Gianfranco Frattini: ieri, oggi, domani is a gratifying exhibition for architect and designer Emanuela Frattini Magnusson, daughter of the late Gianfranco Frattini, a visionary known for shaping the Italian Design Movement through his prolific collaborations with Cassina, Artemide, and Knoll, among others. Held at the Palazzo Arese Borromeo in Cesano Maderno, a small town north of Milan, the show establishes a striking contrast between the venue’s 17th-century frescos and the designer’s “very pure and rigorous designs,” nodding to his professional regional ties, Frattini Magnusson told AN.
The decision to hold the month-long showcase in the province of Brianza connects the exhaustive collections to their roots, as Fratitini forged his earliest creations here working with craftsmen and artisans throughout his 50-year career. First a student of Gio Ponti, he then met Cesare Cassina, where he continued to develop Cassina’s aesthetic of Italian modernism through a bevy of furniture pieces like nesting tables, the Mod. 849 lounge chair, walnut dining chairs, and later, the Sesann Series. In 1956, he cofounded the ADI (the Association for Industrial Design) and continued to practice both industrial design and architecture that brought sleek Italian style to the forefront until his death in 2004. “He was a firm believer in the importance of a symbiotic relationship between design and industry, and in a direct relationship between the designer and the decision maker on the production side,” Frattini Magnusson said.
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