410 Cab
“This was a new kind of chair,
constructed totally out of leather, much cloned since then.” Thus Mario Bellini
describes Cab, a best-seller that he designed in the 1970s, which is now a
signature piece in Cassina’s I Contemporanei collection. Cab was the first-ever
chair to feature a free-standing leather structure, inspired by how our skin
fits over our skeleton. The upholstery consists of sixteen pieces of saddle
leather. Individually die-cut, they then undergo fourteen discrete procedures,
again by hand. The pieces are sewn together only when their outer edges have
been trimmed to ensure a perfect fit. Once assembled, the cover is attached to
the chair’s steel skeleton and held in place by means of a zipper fastening, as
in a bespoke tailored garment. The wide array of colours for the saddle leather
cushion is now complemented by pigmented saddle leather in black, brown and
Russian red.
About Designer | |
---|---|
Mario Bellini |
Mario Bellini, born 1935
in Milan, studied architecture at the Milan Polytechnic. He taught at the
Istituto Superiore di Disegno Industriale in Venice from 1962-65 and worked as
a design consultant for Olivetti from 1963-91. He also designed independent
products and furnishings beginning in 1963, establishing the architectural and
design firm Studio Bellini in Milan in 1973. He served as a design consultant
to Renault from 1978-82. In 1987 the New York Museum of Modern Art honoured him
with a retrospective exhibition of his works. He was an instructor at the
Hochschule für Angewandte Kunst in Vienna from 1982-83 and at the Domus Academy
in Milan from 1983-85. Bellini was chief editor of Domus magazine between
1986-91. He assumed a position on the architectural faculty at the University
of Genoa in 1995, and teaches seminars and workshops at universities and
academic institutions around the world. |