Poggi? Let's look at some of the most iconic, such as the Cicognino coffee table (1953) or the Luisa armchair (1950), both produced on designs by Franco Albini. Sober elegance and functionality come first, despite the innovative and dynamic shapes of these furnishings: as stated in the exhibition “The world of Poggi. The design and arts workshop ", dedicated to Poggi at the Politecnico of Milan in 2017, «it is as if the object had been broken down into its essential elements, then literally reassembled into a unicum that nevertheless retains the clear distinction between its parts».
With their unusual lines, these objects are the result of calculations of proportions and studied joints: a simplicity that conceals complex technical solutions, which also gives life to modular and therefore functional furniture. An example of this is the Infinito bookcase designed for Poggi by Albini in 1956: it does not need to be fixed to the wall, it offers a double surface, a divider with two sides that house bookcases and other storage solutions, and the uprights are fixed to the floor and to the ceiling.
To transmit the passion and the art of carpentry to Roberto Poggi (1924) — in the picture — and to his brother Ezio Poggi (1928-62) was their father Carlo who, from a small workshop in Pavia, gave life to the Luigi Poggi e Figli company, working on commissioned projects. We are in the '30s, the company was well established and when, on the death of Carlo, his children succeed him, we are already in the' 50s: it’s the beginning for the brand of its important collaborations with prominent Italian designers, from which many of the Poggi best sellers are born.
As you may have guessed, Franco Albini is one of the figures closest to the name of Poggi. The Milanese architect designed exclusive furniture for the company, establishing a partnership with it that lasted thirty years. More than a collaboration, historians define it as a real confrontation, a continuous exchange between two forces: on the one hand Roberto, an artisan passionate about painting and art, and who therefore acted as the designer's inspiration himself; on the other, an innovative architect, sensitive to the trends of the Milanese architectural and artistic culture of the 50s. The story goes that despite their own opinions, the two always shared an analysis of the functional reasons for the object, a concept that gave birth to absolutely iconic series furnishings.
Often these were furnishings created for private clients, which later became series, such as the 840 Stadera desk from 1954: elegant, always original in its shape because the top proves to be truly unusual, with different depths and two different thicknesses. Made for the first time for the Genoa Caterina Marcenaro’s house — art collector and in those years director of the Civic Museums of Genoa —, the desk has only one leg and lives on the balance set by the inequality of the arms, precisely as in the scale from which it takes its name.
In addition to Luisa, Cicognino and Infinito, Stadera, Poggi has put into production for Albini the Cavalletto table and the Tre Pezzi armchair (1959), but the history of this company is intertwined with numerous other great Italian designers of the '900, among which stand out Corrado Levi and Laura Petrazzini, Umberto Riva, Renzo Piano, Vico Magistretti, Ugo La Pietra, Marco Zanuso, Afra and Tobia Scarpa, prominent figures who accompanied the projects of the brand, which ceased its activity in 2010. Do not miss the next intOndo appointment dedicated to furniture companies not to be forgotten, and to the unique furniture that they have been able to create in collaboration with the great designers of the twentieth century.
