‘Editare iMaestri. Tributo a Filippo Alison’, a tribute to the architect's research into the furniture of Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
The installation is part of EDIT CULT 2024, the collateral itinerary of the EDIT design fair, now in its sixth year.
Cassina et Mackintosh : Filippo Alison's intuition
In the extraordinary setting of the Teatro di Corte, an eighteenth-century masterpiece designed by Ferdinando Fuga, ‘Editare iMaestri. Tributo a Filippo Alison’ pays tribute to the architect's in-depth research into the figure of Mackintosh. Fascinated by the Scottish master's philosophy, Alison devoted himself in the 1960s to the study and creation of his prototypes, characterised by the purification and geometrisation of their forms, in contrast to the eclecticism that prevailed in Mackintosh's time. Subsequently, the Neapolitan architect suggested that Cassina include Mackintosh's work in its catalogue, although the company's interest until then had been focused on representatives of the Modern Movement. In 1973, following this intuition that Cassina had the foresight to embrace, Mackintosh's furniture officially became part of the Cassina iMaestri collection, with Filippo Alison as curator.Furniture in search of a publisher
A selection of models and prototypes designed by the Scottish author bring to life an evocative account of the figurations designed by the master. At centre stage are two icons from the Cassina iMaestri collection: the Willow 1 armchair, a solid wood throne that fully reflects Mackintosh's geometric style, and the Hill House 1 chair, designed in 1902 and named after one of Mackintosh's main projects, Hill House in Scotland. The succession of vertical lines that form the high back of this chair is enhanced by the theatrical play of light and shadow that characterises the whole installation.
As you walk through the orchestra area, a table displays the raw elements that give shape to Hill House 1, offering a glimpse inside the project to appreciate its structural complexity.Cassina iMaestri Collection : a story in constant evolution
Cassina's emblematic ability to reissue design icons began in 1964 when the company acquired the exclusive worldwide rights for the mass production of the first four models designed by Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand, initiating an in-depth philological process to then launch the Cassina iMaestri collection in 1973. Cassina has developed a unique method for the industrial development of the great classics by the most representative designers of the twentieth century, with the aim of disseminating their cultural values through authentic reconstruction, always with the utmost care and respect for the original models. Thanks to close collaboration with the designers' foundations and heirs, the collection includes works by Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand (1965), Gerrit Thomas Rietveld (1972), Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1973) and Frank Lloyd Wright (1986-2022), Erik Gunnar Asplund (1981), Charlotte Perriand (2004), Franco Albini (2008), Le Corbusier (2010), Marco Zanuso (2015), Ico Parisi (2020), Giacomo Balla (2020), until 2023 with the introduction of Charles and Ray Eames, Vico Magistretti, Gio Ponti and Carlo Scarpa for the 50th anniversary of the Collection.“Editare iMaestri. Tributo a Filippo Alison”
From 11 to 13 October 2024
Teatro di Corte-Palazzo Reale, Naples
Piazza del Plebiscito, 1
Cassina on Archiproducts
