tacchini.itImage source: Gastone Rinaldi
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Designer
Gastone Rinaldi
Gastone Rinaldi (1920-2006) was an Italian designer born in Padua who was a great enthusiast of both sport and design. In 1948 he took over the management of the family business with his brother Giorgio, and in 1950 he began collaborating…
Biography
Background
Gastone Rinaldi (1920-2006) was an Italian designer born in Padua who was a great enthusiast of both sport and design. In 1948 he took over the management of the family business with his brother Giorgio, and in 1950 he began collaborating with Gio Ponti, designing chairs for the IX Milan Triennale, among them the DU9.
Signature Style
Rinaldi dedicated his career to industrial design, with attention to functionality and aesthetics. His objects are practical, elegant and innovative, marked by a search for simple yet refined forms. He was among the first to shape steel tubes for seating and to use foam rubber padding, and he devised ingenious ways to stack or fold his chairs.
Notable Works
- DU9, designed for the IX Milan Triennale
- DU30 chair for Rima, which won the Compasso d'Oro ADI
- Dafne (1979) and Aurora, both cited at the Compasso d'Oro in 1981
- Saturno sofa (1958), in the MoMA collection in New York
- Orsola (1970), reissued by Tacchini
Legacy
In 1974 Rinaldi founded his own company, Thema, which continued to innovate in design until it closed in 1989. He collaborated with Gio Ponti, Marco Zanuso and Carlo Mollino, and Tacchini keeps his Orsola in its range as a sofa, an armchair and an ottoman.
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Products
Letizia Armchair
Orsola
A 1970 Gastone Rinaldi sofa of round volumes on an exposed chrome frame, reissued by Tacchini.
Orsola Armchair
Gastone Rinaldi's 1970 armchair balances rounded upholstery with an exposed steel structure.
Orsola Ottoman
A rounded ottoman that extends Gastone Rinaldi's Orsola project with a visible steel frame.
