A chair so light you don’t hear it if it falls (whether it’s in the forest or your living room); a chair so light it’s susceptible to baby’s breath; so light it tips no scales; so light a child of six can hold it by his pinky. Such was the imagery and the intent of Cassina’s classic Superleggera Chair. Upon its debut in 1957, the press material showed an iconic 50s youth in smart suit, bow tie, and short waxed hair suspending Superleggera with the scant strength of one finger. Gio Ponti was thus rightly proud of his 699 Superleggera, as, just as with great architecture (see his Pirelli Tower and Concattedrale of Taranto), it signified an idealized balance between structure and strength. The chair only weighed around 1.7 kg, or roughly 3.75 pounds.

699 Superleggera. Designed by Gio Ponti

A Colorful Re-Issue of An Engineered Icon

The original piece was a wonder of simplicity and fine craftsmanship: it featured an ash wood frame painted in black or white lacquer and a seat of Indian cane. Cassina does justice to the great Ponti’s memory with their contemporary re-issue/expansion of the line. The millennial incarnation(s) of 699 bring a taste of Technicolor with a many-hued array of padded seats in leather or fabric. Surely Ponti would have appreciated the fine contrast between the unpainted ash wood frame (which is open-pore varnished, a technique that keeps the wood grain visible) and any one of Cassina’s 450 custom colors.

Ponti is reputed to have had an excellent sense of humor. He once remarked of the contrasting black/white legs of the original Superleggera, “in the darkness it will be even lighter because it will be supported by just two legs.” The effect would be similar with several of Cassina’s bright additions—the more fluorescent of the colored seats might come to vibrant life with the lights turned off, giving the ultimate appearance of insubstantiality: nothing more than a floating seat. Be assured, however, that even though Superleggera may look and feel light, it is the essence of substance, a physically small artifact of design’s golden age, that is yet one of its larger achievements. Cassina’s re-release of Superleggera is exciting for all—an instructive lesson in doing justice to the spirit of an original, while modifying it just enough to get everyone’s appreciative attention.

Via Otto-Otto.