Italian furniture brand Cassina has reissued an iconic piece of Frank Lloyd Wright-designed furniture, the Taliesin 1 chair. The chair was designed by Lloyd Wright in 1949 for the Garden Room in Taliesin West. The iconic chair didn’t enter mass production until the late 1980s, but was discontinued in 1990 as it was seen as “too avant-garde.” The Taliesin 1 is constructed from a single piece of folded plywood, and will release in its original beech plywood with a cherry wood veneer.
To mark the launch, Cassina has unveiled a limited-edition series of the Taliesin 1. This run of 450 chairs features three color options — burgundy, dark blue and “petrol green” — all of which are matt lacquered and upholstered in short-hair leather. The Taliesin 1 has a complex geometrical structure that ensures the stability of the chair. Constructed from a single piece of folded plywood, it is frequently called ‘Origami’ because of the way it recalls this Japanese art.
Completely manufactured in Cassina’s carpentry workshop, the armchair combines hand-craftsmanship with the most advanced wood processing technologies. The project has been further developed thanks to the study of original drawings and the research and reconstruction work carried out by Cassina for the first re-edition under the guidance of Professor Filippo Alison. Compared with the first edition various additional elements, such as the front feet, have been eliminated in order to place greater emphasis on its folds, and the armchair is even more comfortable thanks to its thicker padding and more reclined backrest.
