While working under the polymath Gio Ponti — arguably the most important figure in 20th-century Italian modernism — furniture designer Franco Albini nurtured a love for modern forms combined with traditional craft techniques.
Albini is widely known for working with organic materials such as rattan and cane for his chairs and other seating, but he also played a pivotal role in the Italian rationalist movement of the early 20th century, which saw architects and furniture makers applying a strict emphasis on geometry in their work. Rationalists drew on Ancient Roman architecture but rejected ornament, much in the way that Le Corbusier and celebrated Bauhaus figures such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe had in their modernist furniture.
Albini received his degree in architecture from the Polytechnic University of Milan in 1929, and, in 1931, he founded his practice in Milan, where he tackled workers’ housing and other reconstruction projects. A gifted urban planner, he also developed the Palazzo Bianco, Palazzo Rosso and Tesoro di San Lorenzo museums in Genoa. While Albini is revered for his Margherita chair — a Triennale Milano award winner created for Bonacina in 1951 — he also collaborated with manufacturers Poggi and Cassina in the 1940s on seating, tables and more that embodied his artistic vision. Of that mid-century work, the one piece that perhaps best captures this vision is the iconic Luisa chair.
With its cherry red upholstery and sinuous wooden legs that seem to float aboveground, the Luisa is a genuine masterpiece. It is also a testament to Albini’s perfectionism, as it endured several prototypes — including one made by Knoll in the late 1940s — and took approximately 15 years to design. Poggi launched the final version of the armchair in 1955, earning Albini the prestigious Compasso d’Oro from Italy’s Association for Industrial Design. It is produced today by Cassina. Albini named the chair for someone who likely saw the process firsthand: his personal secretary of two decades, Luisa Colombini.
Find vintage Franco Albini furniture on 1stDibs.
Franco Albini Radio in Cristallo by Cassina, Modern Italian Design
By Franco Albini
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Franco Albini Radio In Cristallo For Cassina LIMITED EDITION OF 5 PIECES HAND WIRED A radio at the forefront of modern Italian design, developed from a canny intuition to put the ...
Lacquer
L'Arredamento Moderno. Quarta Serie (1949)
By Franco Albini, Roberto Aloi
Located in New York, NY
An important postwar compendium of international modern furniture and interior design, the fourth installment of Roberto Aloi's influential series documenting the evolution of modern...
Paper
$6,800Sale Price|20% Off
H 48.04 in W 42.13 in D 81.11 in
Sculptural form brass day bed by Osvaldo Borsani, Arredamento Borsani, circa 1958
By Arredamenti Borsani, Osvaldo Borsani, Arnaldo Pomodoro
Located in bergen op zoom, NL
Beautiful and important sculpturakl form brass single bed or day bed circa 1958-1963 by Osvaldo Borsani for 'Arredamento Borsani', Varedo , Italy. The small series of Borsani beds designed were produced in several different designs ,each in very limited numbers and all hand made by the Arredamento Borsani in Varedo, italy. This series of beds never went into serial industrial production , a fact confirmed to me by the Arredamento Borsani archives. Beginning in the late 1950s,Osvaldo Borsani went on to collaborate with many great artists such as Lucio Fontana, Fausto Melotti, Agenore Fabbri, Aligi Sassu and Arnaldo Pomodoro, amongst others entrusting each to provide decorative elements to his designs. The brass headboard features a series of heavy cast solid brass interlocking geometric elements each featuring a beautiful organic three dimensional surface finish creating a supremely elegant and timeless repetitive motif . The bed still retains all its original decorative brass nuts ,bolts and finials which feature the same three dimensional decorative finish as the decorative sculptural forms contained in the headboard. We have had a new bespoke mattress and bolster pillow made with a natural latex foam surface as they would have originally had which also has the benefit that latex breathes. The mattress has an opulent decorative buttoned finish . Botht the mattress and pillow have been finished in 100% wool 'PLOEGWOOL' fabric by the high quality Dutch fabric manufacturer DE PLOEG. MATTRESS DIMENSIONS : Width 100cm x length 200cm / 3ft 3.37inch x 6ft 6.74inch BOLSTER PILLOW DIMENSIONS: Width 100cm diameter 24cm / 3ft 3.37inch x 9.45inch The mattress is supported on a 20mm ( 0.75 inch ) thick plywood board ,with breathing holes, which spans across the transverse brass plated steel frame elements. When used as a day bed SEATING...
Brass
Esempi Reprint, Lighting, 1934-1964, Italy, 2010s
By Roberto Aloi
Located in Milan, IT
Esempi was one of the most important interior design publications from the 1930s to the 1970s. Over 500 models of table, floor and ceiling lamps...
