Designer Piergiorgio Cazzaniga is as eclectic and versatile as his name. Looking at his Reader Chair for Living Divani, for instance, one senses his control of craft and his flair for aesthetic innovation. This piece combines a classically modern silhouette with a singular individuality. The wide seat and back and rigid upholstery render it just as accommodating as it is attractive.

Reader Chair for Living Divani

The Slider Bookshelf also highlights Cazzaniga's penchant for form and function. By virtue of its extraordinary capacity, Slider is an eminently useful piece. It's also incredibly versatile: "Slider" refers to the sliding bookends on each shelf that move side to side via a "special wall fixing system," thereby customizing book storage. The shelves are available in all 18 Porro wood laminate finishes.
Slider Shelf for Porro

Continuing the theme of versatility, Composit's Free Kitchen is made for maximum utility. "Free" evokes the streamlined, uncluttered look as well as the freedom of movement the kitchen cultivates. The defining feature is the floating appearance of the various components: "Suspended base units and columns are the main concept, creating an intended contrast between void and solid spaces."

Free Kitchen for Composit

The modular Bora Bora Sofa for MDF Italia also gets to the core of Cazzaniga's philosophy. Trained from a young age as a wood craftsman and artisan, he has always strived for beauty, functionality, simplicity-so much nicer in Cazzaniga's native Italian: "bella, funzionale, semplicita." Bora Bora is solid wood with the same suspended appearance as Free. The backrest exhibits a compelling gradual curvature that captivates users while enveloping them in comfort. The upholstery is completely removable and changeable.

Bora Bora Sofa for MDF Italia

Cazzaniga's oeuvre also takes us outdoors. The CTR Armchair exemplifies his penchant for taming complexity, for distilling intricacy down into essentials. The powder-coated stainless steel tube that comprises the frame is one continuous piece.

CTR Outdoor Armchair for Tribù

Returning to his facility for storage, Cazzaniga's Float Sideboard is very like Slider: streamlined, exacting, highly functional. This is an elegant piece that's suggestive of Scandinavian Modern, certainly one of Cazzaniga's primary influences. Float offers multiple finish options-glossy or matte lacquered wood in red, white, or mocha. The doors may be finished in Maple, bleached Zebrano, or bleached Tineo.

Float Sideboard for Tagliabue

The Sign Baby Chair signals the end of our exploration into all things Cazzaniga. This whimsical, whoopsy-doo of a chair feels like the icing on the cake. Like CTR, Sign Baby is constructed of a single uninterrupted monolithic material. This version-debuting last year-is an homage to and a reduction of the original Sign. Sign Baby is for our smaller-proportioned demographic, made of approximately 30% less material and offered in a bevy of vitalizing colors.

Sign Baby Chair for MDF Italia

Piergiorgio Cazzaniga is a seminal figure in Italian design-in global design, for that matter. Noted for his collaborations with premier brands MDF Italia, Andreu World, Desalto, and Living Divani, Cazzaniga brings an artist's vision and an artisan's touch to all he touches. He has been bestowed the Good Design Award from the Chicago Athenaeum, the ADI Design Index (for his Tense Table System), and Best of NeoCon Gold (for the Reverse Stone Table).

Read more at Piergiorgio Cazzaniga.