How an icon is born: the story of Gio Ponti's 699 Superleggera chair for Cassina
The chair 699 Superleggera designed in 1955 by Gio Ponti for inaugurates our new section dedicated to the authentic icons of design: furnishings that have made school, which have passed the test of time, becoming models of style and functionality. Its name is linked to its surprising weight: only 1.7 kg. Gio Ponti himself claimed that Superleggera was one of his most successful projects, together with the Pirelli skyscraper in Milan and the Concattedrale di Taranto, while defining it, at the same time "a simple chair".
Gio Ponti's collaboration with Cassina, which took place between 1949 and 1965, was based on the interaction between industrial and artisanal production. This is still happening today, if we think that in the processing of Superleggera, made entirely in the woodworking department of the company headquarters in Meda (Monza) the machines used for gluing, sanding and assembling are guided by the skilled hands of the artisans.
This "simple chair" so slender and so robust, so essential but with a strong personality, was born as an evolution of Chiavari's chair, a tradition of Ligurian carpentry, characterized by the essentiality of the combination of wood and straw. Ponti worked primarily on the back, slightly tilting the upper part back to give a more modern impression. Then it transforms the supporting structure, entrusting it to legs and uprights of triangular section - no longer circular - to make it even lighter.
An extremely versatile chair that is easy to integrate in any furnishing context. The classic model is in natural ash, black or white lacquered, with cane seat, next to it there are the variables with padded seat, covered in leather or fabric. Among the most curious anecdotes, the most famous about testing: it is said that Cesare Cassina had thrown the chair in the courtyard of the company to test its resistance.
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