MOLTENI SHOWTIME

We live in an era when objects like tables and chairs can be produced in virtually any shape imaginable. Blobs? Cantilevers? Nothing seems out of reach. Looking back over the past century, it is difficult not to overstate the significant influence on fabrication technology exerted by Molteni & C, the Italian manufacturer of high-end furniture that celebrates its 90th anniversary this year. The company’s ongoing research into innovative production processes has enabled the creation of designs that would have been impossible with the limited materials and techniques available before the Second World War. From Afra and Tobia Scarpa’s sleek Monk chair (1973) and striking Mop bookcase (1974) to Jean Nouvel’s pre-tensioned Skin seating (2007), and today’s walk-in wardrobes and bookcase systems that redefine spatial partitions, the company has long balanced this proclivity for innovation with tradition.

Angelo Molteni, the company’s visionary founder, and his wife, Giuseppina, were among the founding members of the Salone del Mobile design and furniture fair in Milan, which held its first iteration in 1961. This fair further solidified Molteni & C’s legacy of collaboration and connection. Over the years, the company has partnered with a range of prominent designers, including Luca Meda in the late 1960s; Aldo Rossi in the 1980s and 90s; Jean Nouvel in the 90s; Foster + Partners in the 00s; and, more recently, Herzog & de Meuron, Michael Anastassiades and, of course, Vincent Van Duysen, among others. These collaborations have established Molteni & C as a design-world icon, often referred to as “your favorite designer’s favorite designer.” Additionally, Molteni & C’s reissue of furniture designed by Gio Ponti between 1935 and the 1970s — such as the Round D.154.5 chair, originally designed in the early 1950s and revived in 2021 — is a testament to their commitment to design preservation, breathing new relevance into legacy pieces. The archive also preserves more personal moments, including a candid 1991 video interview with the late Aldo Rossi, where he offers light-hearted commentary on his new work. The full scope of Molteni & C’s oeuvre was also recently documented in the lavish monograph, Mondo Molteni (Rizzoli, 2024). The 416-page tome is one of the most clever examples of how a design company has celebrated its anniversary in recent years. Creative-directed by the renowned Swiss graphic design maestro Beda Achermann and edited by The Slowdown, it features original photography by the artist Jeff Burton, who artfully staged the Molteni headquarters like a film studio.

Today, Molteni & C is one of the few family-owned companies still operating at such a scale and with significant yearly revenue. This success can be attributed not only to its unwavering commitment to design heritage and expertise but also to its continuous pursuit of innovation. Like the sleek new glass pavilion it occupies, the museum showcases Molteni & C’s historic works prominently within the vibrant campus, creating a perfect visual metaphor for the company as it enters its next decade and beyond: polished and modern on the outside but rich with important historical DNA.