Carlo Felice Sedia Platea Teatro

Chair | Prototype

Aldo Rossi Luca Meda, 1990

The prototype was made for Genoa’s Teatro Carlo Felice, rebuilt by Aldo Rossi, Ignazio Gardella and Fabio Reinhart (1983-89). Molteni&C and Luca Meda designed the interior furnishings of the theatre and its communal spaces. A fixed flip-down seat in exposed walnut was created for the auditorium. It would be padded and upholstered in red velvet or pale blue cloth.

Design Aldo Rossi
Luca Meda, 1990

“When constructing the theatre I found all the historical examples in the Po Valley. They blend together and overlap like opera music at village fêtes. Parma, Padua, Pavia, Piacenza, Reggio and also Venice, Milan and all the main cities in the Po Valley - these are places where the theatre turns on its lights in the persistent fog. The same fog that penetrates Milan’s Vittorio Emanuele II Gallery, like the effect of a theatrical machine”

- Aldo Rossi, Teatro Carlo Felice

Design

Luca Meda

Luca Meda wrote an important chapter in Italian enterprise history. He contributed to the design culture of the Molteni Group with great passion and dedication. He was an example of a perfect symbiosis between creativity, business, art and industry. This is something of a paradox for a designer who loves drawing and uses a pencil more than any other tool to describe and reinvent reality. Since the late 70's Luca Meda was dedicated to the design of ranges. He created furniture which became icons. With Aldo Rossi he created the Piroscafo bookshelf, the Zim chairs and the Ho armchair, the Vivette armchair, the Primafila sofa, the 505 programme and the Pass system.

Complete biography

"Simplicity is not good in itself, but there surely is a type of simplicity that comes from generations of work."

Luca Meda

Design

Aldo Rossi

Aldo Rossi (Milan, May 3, 1931 - Milan, September 4, 1997) was one of the greatest Italian architects of the 1980’s. His Molteni Group collaboration marked his passage from masterful architect to an industrial designer. He created models and furnishings for the Museum of Maastricht, the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa and the reconstruction of the Teatro La Fenice in Venice. Aldo Rossi designed items that were destined to become icons of the 20th century.

Complete biography

"Perhaps it is snobbery but the more I see the world, the more I feel being a citizen of it and the more I want to go back to the old way of things"

Aldo Rossi