Gianfranco Frattini

Designer

Milano / Italy

Architect and designer Gianfranco Frattini (Padua 1926 - Milan 2004) was one of the most important figures on the Italian art scene. During his fifty-year career, he distinguished himself in interior and product design, contributing to the diffusion of the Made-in-Italy name throughout the world. After graduating from Milan Polytechnic in 1953, studying under such professors as Piero Portaluppi, Renato Camus and Gio Ponti, he began his career in the latter's studio, where he met many emblematic figures of the Modern Movement including Le Corbusier and Oscar Niemeyer. That same year, he attempted a competition organised by Fede Cheti, presenting a small armchair, but without success. However, the Brianza entrepreneur Cesare Cassina, who had made the prototype, suggested that the young designer put the armchair into production. This was the beginning of a fruitful collaboration that saw the birth of iconic objects that are still so relevant that Tacchini modified them and put them back into production. These include the Lina armchair (Mod. 831), the Agnese armchair (Mod. 849), the Oliver sofa (Mod. 872), the Giulia armchair (Mod. 877) and the Gio table. In 1956 he opened an office with Franco Bettonica and began designing for Poltrona Frau, Bernini, Lagostina and Bonacina. He also designed interiors for private clients and emblematic venues like the Stork Club and the St. Andrews restaurant in Milan.

Frattini's work can be defined as an organic whole, infusing the souls of all the spaces he designed. Every element, down to the smallest of objects, was designed in relationship to the overall scheme. Fluid interiors spaces were studied down to the last detail, and even ceilings were the objects of special attention. The same care was devoted to furniture, lighting and furnishings. Frattini followed all steps of the production of every object, going to laboratories, research and development departments and assembly lines to find solutions together with manufacturers. Thanks to this approach, he forged important friendships, for instance with Pierluigi Ghianda, the master cabinetmaker who helped him express his creativity in wood, his preferred material.

He collaborated with such prestigious brands as Acerbis, Fantoni, Artemide, Knoll, Lema, Arteluce. Over the decades, Frattini's design remained consistent with the rationalist approach received from his illustrious masters but without disdaining dialogue with exponents of the radical or post-modern movements. Other formidable pieces came to life in the Sesann sofa for Cassina (1970), now produced by Tacchini, and the Boalum lamp (1970), designed with his friend Livio Castiglioni, now exhibited in the permanent collections of the most prestigious international museums and still included in the Artemide catalogue. Today, out-of-production items by Frattini are bones of contention among discerning collectors. At the same time, some companies have begun to reissue his iconic projects. In addition to the already mentioned furniture by Tacchini, we find the extraordinary Albero bookcase (1955) and the Kyoto coffee table, both for Poltrona Frau and now in the brand's catalogue, and the Maestro table and the Gong coffee table for Acerbis. ... More

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Gianfranco Frattini

Designer

Milano / Italy

Products designed by Gianfranco Frattini

MAESTRO - Square wooden table

500/3 - Wooden sideboard with tambour doors

OLIVER - Fabric bench with back

BOALUM - PVC table lamp / floor lamp

GIULIA - Fabric footstool

ALBERO - Swivel bookcase

MAESTRO - Rectangular wooden table

MEGARON - LED aluminium floor lamp

500/4 - Wooden sideboard with tambour doors

KYOTO - Square solid wood coffee table

TURNER - Swivel wooden bookcase

KYOTO - Rectangular solid wood coffee table

SESANN - 3 seater fabric sofa

GONG - Round metal coffee table

LINA - Fabric armchair with armrests

SESANN - 3 seater leather sofa

SESANN - Leather armchair with armrests

SESANN - Fabric armchair with armrests

OLIVER - Leather bench with back

AGNESE - Fabric armchair with armrests

SESANN - Rectangular fabric pouf

AGNESE - Fabric footstool

GIULIA - Wing leather armchair

GIULIA - Fabric armchair with armrests

GIULIA - Leather footstool

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Partition shelves for open space

Ergonomic chairs for home office

1950s style armchairs

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Gianfranco Frattini

Designer

Milano / Italy

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Products designed by Gianfranco Frattini

MAESTRO - Square wooden table

500/3 - Wooden sideboard with tambour doors

OLIVER - Fabric bench with back

BOALUM - PVC table lamp / floor lamp

GIULIA - Fabric footstool

ALBERO - Swivel bookcase

MAESTRO - Rectangular wooden table

MEGARON - LED aluminium floor lamp

500/4 - Wooden sideboard with tambour doors

KYOTO - Square solid wood coffee table

TURNER - Swivel wooden bookcase

KYOTO - Rectangular solid wood coffee table

SESANN - 3 seater fabric sofa

GONG - Round metal coffee table

LINA - Fabric armchair with armrests

SESANN - 3 seater leather sofa

SESANN - Leather armchair with armrests

SESANN - Fabric armchair with armrests

OLIVER - Leather bench with back

AGNESE - Fabric armchair with armrests

SESANN - Rectangular fabric pouf

AGNESE - Fabric footstool

GIULIA - Wing leather armchair

GIULIA - Fabric armchair with armrests

GIULIA - Leather footstool

Categories

Styles

Materials

Brands

Price

Visual Search

Partition shelves for open space

Ergonomic chairs for home office

1950s style armchairs

Visual search results