Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 9

Franco Albini LB7 Bookcase in Teak Wood by Poggi Pavia 1950s Italy

About the Item

LB7 bookcase composed of a single module with shelves and a storage unit with two doors, made in veneered solid teak wood, and black lacquered metal details. Designed by Franco Albini for Poggi, Pavia 1956. Literature: R. Dulio, F. Marino, S.A. Poli, Il mondo di Poggi. L'officina del design e delle arti, Electa, Milano 2019, pp. 10-11, 100, 102-103. G. Bosoni, F. Bucci, Il design e gli interni di Franco Albini, Electa, Milano 2009, p. 101. G. Gramigna, Le fabbriche del design. I produttori dell'arredamento domestico in Italia, Allemandi, Torino 2007, p. 191. G. Gramigna, Repertorio del design italiano 1950-2000 per l'arredamento domestico, Vol 1, Allemandi Torino 2003, p. 53. I. De Guttry, M. P. Maino, Il mobile italiano degli anni '40 e '50, Laterza, Bari 1992, p. 77. Centrokappa, Il design italiano degli anni 50, Ricerche Design Editrice, Milano 1985, p. 113. Poggi Catalogues, various editions from the 60s to the 70s. "Domus", n. 334, November 1957 After spending his childhood and part of his youth in Robbiate in Brianza, where he was born in 1905, Franco Albini moved with his family to Milan. Here he enrolled in the Faculty of Architecture of the Polytechnic and graduated in 1929. He starts his professional activity in the studio of Gio Ponti and Emilio Lancia, with whom he collaborates for three years. He probably had his first international contacts here In those three years, the works carried out are admittedly of a twentieth-century imprint. It was the meeting with Edoardo Persico that marked a clear turning point towards rationalism and the rapprochement with the group of editors of “Casabella”. The new phase that that meeting provoked starts with the opening of the first professional studio in via Panizza with Renato Camus and Giancarlo Palanti. The group of architects began to deal with public housing by participating in the competition for the Baracca neighborhood in San Siro in 1932 and then creating the Ifacp neighborhoods: Fabio Filzi (1936/38), Gabriele D’Annunzio and Ettore Ponti (1939). Also in those years Albini worked on his first villa Pestarini. But it is above all in the context of the exhibitions that the Milanese master experiments his compromise between that “rigor and poetic fantasy” coining the elements that will be a recurring theme in all the declinations of his work – architecture, interiors, design pieces . The opening in 1933 of the new headquarters of the Triennale in Milan, in the Palazzo dell’Arte, becomes an important opportunity to express the strong innovative character of rationalist thought, a gym in which to freely experiment with new materials and new solutions, but above all a “method”. Together with Giancarlo Palanti, Albini on the occasion of the V Triennale di Milano sets up the steel structure house, for which he also designs the ‘furniture. At the subsequent Triennale of 1936, marked by the untimely death of Persico, together with a group of young designers gathered by Pagano in the previous edition of 1933, Franco Albini takes care of the preparation of the exhibition of the house, in which the furniture of three types of accommodation. The staging of Stanza per un uomo, at that same Triennale, allows us to understand the acute and ironic approach that is part of Albini, as a man and as a designer: the theme addressed is that of the existenzminimum and the reference of the project is to the fascist myth of the athletic and sporty man, but it is also a way to reflect on low-cost housing, the reduction of surfaces to a minimum and respect for the way of living. In that same year Albini and Romano designed the Ancient Italian Goldsmith’s Exhibition: vertical uprights, simple linear rods, design the space. A theme, that of the “flagpole”, which seems to be the center of the evolution of his production and creative process. The concept is reworked over time, with the technique of decomposition and recomposition typical of Albinian planning: in the setting up of the Scipio Exhibition and of contemporary drawings (1941) the tapered flagpoles, on which the paintings and display cases are hung, are supported by a grid of steel cables; in the Vanzetti stand (1942) they take on the V shape; in the Olivetti store in Paris (1956) the uprights in polished mahogany support the shelves for displaying typewriters and calculators. The reflection on this theme arises from the desire to interpret the architectural space, to read it through the use of a grid, to introduce the third dimension, the vertical one, while maintaining a sense of lightness and transparency. The flagpole is found, however, also in areas other than the exhibition ones. In the apartments he designed, it is used as a pivot on which the paintings can be suspended and rotated to allow different points of view, but at the same time as an element capable of dividing spaces. The Veliero bookcase, built in a single prototype in 1940, has two main uprights, made up of slender curved and juxtaposed bars, linked by a complex tensile structure. The lightened upright is also found in the LB7 bookcase, produced by Poggi in the 1950s. Like the evolution of the upright, also the decomposition and recomposition of the architectural elements and the use of the module, constitute the elements of a method that tends to simplify the complex phenomena of design down to the essential nuclei. Albini is a complete designer, whose work ranges from construction to design, from installations to urban planning. Among his masterpieces are: the Genoese Museums that change the way the public uses the work of art, the Pirovano Refuge in Cervinia, the Rinascente in Rome and the Milan Metro, which inspires the projects of the New York and Sao Paulo. Silent, rigorous, ironic man, Albini works incessantly, supported by a moral code that accompanies him throughout his career. He firmly believes in the social role of the architect as a profession at the service of the people. He considers it the very reason for its existence.
  • Creator:
    Poggi (Manufacturer),Franco Albini (Designer)
  • Design:
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 118.12 in (300 cm)Width: 35.44 in (90 cm)Depth: 13.78 in (35 cm)
  • Style:
    Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
  • Materials and Techniques:
    Metal,Teak,Wood,Lacquered,Veneer
  • Place of Origin:
  • Period:
  • Date of Manufacture:
    1956
  • Condition:
    Refinished. Wear consistent with age and use.
  • Seller Location:
    Montecatini Terme, IT
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU5304224369572