Paper
$34
H 10.63 in W 7.88 in D 0.04 in
1949 French Fillette Magazine No. 174, Illustrated Nautical Cover - 2C195
Located in Bordeaux, FR
Dated November 17, 1949, this issue of Fillette features a colourful cover for L’Archipel maudit, depicting figures aboard a sailing boat approaching a rocky island. Inside, illustra...
Paper
$34
H 10.63 in W 7.88 in D 0.04 in
1949 French Fillette Magazine No. 172, Illustrated Adventure Cover - 2C193
Located in Bordeaux, FR
Dated November 3, 1949, this issue of the French children’s magazine Fillette has a dramatic colour cover for L’Archipel maudit, showing a young woman aboard a boat as a crocodile em...
Paper
$39
H 10.63 in W 7.49 in D 0.04 in
1949 French Fillette Magazine No. 173, Illustrated Horseback Cover - 2C212
Located in Bordeaux, FR
Published on November 10, 1949, this issue of Fillette features a dramatic cover for Le Chevalier de Vallahad, depicting mounted figures against a rocky landscape. Signed by Kline, t...
Paper
Móvel Moderno Brasileiro, Brazilian Modern Design, Book
Located in Deerfield Beach, FL
The Brazilian modern design book extensively classifies the work of 15 of the most representative Brazilian furniture designers in the mod...
Paper
$136 / item
H 11.23 in W 9.45 in D 1.19 in
ESEMPI Reprint - Chairs, Armchairs and Sofas, 1934-1950 VOL. I
By Roberto Aloi
Located in Milan, IT
ESEMPI REPRINT. Chairs, Armchairs, and Sofas. 1934-1950. Volume I More than 1000 models of chairs, armchairs and sofas, 300 designers, 20 years of Italian and international producti...
Paper
$7,989
H 39.77 in W 70.08 in D 80.32 in
Italian mid-century modern wood double bed by Franco Albini for Poggi, 1960s
By Franco Albini, Poggi
Located in MIlano, IT
Italian mid-century modern wooden double bed by Franco Albini for Poggi, 1960s Double bed with a wooden structure. The headboard has a rounded profile, while the footboard is rectang...
Wood
$235
H 2.32 in W 1.32 in D 3 in
1949 Art Deco Ronson "Spartan" Streamline Table Lighter in Chrome & Black Enamel
By Louis Vincent Aronson, Ronson
Located in Red Lion, PA
1949 Ronson “Spartan” Streamline Table Lighter in Chrome & Black Enamel Designed and made in the USA in 1949, this Ronson “Spartan” table lighter is a sleek slice of postwar style. ...
Enamel, Chrome
$2,985
H 5.25 in W 3.45 in D 0.39 in
MYLFLAM ENGLAND Dublin 1949 Compendium Lighter Case In .925 Sterling Silver
Located in Miami, FL
A compendium lighter cigarette case made in England. This is a very rare compendium cigarettes and lighter case, created in Dublin England during the post-war back in 1947. The enti...
Sterling Silver
$856
H 22.05 in Dm 11.23 in
Midcentury Bamboo and Rattan Umbrella Stand Franco Albini Style, Italy 1960s
By Franco Albini
Located in Rome, IT
Midcentury wonderful umbrella stand or basket in curved rattan and bamboo in the style of Franco Albini, Made in Italy in the 1960s.
Bamboo, Wicker, Rattan
$570
H 25.6 in Dm 10.63 in
Bamboo and Wicker Umbrella Stand in the Style of Franco Albini, Italy, 1960s
By Franco Albini
Located in Roma, IT
Umbrella stand made of bamboo, Franco Albini style, Italy 1960s.
Bamboo, Wicker, Rattan
Franco Albini Coat Rack in Bamboo and Woven Rattan, Italy 1960s
By Franco Albini
Located in Roma, IT
Wonderful mid-century organic coat rack fully hand-made in bamboo, curved rattan and hand-woven wicker. This charming and unique piece was designed by Franco Albini and produced in ...
Bamboo, Rattan, Wood, Walnut
1949 Nineteen Eighty-Four
By George Orwell
Located in Bath, GB
The first U.K. edition of George Orwell's important and culture defining dystopian novel, a superb finely bound copy. The first UK. edition, with 'First published 1949' stated to th...
Paper
Stylized Midcentury Bamboo Coat Tree After Franco Albini / Italy
By Franco Albini
Located in Buffalo, NY
Stylized midcentury Bamboo Coat Tree after Franco Albini / Italy. Wonderful original condition.
Bamboo
Sold
H 21.5 in W 18.25 in D 29.5 in
Sculptural Mid-Century Modern Italian Wicker Rattan Rocking Horse, Franco Albini
By Franco Albini
Located in Lambertville, NJ
Sculptural Mid-Century Modern Italian rattan rocking horse by Franco Albini. This decorative object is perfect for displaying in a child's room, o...
Rattan