Carlo Mollino

(b Turin, 6 May 1905; d Turin, 27 Aug 1973). Italian architect, designer and writer. He was the son of the engineer Eugenio Mollino (1873-1953), and he studied at the faculty of architecture of the Politecnico, Turin, graduating in 1931. Among early influences were the 'second Futurism' of the post-war period and a close friendship with the painter and scholar Italo Cremona (b 1905). At the beginning of his career Mollino collaborated with his father but also worked independently, producing such notable designs as the headquarters of the Confederazione degli Agricoltori (1933-4), Cuneo, and particularly the headquarters of the Societ? Ippica Torinese (1935-9; destr.) in Turin. In the latter Mollino interpreted the doctrines of Neo-plasticism and Rationalism with great freedom, adapting spatial, material and technical ideas with complete originality. His first experiments in furnishings also date from this period, including promotional stands, residential rooms and individual items of furniture (see ITALY, fig. 73). His large range of prototype furnishings (1944-6) for the Minola House was made by the firm of Apelli and Varesio.

See the Abbreviations for further details.

A leading figure in Italian design in the middle decades of the 20th century, Mollino worked in a number of fields, including architecture, furniture, and interior design as well as aeroplane and racing car design. He originally trained as an architect at the Architectural School of Turin, gaining a diploma in 1931, after which he worked for five years with his engineer father.

Amongst early notable achievements was the award of first prize in the 1934 competition for the House of Fascism in Voghera. Although committed to the pursuit of a contemporary design idiom he preferred organic forms rather than the rectilinear forms often associated with the International Style and its Italian variant, Rationalism. He looked instead to sources such as the flowing lines of Art Nouveau, Futurism and contemporary Surrealism, several characteristics of which inspired the furniture designs that he began working on from 1937. In the 1940s and 1950s he designed apartments and furnishing in Turin, including the Casa Minola (1944) and the Casa Orengo (1949). In his furniture he experimented with the expressive possibilities of bent plywood, exploring organic, sculptural forms. This was shared with a number of other designers in the 1940s, including Charles and Ray Eames and Eero Saarinen in the USA whose work had been published in Domus magazine. In Italy there had also been interest in organic form as a more humanizing alternative to the standardized austerity of Rationalism, as evidenced in Bruno Zevi's book Verso un architettura organico (1945) and the founding in the previous year in Rome of the Association for Organic Architecture. One of Mollino's best-known designs in this genre was his Arabesco table (1950), with an eloquently sculptural bent plywood base and glass top shaped in the form of a woman's torso. He also attracted attention with his exhibits at the X Milan Triennale of 1951 and his project for a Carpenter's House at the following Triennale in 1954. However, in the mid-1950s Mollino largely turned away from furniture towards the design of aeroplanes and racing cars, although he maintained an interest in education. From 1952 he taught in the Faculty of Architecture at Turin, becoming Head of Faculty ten years later, although he was to gain a reputation amongst students for missing many of his classes. In the 1980s his work underwent a re-evaluation, Zanotta reissuing his Fenis chair (1962) in 1985 and the Pompidou Centre in Paris dedicating an exhibition to his work in 1989: L'Étrange Univers de L'architecte Carlo Mollino.

Carlo Mollino (May 6, 1905 - August 27, 1973) was an Italian architect and designer.

Carlo Mollino Self Portrait

Contents 1 Biography 2 Architecture 3 Buildings 4 Apartments and interiors 5 Furniture 6 External links

Biography

Born in Turin, Piedmont, Carlo Mollino was the son of Eugenio Mollino, an engineer. As he grew up, Carlo Mollino became interested in a variety of topics that were as outrageous as his art, such as design, architecture, the occult, and race cars.

He was once credited as saying, "Everything is permissible as long as it is fantastic." That credo was certainly reflected throughout his body of work. Mollino's architecture and furniture are famous for their ability to enable occupants to manipulate volumes at a whim.

Carlo Mollino died in 1973, while still working.

Architecture

In 1930, Carlo Mollino started his career as an architect designing a house in Forte dei Marmi and receiving the G. Pistono prize for architecture. Between 1933 and 1948, he worked in his father's office, and took part in several architecture competitions (e.g. the Farmers Association Building in Cuneo, the Fascist House in Voghera, and, after World War II, the Monument to the Partisan, which was created in collaboration with the sculptor Umberto Mastroianni. The Monument to the Partisan was placed in the Generale cemetery of Turin after winning the competition.

Between 1936 and 1939, Mollino designs, in collaboration with Vittorio Baudi di Selve, the Società Ippica Torinese building in Turin, considered his masterpiece. However, this building was destroyed in 1960. This work breaks with the past and the regime, refusing the rationalist school and taking inspiration from Alvar Aalto and Eric Mendelsohn.

Carlo Mollino loved the mountains and was a ski enthusiast; he wrote the book "Trattato sul Discesismo" where he explained his personal skiing technique with many illustrations. He designed some mountain houses like the Casa del Sole in Cervinia, Aosta Valley and the Slittovia of Lago Nero in Sauze d'Oulx, in Piedmont. In this work, all the art of Mollino is shown: a large, modern terrace protruding from the main volume contrasts with the traditional materials of the building. This building, placed on the ski runs and reachable during the winter only by ski, has been restored in 2001 and now contains temporary expositions.

In 1952, Mollino designed the RAI Auditorium in Turin, which was radically restored bringing big changes to the original structure in 2006.

In the first half of the sixties, he directed the team of architects responsible for the design of the INA-Casa district in Turin and he is placed second in the competition for the design of the Palazzo del Lavoro building in Turin, won by Pier Luigi Nervi, for the 100th anniversary celebration of the unification of Italy (1961).

In the last years of his life (between 1965 and 1973) he designed the two buildings that made him famous: the Camera di Commercio building and the Teatro Regio Torino (Regio Theater), both in Turin. Before his death he completes the projects for the FIAT Directional Centre in Candiolo, the AEM building in Turin, and the Club Mediterranèe in Sestriere.

Buildings

• Società Ippica Torinese, Turin (1937, destroyed in 1960)
• Slittovia del lago Nero, Sauze d'Oulx (1946)
• House on the Agra plateau (1952)
• Auditorium RAI, Turin (1952)
• Casa del Sole, Cervinia (1955)
• Widening of Aeroclub Torino building, Turin (1958)
• Camera di commercio, Turin (1964)
• Teatro Regio Torino, Turin (1973)

Apartments and interiors

• Casa Miller, Turin (1938)
• Casa Devalle, Turin (1939)
• Casa Minola, Turin (1944)
• Casa Orengo, Turin (1949)
• Casa Pistoi, Turin (1968)

Furniture

A world record price for a piece of 20th Century Furniture was set in June 2005 when a piece designed by Carlo Mollino was auctioned by Christie's New York in June 2005. An oak and glass table for Casa Orengo, 1949 sold for $3,824,000

External links

• Mo.Mo.Data - Modern and Contemporary Architecture Foundation (Italian)
• biography, photos, polaroids, furniture, Casa Mollino
• "Villa Zaira", purpose #6, autumn 2007

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