Cassina and Ico Parisi: a story to rediscover the culture of living in the 1950s

One of the key protagonists of Italian design, Domenico (Ico) Parisi returns to be present on the Cassina catalogue with pieces from the 1950s reissued both from the company's historical archive and from private collections that were never mass-produced. 


Ico Parisi © Archivio del Design di Ico Parisi

The company, in collaboration with Roberta Lietti, curator of the Ico Parisi Design Archive, has done a careful philological work of research on prototypes and existing models of the past, recreated with the original traditional workmanship but revised according to the most advanced production and carpentry technologies, respecting the original designs. 


Armchair 875 © Cassina


Armchair 875 © Cassina

The entire collection carries Ico Parisi's logo and signature as well as a progressive numbering, as a sign of authenticity and uniqueness. The furnishings are distinguished by the quality of the materials used, the use of curved lines and a spatial presence with a strong aesthetic impact.

The elegant 875 armchair, originally designed in 1960, features arched supports and a comfortable, wide seat, unusual details for the period.
Cleverly designed for a villa near Como in 1955, the Olimpino dining table was studied by Cassina's Research and Development Centre in order to apply it to the logic of industrial production. The table's slender tubular metal frame supports a rectangular sheet of monolithic glass that allows you to admire the intricate form beneath. The uniqueness is further defined by the elegant arrow-shaped feet in solid wood that contrast with the metal of the legs and the crossbar.
The PA' 1947 solid wood console table (the name is a clear tribute to Parisi's nickname, PA') was designed in 1947. Refined and balanced, the console is characterised by Y-shaped divergent legs made of solid wood, which wink at Cassina's mastery of woodworking.

Olimpino © Cassina



PA' 1947 © Cassina

Ico Parisi, Sicilian by birth, architect, designer, but also graphic designer, photographer, film director, set designer and painter, worked in Giuseppe Terragni's architectural studio, around which the architectural and artistic avant-garde in Como and Milan converged. In the 1950s he began a long and fruitful collaboration with the Meda-based company, which today enjoys his presence, together with Franco Albini and Marco Zanuso, among Cassina's re-editions of the masters of iconic 20th-century architecture and design.