Living with past marked year in design

Re-Issues, Restorations and Retrospectives as we lost Ponti, Zanuso and Bertoia

If product re-issues are an indicator of enduring popularity, then 2003 was a good year for Italian design.
Designers no longer with us, such as Harry Bertoia, Gio Ponti and Marco Zanuso, were all recognized for their career achievements with re-issues of their classic designs. Bertoia's Diamond chair - startling when it first appeared in the early 1950s - featured a configuration so complex that its manufacturer, Knoll, had to rely on hand made production. Originally designed for a General Motors showroom, Bertoia's intricate lattice of chromed industrial wire rods was clearly meant for a wider audience. Knoll re-issued the chair (modestly referred to as the "421" chair by the designer himself) in outdoor powder coat finishes of red, yellow, green and blue. Bertoia, born in San Lorenzo, Udine in 1915, emigrated with his family to America in 1930.
Gio Ponti is widely regarded as the father of Italian industrial design in the 20th century. Although much of his work involved laying the groundwork for the Italian design industry, he also contributed significant designs such as his 1957 Superleggera chair for Cassina and his co-design with Pier Luigi Nervi of the Pirelli building in Milan, Italy's first skyscraper. New York-based textile designer and manufacturer Maharam recognized Ponti's stature with a re-issue of the designer's 1930 fabric pattern, I Morosi alla Finestra (The Lovers at the Window), which is typical of Ponti's unique talent for combining tradition with modernity.
Television sets were big and bulky when they first became popular in the 1950s, but the 1960s demanded a more space age design. In Italy, designers Marco Zanuso and Richard Sapper achieved this with snappy designs such as the Doney and Algol television sets for manufacturer Brionvega. Doney was the first completely transistorized TV to be produced in Italy and each of the designers' collaborations, which resulted in portable and user-friendly designs, also made full use of the decade's fascination for plastic. Brionvega re-released these classic designs in 2003. Zanuso, who died in 2001, was also recognized for his furniture innovations when B&B Italia marketed a limited edition of the designer's classic 1966 Lombrico sofa, which featured an unprecedented modularity. If one had the money and the space, the Lombrico could be one very long sofa.
Enzo Mari is in his early 70s but the influential designer is as busy as ever with projects. Still, long-time client Danese Milano saw fit to re-issue Mari's extensive line of home and office accessories which have been in production since the 1960s. If it's a Mari design, rest assured it has been given a lot of thought. Legend has it he once worked on an ashtray design for a year and in the end had nothing to show for it but a nicotine habit.
The year that was wasn't all about the past, though. B&B trumpeted Milan's Patricia Urquiola as a designer to watch. Her Lazy armchair employed industrial-grade materials to achieve an arresting design. American designer Jeffrey Bernett strengthened the B&B product line-up with his minimal and elegant forms which recalled the work of leading Italian designer Antonio Citterio. The manufacturer Minotti weighed in with the Hockney sofa by Rodolfo Dordoni, who may be ready to make the leap to big-league designer.
One of the most popular Italian designs locally continues to be the Bombo stool by Stefano Gionvannoni. Produced by Magis, the design has unfortunately attracted its share of knockoff designs which put a marketing squeeze on the original because the imitators use cheaper materials and therefore offer their knockoff design at lower prices. It's an old story in the industry (in many industries, one would suppose), so consumers serious about design have to remain vigilant in their buying decisions.
Contributing to a wide spectrum of product categories is a long tradition for Italian designers, so it's not surprising that car design legend Giorgetto Giugiaro tried his hand at office chair design. The Contessa chair, by Giugiaro's ItalDesign studio, features a unique mesh fabric seat and minimal styling which emphasizes user comfort. Giugiaro's classic car designs include the 1960s Maserati Ghibli, the original Volkswagen Golf, the Lancia Delta and the more recent Maserati Spyder. The Contessa chair is marketed in North America by Toronto office furniture manufacturer Teknion.
American modernist architect Richard Meier set himself a daunting task for his first church design - he was commissioned by the Roman Arch Diocese to design a new building for the Church's Millennium Project. Delays meant the resulting design of Dio Padre Misericordioso in the Rome suburb of Tor Tre Teste instead commemorated the 25th anniversary of the pontificate of Pope John Paul II. Using a characteristic palette of white, Meier devised three sail-like concrete shells which formed the new church's exterior and suggested the Holy Trinity. The effect is striking and no less inside, where natural light fills the nave. An admirer of classic Italian architecture, Meier has also designed Rome's new Museum of the Ara Pacis, which is scheduled to open next summer.
Toronto architect Ralph Giannone continued to impress with his innovative interiors. Giannone created an ambient space of leafy green and warm wood tones for Fresh By Juice For Life, a popular vegetarian restaurant in the hip West Queen West neighbourhood. The architect's well-received Bar One design is just a few doors away and up next for Giannone is a modern interpretation of the traditional British inn, to be located on the Little Italy strip of College Street.
Interior designers Elaine Cecconi and Anna Simone made a name for themselves with their creative work on the landmark Merchandise Lofts project in the mid 1990s, and the design team continue to refine their talent for creating elegantly modern multi-functional spaces. Cecconi and Simone recently designed the suites at Massey Harris Lofts, a residential conversion of the former King and Strachan headquarters of the now-defunct Canadian farm equipment giant. The designers, who also have a retail business named Oni One, have recently worked on another residential conversion project in the High Park area. Their recent international work includes contributing designs to a New Urbanist style housing project outside Seattle, Washington.
With the armload of awards they've received recently, Toronto designers Diego Burdi and Paul Filek could be excused for feeling satisfied with their output to date, but clearly they are not. Filek told Tandem earlier this year that the firm has its sights on an increasing number of international design projects. In the meantime, they were challenged to re-design the downtown Toronto flagship of luxury retailer Holt Renfrew. Working with exotic woods and other custom finishes, Burdi and Filek provided an appropriate backdrop for the high end shop. Other clients include Caban, Club Monaco and Danier Leather, but the design duo also found the time to lend their modern sensibility to a Woodbridge trattoria.
Toronto's Munge Leung Design Associates is a younger firm that is just beginning to find a real footing with clients. Like Burdi and Filek, Alessandro Munge and Sai Leung formed their partnership after beginning their careers at acclaimed Yabu Pushelberg. Munge Leung's best-known project to date is The Guvernment nightclub on the city's lakefront, but they recently debuted Ultra, a modern supper club at the former Queen and Spadina location of the legendary BamBoo club. The designers have also been busy with renovations at the former Eglinton Theatre, which has been re-born as a special events venue. Munge and Leung are replicating some of the original theatre's former Art Deco glory by designing new lighting fixtures and elements in the early 20th century style.
With renovations at the old Eglinton, the much-anticipated unveiling of a restored Art Deco auditorium and restaurant at Yonge and College, and an Art Deco retrospective at the Art Gallery of Ontario (curated by London's Victoria & Albert Museum), it was easy to conclude that the decadent 1930s style was back in a big way. New-found interest will likely be lessened, however, because both the new Eglinton Grand and the restored downtown space, renamed The Carlu after original architect Jacques Carlu, are special event, and therefore mostly invitation-only, venues. Like it or loathe it, Art Deco styling has its historic merits and deserves a wider public exposure.
Last October in New York, the Italian Trade Commission co-sponsored a 50-year retrospective of the best of Italian design from the 20th century. The work of greats like Castiglioni, Magistretti and Sottsass were all well-represented in the show, which perhaps indicated that, for many, 2003 was a year for looking back. It seems we're still getting used to this new century.

Publication Date: 2004-01-11
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=3520