Red Catilina Chairs by Luigi Caccia Domini for Azucena, Italy, 1958, Set of 6

Set of six stools Catilina with frame in painted steel, seat top in multi-layered wood, and upholstery-shaped polyurethane cushions covered with red fabric. This iconic seat was designed by Luigi Caccia Dominioni, and produced by Azucena since 1958.

Luigi Caccia Dominioni firstly presents this seat at the XI Triennale in Milan in 1957 and from this moment Catilina became one of Luigi Caccia Dominioni’s classics.
Caccia Dominioni created a new chair and also defined how to sit in it. Catilina is not designed for relaxation and letting go but for thoughtfulness and elegance. You could almost be transported back to ancient Rome ensconced in the seat of the Roman senator, Lucio Sergio Catilina, after whom the chair is named. In turn, the chair harks back to medieval thrones or the horseshoe armchairs so typical in classical Chinese furniture. Catilina is essentially a stroke of the pen, a play on curves, an object that – as Caccia Dominioni liked to say himself – is “ethereal, no more than a series of curved iron bars”. Whatever interpretation you give it, Catilina embodies a product designed for comfort, thanks to the well-upholstered cushion, and dignity. When you place your arms on the upper rim you can’t help but feel regal in contrast to the sense of abandon when you sink back into a sofa. Is it a chair? An armchair? Or should we simply call it a “throne”?

Literature:
Gramigna, Giuliana, Repertorio del Design Italiano 1950-2000 per L’Arredamento Domestico, Allemandi, 2001.