Cassina Biography
Cassina's (1927 - ) illustrious legacy includes being one of the first companies to bring industrial design to Italy in the 1950s. Founded in 1927 in Meda, Italy, by brothers Cesare and Umberto Cassina, the Italian manufacturing giant originally specialized in custom woodworking. In the nearly a century since its founding, the company has shown incredible foresight regarding design trends and the evolution of technology. In 1964, Cassina signed an exclusive licensing agreement to produce furniture by Le Corbusier and his collaborators, such as the LC4 chaise longue made with pioneering French modernist Charlotte Perriand and Pierre Jeanneret, a move that would shape the company's future . The I Maestri di Cassina collection is an ongoing initiative to restyle historic 20th century designs, such as pieces by Gerrit Rietveld (the 1918 red and blue armchair), Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Erik Gunnar Asplund, Franco Albini and Frank Lloyd Wright. The company retains the original intentions and styles of their designs, but adds updated techniques, materials and processes, making them the best possible combination of past, present and future. The brand has also worked with contemporary icons such as Zaha Hadid, Gio Ponti and Philippe Starck. Cassina's original designs are also cutting edge. They include pieces for everyday use, the development of which is driven by comfort and the marriage of Italian craftsmanship with industrial technology. Some of Cassina's pieces, both from its contemporary collection and from I Maestri, are found in the collections of museums such as the Museum of Modern Art and the Vitra Design Museum. In 2014, the company joined Haworth in its acquisition of Italian furniture group Poltrona Frau, and in 2015 Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola joined Cassina as artistic director, leading the brand into its next century of inventive style.
