Gastone Rinaldi Biography
Gastone Rinaldi (1920 - 2006) was born in Padua on 16 November 1920. His father, Mario, had founded RIMA in 1916, a small company for the production of metal furniture. After finishing high school, Gastone enrolled in the Faculty of Economics and Commerce. However, his passions are different: sport and design. In 1948, together with his brother Giorgio, he took over the management of the company from his father. He met Gio Ponti and in 1950, with his consultancy, he designed the chairs for the Hospital Section of the IX Triennale of Milan. The DU9 tilting back chair was also presented at the same Triennale. In those years Domus regularly published his creations. In 1952 he participated in the XXX Trade Fair in the "Industrial Art and Aesthetics" section curated, among others, by Alberto Rosselli, Ettore Sottsass and Marco Zanuso. This was followed, with Zanuso, by the seats for the Piccolo Teatro in Milan. In 1954 he obtained the Compasso d'Oro for the DU30 chair. Participates, with Ponti, Parisi, De Carli and Gardella, in the American adventure of Altamira, one of the first overseas companies to call Italian designers. He then worked with Carlo Mollino on the chairs for the Molinette Hospital in Turin. In 1957 the DU41 armchair won the silver medal at the XI Triennale. As the years passed, however, internal relations within RIMA became complex and in 1974 Gastone Rinaldi founded Thema. In 1978 he obtained a Compasso d'Oro nomination for the Arianna armchair and, in 1981, another for the Dafne folding chair, his latest masterpiece. Thema closed in 1989. Gastone Rinaldi died in Padua on 2 March 2006.
