Italy has been a nation of architecture, design and art for centuries, more than any other country in Europe. In 1920, Ludovico Magistretti was born into a Milanese family with a rich, multi-generational architectural heritage that shaped his direction in life. After graduating from Parini High School in 1939, he enrolled at Politecnico di Milano to study architecture. He was known to fellow students as Vico.
With his studies nearly complete, the Italian government signed the armistice in September 1943. With the signing of the armistice, all students who had benefitted from the postponement of military service were called to serve. For Magistretti, this meant either fighting with the fascists or being deported to Germany an enemy soldier. Milan, where Magistretti lived, was the northernmost major city near the Swiss border. He immediately escaped to neutral Switzerland.
He chose the city of Lausanne and continued studies at the Champ Universitaire Italien. He met and was mentored by Ernesto Nathan Rogers. Magistretti learned a great deal of design discipline from Rogers during his time in Switzerland. His father died in the early months of 1945, but he did not return to Milan until the end of the war. He completed his studies at Politecnico di Milano and graduated in August 1945. He inherited the architectural studio that had been run by his father, and he became involved in postwar reconstruction projects in Milan. From 1951, Magistretti was assisted by Franco Montella, who became an indispensable partner in the small office for decades afterward.
Magistretti started furniture design in the late 1940s and this flourished in the 1950s along with his architectural projects. In 1956, he helped to establish the Association for Industrial Design in Italy with a group of other architects, designers and manufacturing companies. This was the nucleus of what emerged in the 1960s as the Italian Design movement, of which Magistretti was a prime influence.
“The birth of Italian Design,” Magistretti said, “owes a lot to the close dialogue between production and those who design: it was born from manufacturers who wanted to change, grow and evolve. And—also for this reason—it has lasted since 1960.”1
Magistretti became as well-known for his furniture and lighting designs as he did for his architecture. His first mass-produced chair, Carimate of 1960, was designed for use in the restaurant of a golfing club, and then put into production by Cassina. Other designs for Cassina followed.
When Dino Gavina established Gavina SpA in 1960, the furniture entrepreneur sought out designers to produce designs for his company to manufacture. Among those designers was Vico Magistretti. His first design for Gavina was the Caori table in 1961. Magistretti designed the low table with hinged fold-down leaves front and back, and pullout drawers on the left and right sides. The recessed top was brushed stainless steel and featured a lift-up center panel to reveal six storage sections for magazines.When Knoll purchased Gavina and acquired the rights to all the company’s designs, the Caori table was added to the Knoll catalog in 1969. It was manufactured until 19742.
Knoll reintroduced the Caori table in 1988 and was noted as a New item in the Price List for that year3. However, it was not available for long. The table was not listed in the Knoll Price List just two years later.4
1. Fondazione Vico Magistretti. https://www.vicomagistretti.it/en/vico-magistretti
2. “1969 Product – The Caori Table.” https://www.knoll.com/the-archive/.
3. KnollStudio Price List 1988. 192-192.
4. KnollStudio Price List 1990.