Above: The ‘Model 230’ dining table and chairs designed by Fabio Lenci for Bernini of Italy in 1969.
I really enjoy late 1960’s design, particularly the designs that were coming out of Italy. With new plastics and molding processes designers began experimenting with new forms and materials. These designs were made during the height of the space race and the products reflected a time when colonies on the moon were not just flights of fancy but something believed to be achievable. Perhaps that is why so many of the plastic designs look like they’re better suited to an interplanetary flight deck than an earth-bound home. And that is what I like about them – they seem so optimistic. They are a product of a time when the future was a promise, not a threat.
A great example of this period of Italian design is this ‘Model 230’ dining table and chairs designed by Fabio Lenci and made by Bernini in 1969. Made from ABS plastic and enameled resin the set includes 6 ‘petals’, with recessed areas for plates and utensils, that are hooked to the lip of the center cylinder table base, and six chairs that fold, allowing them to be stored inside the table base when not in use. However, even with the help of master mold-maker Giovanni Sacchi, the table and chairs proved very difficult to produce and few complete dining sets were ever made.
Perfect for the Space Age Fabio Lenci's 'Model 230' dining table and chairs. Click on image for full view
It is difficult to know what these designers were thinking when creating items like these during this period. Often the items seem more the result of freer creative thinking, with greater effort going into making something different than practical. But I prefer to think that these designers were making a promise to themselves that through better design there could be a better future as their children dreamed of being astronauts or citizens of the moon in a not too distant future. Who knows, but as we clumsily and frustratingly attempt to assemble yet another presswood table from Ikea, it does seem that we’ll not know this unbridled, idealistic, hope for the future ever again.
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