Papyro

Writing Desk | Prototype

Aldo Rossi, 1989

Papyro reproduced in a clear, simplified form, a piece of furniture that had its own tradition: the writing desk. In the lower part, two columns of drawers enclosed the space for one’s legs. In the upper part, a structure in the shape of the letter C encircled the work area at its edges.

Design Aldo Rossi, 1989

The project originated in an “american” roll-top writing desk with drawers in the studio in Via Santa Maria alla Porta, which inspired Rossi’s design of this writing desk. Like all the furniture designed by Rossi, Papyro was domestic architecture characterized by the skillful use of solid geometrical forms, like cubes and parallelepipeds, that intersected with flat surfaces, giving rise to elements for storage and others for display, leaning against, drawing, or writing.

Design

Aldo Rossi

Aldo Rossi (Milan, May 3, 1931 - Milan, September 4, 1997) was one of the greatest Italian architects of the 1980’s. His Molteni Group collaboration marked his passage from masterful architect to an industrial designer. He created models and furnishings for the Museum of Maastricht, the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa and the reconstruction of the Teatro La Fenice in Venice. Aldo Rossi designed items that were destined to become icons of the 20th century.

Complete biography

“Perhaps it is snobbery but the more I see the world, the more I feel being a citizen of it and the more I want to go back to the old way of things”

Aldo Rossi