Carlo Mollino

Carlo Mollino (1905-1973) was one of the most eccentric and peculiar figures of Italian architectural design in the twentieth century. Born and lived in Turin until his death, son of an important engineer, Mollino is many things at the same time: dandy and grand viveur, skilled skier (a discipline he teaches and on which he writes a famous manual), passionate car driver (in the 1950s he races the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans on a car designed and engineered by himself) and acrobatic airplanes, refined photographer (often with an erotic theme). But, above all, he is an architect, and he is an architect in his own way, pursuing an extreme and baroque style that earns him as many admirers as detractors. Among his most famous works, there are the Teatro Regio in Turin and Casa Garelli in Champoluc. However, what remains of him are his furnishings, with bold and sinuous curves, often inspired by the shapes of the female body, heirs of the suggestions of Surrealism and in turn prefiguring the trend towards Biomorphism that takes root in international design starting from the years '50. Behind the dreamlike appearance, Mollino funiture hides a rigorous engineering precision, got back with the utmost philological scruple from the reissues that Zanotta has been offering exclusively since 1982.