Turner Bookcases

Description
Designer Bio

Brand: Poltrona Frau

Download:

Created by the masterful architect and designer Gianfranco Frattini (1926-2004), one of the trailblazers of the golden era of Italian design, the Turner swivel bookcase first saw the light in 1963 as Modello 823. Inspired by the classic English freestanding bookcases, perfect for keeping your most treasured books close by at all times, the Turner swivel bookcase nonetheless boasts a cutting-edge design. The 3-level supporting structure rises vertically like a building, each floor furnished with grooves that act as rails and enable you to add or remove a series of dividing panels to create different combinations as you desire in an ever-changing game of solids and voids. Poltrona Frau is delighted to present the reissue, modernised in terms of its materials but developed with the utmost care and philological respect. Turner is a 123 cm tall and 65 cm wide free-standing swivel bookcase. It consists of an internal supporting structure in metal enclosed in a central column made with birch plywood panels with Canaletto walnut veneer. The same materials for the intermediate shelves, furnished with solid Canaletto walnut grooves to house the 21 dividing panels, 7 for each level. The latter have solid Canaletto walnut edges. A kit of 3 additional panels can be purchased separately to further enrich the bookcase. The top is in birch plywood covered with a double layer of Canaletto walnut refined in the lower part to act as a counterbalance. It is crowned with a circular rotating surface made from MDF and covered with precious Pelle Frau® SC leather or Saddle Executive leather. The circular base is made from black painted steel. The bookcase is completed by the Poltrona Frau logo and the signature of the architect, laser-engraved at the centre of the column under the top.

About Designer
Gianfranco Frattini	Gianfranco Frattini was born in Padua on 15 May 1926. He graduated from Milan Polytechnic with a degree in Architecture in 1953 and joined Gio Ponti's studio. As early as 1954, thanks to Ponti, he began working with Cesare Cassina, who would always remain an important figurehead for him.He was one of the founders of ADI and was involved in the management of the Triennale di Milano on several occasions. He opened his own design studio, initially with Franco Bettonica, in Via Lanzone, Milan. He worked with numerous companies in the field of furniture and lighting design including Bernini, Arteluce, Knoll and Artemide, for whom he and Livio Castiglioni designed the “Boalum” floor lamp, a true masterpiece and, above all else, an innovation in terms of product type. Frattini's relationship with Pierluigi Ghianda, a cabinet maker from Bovisio Masciago, was also extremely important. Beyond the human aspect, this relationship exemplified his passion for working at close quarters with craftsmen, always attentive to the quality of manufacturing and the design stories. Wood was without doubt Frattini's preferred material. Some of his interior designs, another professional field in which Frattini has left a significant legacy, formed the backdrop for several of Milan's trendiest social venues in the early 1960s, particularly the Stork Club and the St. Andrews restaurant. His designs in Portofino, Capri and the interiors of the Hilton hotel in Tokyo are also particularly memorable. His work was referenced at the Compasso d’Oro awards numerous times, and he was also a winner of the Triennale di Milano Medaglie and Gran Premio awards. Domus magazine regularly published his work. In 1988 Pier Carlo Santini dedicated an important monograph to him. Gianfranco Frattini died in Milan on 6 April 2004. In 2007 Giuliana Gramigna and Federica Monetti wrote Gianfranco Frattini: architetto d’interni e designer (Gianfranco Frattini: interior architect and designer) for Franco Angeli. His products are displayed in the permanent collections of the biggest design and decorative art museums in the world.

About Designer

Gianfranco Frattini

Gianfranco Frattini was born in Padua on 15 May 1926. He graduated from Milan Polytechnic with a degree in Architecture in 1953 and joined Gio Ponti's studio. As early as 1954, thanks to Ponti, he began working with Cesare Cassina, who would always remain an important figurehead for him.He was one of the founders of ADI and was involved in the management of the Triennale di Milano on several occasions. He opened his own design studio, initially with Franco Bettonica, in Via Lanzone, Milan. He worked with numerous companies in the field of furniture and lighting design including Bernini, Arteluce, Knoll and Artemide, for whom he and Livio Castiglioni designed the “Boalum” floor lamp, a true masterpiece and, above all else, an innovation in terms of product type.

Frattini's relationship with Pierluigi Ghianda, a cabinet maker from Bovisio Masciago, was also extremely important. Beyond the human aspect, this relationship exemplified his passion for working at close quarters with craftsmen, always attentive to the quality of manufacturing and the design stories. Wood was without doubt Frattini's preferred material. Some of his interior designs, another professional field in which Frattini has left a significant legacy, formed the backdrop for several of Milan's trendiest social venues in the early 1960s, particularly the Stork Club and the St. Andrews restaurant. His designs in Portofino, Capri and the interiors of the Hilton hotel in Tokyo are also particularly memorable. His work was referenced at the Compasso d’Oro awards numerous times, and he was also a winner of the Triennale di Milano Medaglie and Gran Premio awards. Domus magazine regularly published his work. In 1988 Pier Carlo Santini dedicated an important monograph to him. Gianfranco Frattini died in Milan on 6 April 2004. In 2007 Giuliana Gramigna and Federica Monetti wrote Gianfranco Frattini: architetto d’interni e designer (Gianfranco Frattini: interior architect and designer) for Franco Angeli. His products are displayed in the permanent collections of the biggest design and decorative art museums in the world.