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The story of a family, a legacy and a passion for things beautiful
and for finely crafted furniture, a culture forged and nurtured
within the firm. This is how it has always been, for Molteni&C.
Since 1934, when it started out as a joinery workshop eager to
exhibit its furniture at the Monza Biennali, which later became
the Milan Triennali, and to make its debut in the world of art and
culture, attracting the attention of the critics and of an increas-
ingly international public. Those were the first rights of passage
that led a generation of joiners to become entrepreneurs, keen
to evolve from makers of customised items to manufacturers
of furniture produced on an industrial scale. This is how, in
1955, the first moderns – architects inspired by the Bauhaus
movement – converged from all over the world on Brianza, for
an international competition known as the Selettiva di Cantù.
They included Werner Blaser, Yasuhiko Itoh, Donato D’Urbino
and Carlo Volonterio. They were the forerunners, the founding
fathers, the first to venture into the brave new world of moder-
nity. Angelo Molteni, the founder of Molteni&C, one of the first
industrial concerns in the sector, chose them to design the first
prototypes, allowing them to win awards and make a name for
themselves. In the years in which Gio Ponti wrote in Domus
that “art has fallen in love with industry”, numerous voices from
Brianza suggested that industry, in turn, had fallen in love with
art. Art – the relationship with artists and architects – the magic
rising agent that produced new energies. And this was how, in
1961, when 13 visionary Italian businessmen promoted the first
Salone del Mobile di Milano, Angelo Molteni was among them.
No fewer than 328 exhibitors and 12 thousand visitors packed
the 13 thousand square metres of the Milan Tradeshow. Excel-
lent products, combining the skills of craftsmen and the exper-
tise of designers. The future lay in the virtuous convergence be-
tween the worlds of creativity and of mass production, and this
marked the beginning of decades of profitable business. Tech-
nology and research did the rest, moving towards novel forms
of industrial design, in which each element was qualified by
the “artisan-inspired finishes that allowed for unique pieces” of
furniture. Mass produced, yes, but of fine quality and designed
by great names such as Angelo Mangiarotti, Tito Agnoli, Luca
Meda, Afra and Tobia Scarpa, Aldo Rossi, just to mention the
pioneers, in a curriculum that placed Italy firmly on the map of
international design. And this was how hands, machines and
ideas combined to ensure the success of the Molteni brand,
soon to become an Industrial Group capable of producing an
up-market global range: Molteni&C, UniFor, Dada and Citterio,
from the home to kitchens and office furniture, in over eighty
countries, with over 700 points of sale, 40 of which mono-
brand outlets, representative of the Molteni philosophy, and ten
commercial branches present in all five continents. Today the
Molteni Group is one of just a few to guarantee the entire pro-
duction cycle “made in Italy”: from the choice of materials right
through to defining the product, thanks to production pro-
cesses certified according to the most stringent international
standards. The four companies have achieved great synergy in
terms of technologies and research, as well as innovative solu-
tions in line with the changes taking place in both the home
and in the workplace. This is how a museum is built, when
there is a rich history and an archive worth sharing, the Molteni
Museum, inaugurated in 2015 in the Company Compound de-
signed by Jasper Morrison to showcase 80 years of innovation
and research, and to contribute to spreading the culture of de-
sign. And this is how a Heritage Collection is created, when
there is a legacy to be handed down, to look into the future.
Unique pieces, designed for competitions and special projects,
to be brought back to life in series, in limited editions, signed
by Gio Ponti, Werner Blaser, Yasuhiko Itoh, Afra and Tobia Scar-
pa. Great designers and travelling companions of the Molteni
Group all over the world live side by side, under the creative
direction of Vincent Van Duysen, with today’s icons, including 6
Pritzker prizewinners – Jean Nouvel, Alvaro Siza, Foster + Part-
ners, Herzog & de Meuron, Renzo Piano, Pierluigi Cerri, Rodol-
fo Dordoni, Patricia Urquiola, Ron Gilad, just to mention a few.
This is how The Collector’s House was set up – a collection of
contemporary art, conceived by art curator and writer Caroline
Corbetta, in a dialogue with design, presented in 2018 at the
Milan Salone del Mobile and later in the main Flagship Stores,
such as New York and London. A partnership which, under the
auspices of the Molteni Museum, promotes the talent of young
artists also by starting up a collection. The aim is to create an
ecosystem in which design and art enhance each other and
restore fundamental links. An aesthetic and cultural harmony
in which imagination and design, style and personality thrive.
Avant-garde and tradition, under the banner of quality living.
The Art of Living
New York Flagship Store Vincent Van Duysen 2018
