Luisa Chair

Overview

Luisa is a small armchair by Franco Albini. Its design is dated 1949-55 on the product sheet and Cassina produced it in 2008; the page calls it "a chair with armrests with a sleek minimalist design" and notes a Compasso d'Oro for the definitive version.

Construction

The structure is solid ash or walnut, with the sides built as trestles. Seat and back are two geometric planes with a steel inner structure on elastic bands, cold-moulded polyurethane foam and a quilted fabric or leather cover.

Image source: Cassina — Luisa Chair · © Cassina and the respective rights holders. Quoted to accompany INTEBEE's independent design commentary and research. · View official product page ↗ · Image use & copyright policy

Specifications

• Width: 56 cm
• Height: 77 cm
• Frame: black stained ash, natural ash or American walnut on the sheet; Canaletto walnut in the page configurator
• Cover: 8 fabric ranges and 4 leather groups, 145 colours on the page

Fifteen years of exploration

Both the page and the sheet describe Luisa as the result of a fifteen-year process of exploration aimed at an archetype of the basic elements of a chair and its uses at home. The sheet quotes Albini's idea of "substance in form", with the wooden parts thicker where they join other parts.

Image source: Cassina — Luisa Chair · © Cassina and the respective rights holders. Quoted to accompany INTEBEE's independent design commentary and research. · View official product page ↗ · Image use & copyright policy

Planes on a wooden frame

In the sheet's words, seat and back are two geometric planes suspended on an understated wood structure whose sides recall trestles. Cassina describes the current chair as a world-exclusive re-issue made possible by its wood-working capabilities.