Emilio Nanni
VIII
Emilio Nanni is the name that crops up most
often in the Billiani catalogue. Architect,
designer and artist, Nanni is a prolifi c
designer of chairs: during his career, he
has designed dozens of them, “for a sort of
challenge to the quote by Mies van der Rohe,
who said that it is much more diffi cult to
design a chair than to design a skyscraper”.
Designing a chair means undertaking
a project that concentrates many elements,
from the relationship with its reference
models (which in the case of Nanni are
the masters of the Modern Movement) to
market infl uences. In his chairs designed for
Billiani, the common thread is the sense of
completeness given by perfect proportioning,
obtained through the overall sizing, the
comparison with the wood, the ability to
highlight the quality of the workmanship, the
defi nition of the detail and the construction
refi nements. Although essential, Nanni’s
chairs thus manage to convey grace and
softness, giving the impression of having
always existed.
Bolognese born in 1955, in his career
received mentions, prizes and awards.
The most recent is Red Dot Design
Award for Billiani’s Fratina chair.
