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Piroscafo

Piroscafo

Bookcase

Aldo Rossi Luca Meda, 1992

The façade of the Piroscafo is a direct reference to the architecture of the Centro direzionale di Fontivegge, in Perugia, designed by Rossi between 1982 and 1989, which has the same façade with square openings. Piroscafo was the star of a spectacular installation conceived by Luca Meda at the Salone del Mobile in 1992: a gigantic Piroscafo, complete with red and black smokestacks, reproducing a real steamship, welcomed visitors to the Molteni&C stand.

Design Aldo Rossi
Luca Meda, 1992

“Thus, even furniture crosses through time, with cargoes of furnishings, garments, and instruments. They are not only storage pieces but provide an order, a meaning for their contents[…] Piroscafo looks at the world of architecture, removes the images of the buildings from their landscapes, and transports them to a world of rooms and interiors”

- Daniele Vitale

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

Design

Luca Meda

Luca Meda wrote an important chapter in Italian enterprise history. He contributed to the design culture of the Molteni Group with great passion and dedication. He was an example of a perfect symbiosis between creativity, business, art and industry. This is something of a paradox for a designer who loves drawing and uses a pencil more than any other tool to describe and reinvent reality. Since the late 70's Luca Meda was dedicated to the design of ranges. He created furniture which became icons. With Aldo Rossi he created the Piroscafo bookshelf, the Zim chairs and the Ho armchair, the Vivette armchair, the Primafila sofa, the 505 programme and the Pass system.

Complete biography

“Simplicity is not good in itself, but there surely is a type of simplicity that comes from generations of work”.

Luca Meda

Milano Aldo Rossi, 1987

Parigi Aldo Rossi, 1989 - 2021

Cabina dell'Elba Aldo Rossi, 1980

Carteggio Aldo Rossi, 1987

Cartesio Aldo Rossi, 1994