Like Vico Magistretti, Sergio Asti was also born in Milan, Italy and attended the Politecnico di Milano where he received his degree in architecture in 1953. Being six years younger, Asti never met Magistretti at the school. They most likely did at the meetings of Italy’s fledgling industrial design organization, the Associazone per il Disegno Industriale in 1956. Like Magistretti, Asti would become as involved in Italian industrial design as he would in architecture.1
Asti opened his own design office immediately after graduating from the university. In 1956, he was nominated for the prestigious Compasso d’Oro that year for one of his product designs. Lighting was a relatively low-cost means of creating new designs that got a designer noticed. In the 1960s, Asti was drawn to ceramic design and various marbles as a medium for decorative items.
It is curious that Asti did not pursue furniture design sooner than he did. It took Dino Gavina to persuade Asti to design a piece of furniture for his company Gavina SpA which featured so many other prominent industrial designers and architects. Instead of a chair or lounge, Asti chose to do a table with a distinctly architecture aesthetic
When Knoll acquired Gavina, Asti’s marble, glass and ceramic pieces and Park Avenue tables entered the catalog. The square table (No. 89-370 picture above) measured 55 in. by 55 in. The 89-371 table had the same width with 110 in. length.2
However, the majority of the Asti Collection for Knoll was made up of Venitian glass, ceramic and marble vases, bowls, ashtrays and even a picture frame.3 The Asti Collection and Park Avenue tables were carried by Knoll from 1972 to 1975.4
1. “Knoll Designer Bios – Sergio Asti.” https://www.knoll.com/designer/Sergio-Asti.
2. Knoll International Furniture Price List 1973. 75-76.
3. Ibid. 191-194.
4. “Sergio Asti Marble.” https://www.knoll.com/the-archive/.