More From This Seller

View All
Franco Albini Cicognino Coffee Table in Teak Wood by Poggi Pavia 1970s Italy
By Poggi, Franco Albini
Located in Montecatini Terme, IT
Cicognino coffee table entirely made in teak wood designed by Franco Albini in 1952 and firstly produced by the Italian company, Poggi Pavia from the 1950s. The Cicognino coffee t...
Category

Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Teak

Franco Albini MB15 Large Sideboard with Four-Doors Panels in Wood by Poggi 1950s
By Franco Albini, Poggi
Located in Montecatini Terme, IT
MB15 large sideboard with four-door panels in wood, designed by Franco Albini in 1956 and produced by Poggi, Pavia. The MB15 sideboard showcases a clean and solid design characteriz...
Category

Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Sideboards

Materials

Wood

Franco Albini PL19 or Tre Pezzi Armchair in White Wool by Poggi Pavia, 1950s
By Franco Albini and Franca Helg, Poggi
Located in Montecatini Terme, IT
PL19 also known as Tre Pezzi armchair with black enameled steel tube structure, upholstered in white Mongolian goat wool. Designed by Franco Albini & Franca Helg for Poggi, Pavia...
Category

Vintage 1950s Italian Post-Modern Armchairs

Materials

Steel

Franco Albini PL19 or Tre Pezzi Armchair in Red Fabric by Poggi 1970s
By Franco Albini and Franca Helg, Poggi
Located in Montecatini Terme, IT
PL19 or Tre Pezzi armchair with frame in black lacquered tubular steel, seat and back in padded red fabric. Designed by Franco Albini and Franca Helg in 1959 for the Nuove terme Lui...
Category

Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs

Materials

Steel

Franco Albini Pl19 or Tre Pezzi Armchair in Black Mongolian Wool for Poggi Italy
By Poggi, Franco Albini and Franca Helg
Located in Montecatini Terme, IT
PL19 also known as Tre Pezzi armchair with black enameled steel tube structure, upholstered in black Mongolian goat wool. Designed by Franco Albini & Franca Helg for Poggi, Pavia...
Category

Vintage 1950s Italian Other Armchairs

Materials

Steel

Franco Albini & Franca Helg AM/AS Table Lamp in Steel by Sirrah 1960s Italy
By Sirrah, Franco Albini, Franca Helg
Located in Montecatini Terme, IT
Table or desk lamp with structure and lampshade entirely realized in chromed steel, it as a part of the AM/AS series designed by the iconic duo Franco Albini and Franca Helg and manu...
Category

Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps

Materials

Steel

You May Also Like

Franco Albini LIBRERIA LB7, ANNI '50
By Poggi, Franco Albini
Located in Baranzate, IT
Libreria LB7 in legno di teak e composta da due moduli e otto ripiani. Disegnata da Franco Albini per Poggi negli anni '50.
Category

Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Bookcases

Materials

Wood

'LB7' two-bay bookcase by Franco Albini for Poggi
By Poggi, Franco Albini
Located in Milano, IT
Iconic ceiling bookcase model 'LB7' designed by Franco Albini for a 1950s-60s Poggi production. Furniture that can also be used from the center, it features two bays with solid teak ...
Category

Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Bookcases

Materials

Teak

Franco Albini Rosewood Mid-Century Modern “LB7” Modular Bookcase for Poggi, 1957
By Franco Albini, Poggi
Located in Vicenza, IT
LB7 bookcase, designed by Franco Albini and manufactured by Poggi in 1957. Modular bookstore composed by upholds, containers with flying and doors, shelve. The industrial standard for every product component allows permanent and different solutions, from the bearing structures to the elements. The structure does not need anchorages to the wall and can be placed in the middle of the space. This set is composed of 3 modules, ten shelves, and three containers. It is made of Rosewood, iron, and brass. Excellent vintage condition. Franco Albini was born in Robbiate in 1905, and after his childhood and part of his youth, he moved to Milan. He graduated at Politecnico of Milan, Faculty of Architecture, in 1929, and He collaborated for three years in Giò Ponti and Emilio Lancia’s office. He probably had his international contacts here, at The International Exposition of 1929 in Barcelona and Paris, where he visited le Corbusier’s office, as Franca Helg used to tell. Throughout these first three years, his works were undoubtedly related to XIXth Century. His meeting with Edoardo Persico marks an evident turnover towards rationalism and writers for “Casabella” magazine. Persico’s thoughtful and ironical comments on some of Albini’s drawings for office furniture caused him deep upsetting. “I spent days of real anxiety – tells Albini – I had to answer all questions. I had a long fever”. The new phase that the meeting provoked begins with opening his own first office at Via Panizza with Renato Camus and Giancarlo Palanti. The group of Architects starts taking care of social housing, participating in the competition for the Baracca neighborhood in 1932, and then realizing the Ifacp neighborhood: Fabio Filzi (1936/38), Gabriele D’Annunzio, and Ettore Ponti (1939). During those years, He also worked for his first private villa (Pestarini). It is mainly in the context of exhibitions that the Italian architect experiments the compromise between rigor and poetic fantasy that Pagano was talking about; He conceived all the elements that would become recurrent in all types of his work – Architecture, Interiors, Design. The 1933 opening of the new Triennale of Milano, in Palazzo dell’Arte, becomes an occasion to express the highly innovative character of rationalist thinking. In this place, to experiment with new materials and solutions, but most of all a “method”. Young rationalist architects cultivated the art of exhibiting as a communication lab, an open field to space solutions. Albini, with Giancarlo Palanti, sets the steel structure house (with R. Camus, G. Mazzoleni, G. Minoletti and coordination by G. Pagano) designing also its furniture. For the next Triennale in 1936, marked by Persico’s early death, Franco Albini, together with a group of young architects around Pagano, takes care of the exhibition of Dwelling, where he presented 3 types of lodgings. In the same year, Albini and Romano design the exhibition for Ancient Italian jewelry: vertical uprights, simple linear poles design space. This element is recurring in other works, like the Scipione exhibition (1941), Vanzetti stand (1942), and Olivetti shop in Paris (1956). The architectural space is readable through a grid, introducing a third dimension, the vertical one, with a sense of lightness and transparency. Upright is also used in design objects, such as the Veliero bookcase...
Category

Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Shelves

Materials

Brass, Iron

Franco Albini Italian Midcentury Dark Wood Sideboard for Poggi, 1950s
By Franco Albini, Poggi
Located in Reggio Emilia, IT
Italian Mid-Century Modern design credenza sideboard designed by Franco Albini and produced by Poggi Pavia from 1958, four doors with sliding shelves and a pull-out shelf / tray, sol...
Category

Antique 1850s Italian Mid-Century Modern Sideboards

Materials

Wood

Franco Albini Veleiro Bookcase, Wood by Cassina
By Franco Albini, Cassina
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Bookcase designed by Franco Albini in 1940. Relaunched in 2011-19. Manufactured by Cassina in Italy. Defying the laws of physics, going beyond what we normally understand by the ...
Category

2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Bookcases

Materials

Metal

Franco Albini Veleiro Bookcase, Wood by Cassina
$46,339 Sale Price / item
20% Off
Franco Albini Veleiro Bookcase, Wood by Cassina
By Cassina, Franco Albini
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Bookcase designed by Franco Albini in 1940. Relaunched in 2011-19. Manufactured by Cassina in Italy. Defying the laws of physics, going beyond what we normally understand by the ...
Category

2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Bookcases

Materials

Metal

Franco Albini Veleiro Bookcase, Wood by Cassina
$46,339 Sale Price / item
20% Off

Recently Viewed

View All