54 FEATURE
Gliss Master
Family affair 80! Molteni Exhibition at Galleria d’Arte Moderna Milano
Milan, Highland
and the Wardrobe Italian fashion is certainly well-known to the world. Likewise, furniture produced there is also remarkable. At the annual International Furniture Fair in Milan, the Salone del Mobile, high-end Italian furniture and international brands exhibit, compete and share the newest technology. April’s six-day exhibition attracted a total of 310,840 visitors. The competition drew the world's leading furniture brands, including Molteni & C. The brand was founded by Angelo Molteni in 1934. They are more than a familiar face at in the Milan fair. The first edition of the fair in 1961 boasted Molteni as one of its co-founders. This year’s fair saw Molteni & C celebrate the company’s 80 anniversary. The anniversary included celebrations at the Galleria d'Arte Moderna, the Italian national gallery of modern art. The brand’s 2½ month-long “80! Molteni” exhibition was held at the gallery. Through furniture presentations, posters, photographs and video, the exhibition displayed the past and present of Molteni & C classic design. It also highlighted the profound impact the brand has had on Italian furniture and even the world of furniture design development. PRC Magazine joined a media trip to Milan at the end of April, which was hosted by the Hong Kong developer Couture Homes. A group from Hong Kong visited the production facilities of the Molteni Group, two factories covering more than 160,000 square meters, and the fair itself to better understand Made in Italy design. Text: Byran Chan Images: Molteni Group & ROF Media
As with many Italian furniture brands, the Molteni Group is a family business, although control has been passed onto the family’s second generation. A third generation of Moltenis, including Andrea, Giovanni and Giulia, has also started to join the company’s management in the past few years. Now aged 70, the group’s chairman Carlo Molteni has been hard at work over the past 50 years, expanding the group to four brands that include the home furnishings of Molteni & C, Dada kitchens, Citterio Unifor’s office furniture and Citterio, an office furnishings and partitions brand. That Molteni began in the backyard of the family home and now is one of Italy’s leading international furnishings companies, is probably due to their family’s values. Their values are one of the inspirations in their design and at its core, so the products show the importance of a family sharing and also the warmth in a human touch.
Milan style Italian design has a very strong Southern European style. The Italian love of the romantic, and enjoyment of life and art is an integral part of life.As the birthplace of the Renaissance, Italy has spawned a variety of artistic styles and given furniture design that has a rich cultural and historical background. The country’s different regions have their own preferences and that has lead to the formation of a wide variety of Italian furniture styles. There are aristocratic designs and classical colours found in baroque styles, or classical designs combining modern furniture concepts in a neoclassical style. In the middle of last century, from a global industry undergoing the influence of a revolution, a more modern style emerged. It was relatively simple and without flashy decoration. But as with all of Italy's leading furniture styles, the focus on the workmanship, materials, design, colour and textures was meticulous and carefully created. It is clear why Italians treat appliances for daily use as pieces of art. It is easy to see that Molteni & C is a leader of this modern Milan style. In an online interview, Carlo Molteni said that he liked his home full of clean lines and open spaces, which are fully exhibited in the design of his brand. Strong lines and massive design abound.