name: Norma
client: Molteni
date: March 2019
project assistants: Alessandro Stabile, Luca Madonini
photo credits: Max Rommel

A chair model exists in Lombardy, known as “tipo Milano”. A popular chair with a back made with bands of curved wood, legs with a circular cross-section, and a hollow seat. A simple chair, typically used in taverns and homes in the Lombardy countryside. The inspiration for the design of a chair for the cafe of the Milan Triennale comes from this archetype. An attempt has been made, in fact, to give this project a sense of “normality”, in compliance with the “norm”: a chair that obeys the rules of good construction, with an immediately recognizable function, a solid, reassuring geometric configuration, but honed at the same time down to its smallest details, such as the placement of the back – harmoniously grafted onto the rear uprights – or the sturdily shaped seat in solid wood. The chairs can also be stacked: this is a feature seldom explored for chairs totally in wood, but an absolute necessity for seating used in public spaces.