T 904
The
T 904 bench, a historic piece by Gastone Rinaldi and reissued by
Poltrona Frau, is a project of rare simplicity and elegance. It was originally
designed as a transportable side table with handles, supplied with cushions so
it could also be used as a seat. An item of furniture which, with its clean
design and use of tubular metal, revisits two distinctive features of 1950s
design which have come back into fashion today. The structure of the T904 bench
is designed with great precision in black painted steel tubing. The seat, composed
of a poplar plywood table with ash veneer in a teak stain, is very simple and
can be completed according to taste with three cushions placed on the wooden
surface. The cushions are padded in polyurethane foam and dacron. The
upholstery is in Pelle Frau® leather or removable fabric.
About Designer | |
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Gastone Rinaldi |
Gastone
Rinaldi was born in Padua on 16 November 1920. In 1916 his father Mario had
established RIMA, a company for the production of metal furniture. Gastone
enrolled in the Faculty of Economics, but he was passionate about design and
sport (as a footballer, he went as far as playing with Cremona, at the time
very strong, and as a racing car driver, he took part in the legendary Thousand
Mile race). In 1948, together with his brother Giorgio, he took over from his
father in managing the business. He met Gio Ponti and in 1950 he designed the
chairs (DU10 and DU11) for the Hospital Section of the IX Milan Triennial. At
the same Triennial, the DU9 chair was also presented. Domus published his
creations regularly. In 1952, he attended the XXX Milano Fair in the section
curated by Alberto Rosselli, Ettore Sottsass and Marco Zanuso. The armchairs
for the Piccolo theatre of Milan followed, with Zanuso. In 1954, he won the
Compasso d’Oro for the chair DU30. He participated with Ponti, Parisi, De Carli
and Gardella in the American adventure of Altamira, one of the first companies
across the ocean to call Italian designers. He therefore worked with Carlo
Mollino on the chairs for the Molinette Hospital of Turin. In 1957, the
armchair DU41 won the silver medal at the XI Triennial. However the internal
relations within RIMA became complex and in 1974 Rinaldi established Thema. In
1978, he obtained a nomination for the Compasso d’Oro for the armchair Arianna
and in 1981 another for the folding chair Dafne. Thema closed in 1989, Gastone
Rinaldi died in Padua on 02 March 2006. |