Infinito Bookcase
Free-standing double-sided bookcase by Franco Albini, 1956-57, on floor-to-ceiling uprights.
2600 × 2900 mm
Source: spec sheet PDF — 835 68/78/88, three-bay composition — published as W 260 × H 290 cm
1956
Description
Overview
Infinito is a modular bookcase by Franco Albini, designed in 1956-57 and produced by Cassina since 2008. The page calls it "an elegant versatile double-sided bookcase that can be used as a dividing wall".
Construction
Solid ash or walnut uprights run from floor to ceiling and are fixed by pressure, with steel ceiling and floor elements. Shelves and storage units sit at chosen heights on the uprights.
Specifications
- Sheet composition 835 68/78/88: 260 cm wide, 290 cm high
- Bay: 80 cm
- Page compositions: bookcase and cabinet with a drop-front door, with 2 doors, and with a drop-front door 175 cm wide
- Finishes: natural ash, ash stained black, American (Canaletto) walnut
Story
A bookcase without wall fixings
The page puts the design between 1956 and 1957 and names Franco Albini and Franca Helg. It says the piece is outwardly simple and extremely complex. The sheet states that the structure needs no wall anchoring, so either side can hold books or objects.
Industrial production from 2008
Cassina's text says that since 2008, with industrial manufacturing processes, it has launched a number of frame and component options. The name Infinito is tied by the page to the "infinite" potential of the piece.
More by Franco Albini
Albini Desk
Franco Albini's glass-topped pedestal desk on a chrome steel X-frame with a floating drawer pedestal
Cavalletto Table
Franco Albini's 1950 trestle table: ash or walnut frame braced by two burnished brass rods.
Cicognino Table
Franco Albini's three-legged "little stork" table, 1953, with one leg rising into a handle.
Luisa Chair
Compasso d'Oro armchair by Franco Albini on a solid ash or walnut frame with trestle sides; Cassina.