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Previously exhibited at Basel 2022.
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Description/
CARLO MOLLINO, PAIR OF OVERLAPPING SINGLE BEDS, 1955, SOLID OAK WOOD, BRASS, LAMINATE
H 106 x 195 x 85 cm EACH,
140 kg, CASA DEL SOLE, CERVINIA (ITALY). Photo credit: COURTESY OF GALLERIA ROSSELLA COLOMBARI.
Carlo Mollino, architect, designer and photographer, is an eclectic and central figure in the international design scene. Mollino created this pair of stackable beds for La Casa del Sole in Cervinia, a modern vertical building intended for tourists visiting the Italian mountain site. This pair of beds reflect the designer’s obsession with aesthetics and efficiency. Born in Turin, Italy, in 1905, mid-century modern designer, architect, photographer, and writer Carlo Mollino was the son of prominent civil engineer Eugenio Mollino (1873–1953). The younger Mollino initially enrolled at Turin Polytechnic, and studied engineering for one year there before attending an art history course in Ghent, Belgium, for six months in 1929. He next enrolled at the School of Architecture at the University of Turin. After graduating in 1931, Mollino began working in his father’s practice and on independent projects. Notable designs from this period include the headquarters for the Società Ippica Torinese (1937–39; destroyed in 1960) in Turin and the headquarters of Confederazione degli Agricoltori (1933–34) in Cuneo. During this time he also began designing his first furnishings, including Casa Miller (1936), his own apartment where he photographed his first black-and-white portraits of women. From the late 1940s until the mid- 1950s, Mollino produced a vast number of works, from domestic commissions to Alpine resorts.
Carlo Mollino
designer
After studying mechanical engineering and art history, followed by architecture at Turin University, Mollino went to work for the engineering company owned by his father, Eugenio Mollino. By the 1940s, Carlo was creating his own furniture designs and architectural projects. He took part in various architecture competitions (winning first prize for the Federazione Agricoltori) and collaborated with other artists, such as Italian sculptor Umberto Mastroianni with whom he designed the Monument to the Partisan in Turin.
His work was often considered outrageous, flamboyant, versatile, futuristic, surrealist, eclectic, and eccentric, to say the least. He himself described his work as “Turinese Baroque.” With the introduction of the Polaroid instant camera, Mollino created a series of portraits in his studio-home, Casa Miller. A house he never lived in, but where he would go every day to work, and which was along the Po river and across the street from where his good friend and artist Carlo Rama lived.
Material/
Brass, Wood
Dimension/
85.0 x 106.0 x 195.0 cm (33.5 x 41.7 x 76.8 in)
