The Cavour Desk
THE PRODUCT
- Distinctive design from 1949.
- Strong and easy to maintain glass top.
- Indebted to Italian and Scandinavian design traditions.
ABOUT THE CAVOUR DESK
Help inspiration strike with an exact reproduction of Carlo Mollino's architectural The Cavour Desk. The light wood grain, thick plate glass top and multiple storage sections, make this distinctive piece functional and formally ambitious. Mollino's mixture of materials, straight and curved forms, unusual angles and use of the distinctive elevated compartment, create a desk reminiscent of the greatest modernist buildings. This dazzling, yet practical, design would be a powerful statement in a study or home office.
THE STORY BEHIND CARLO MOLLINO'S THE CAVOUR DESK
One glimpse of Mollino's The Cavour Desk and his engineering background is clear, but equally obvious is his love of the whimsical and fantastical. Mollino was an obsessive skier and the slopes and outcrops of the desk clearly mimic the graceful geometry of his beloved alps. Ahead of his time by a generation, it seems as though we are finally catching up with Mollino's imagination and his mixture of old-fashioned design and eccentric personal interests.
THE DETAILS
ABOUT THE DESIGNER
Carlo Mollino
1905-1975 (Italy)
Carlo Mollino was a true Avant Garde eccentric, whose many disparate interests all, at some point, found their way into his truly unique style of sculptural, adaptable furniture. Starting out as an artist, Mollino became obsessed, in equal measure, with everything from architecture to race cars, furniture to the occult, and made it his lifelong mission to shock, surprise and delight with everything he produced, or as he himself put it: "Everything is permissible as long as it is fantastic." His furniture style was characterised by its varied use of materials, blend of curves and straight lines, along with its ability to be changed and altered at the whim of the user. Seminal Mollino designs such as the Cavour Desk allowed the user to adjust the height of the piece to fit their needs, while still cutting a dramatic, flamboyant silhouette that demands attention. As a result, his designs proved to be some of the most sought-after in the world, with one of his pieces setting a world-record price at Christie's New York in 2005, when it sold for almost $4million.
"Everything is permissible as long as it is fantastic."
