Superleggera chair

This chair was designed by Giò Ponti and produced by Cassina in
1957 with the aim of creating a piece of furniture that was inspired by a
common object, an everyday item, using traditional materials, but with new
technical methods. During
the post-war period, when it was necessary for furnishings to be cheap, Giò
Ponti designed a chair of timeless classicism so that it could be the everyday
chair: practical, cheap, easy to handle, light, slender and different in style
from the modern, organic and rational chairs of the Fifties. The chair, inspired by the traditional
Chiavarina chair, had to be both light (it weighs just 1.7 kg) and sturdy. To
test it, Giò Ponti threw one from the fourth floor of a building and the chair,
instead of breaking, bounced upwards. This chair could be produced in natural
ash or painted black or white, the seat covered in cane or with strips of
plastic in beautiful colours. The
triangular-shaped legs are tapered downwards. Its success was such that it was exhibited
in America, while France and Holland asked for permission to reproduce the
model. Superleggera represents a link between the past and the present,
combining traditional craftsmanship with the modern world of design.