Ico and Luisa Parisi

Above The model 865 sofa and chairs produced by Cassina of Italy in 1952. Photo: Phillips 

Ico Parisi’s career began in the early 1930’s in the studio of Rationalist architect Giuseppe Terragni. Here, exposed to the abstract theories of Alberto Sartoris and the Gruppo di Como, Parisi encountered the then radical modernist doctrine involving the integration of architecture with art, which would play an important role later in his work. In 1945 he organized the first in a series of contemporary furniture exhibitions in Como, Italy. It was at one of these exhibitions Ico met Luisa Aiani, a protege of Gio Ponti, and they would marry in 1947. It was not long after the Parisi’s received rather prestigious commissions to design furniture and fixtures for the State Library in Milan, and the Casa Fraccaroli. Buoyed by these early successes, in 1948 the Parisi’s founded their design studio La Ruota in Como, Italy and this began their collective effort – often from opposing points of view – that would define the husband and wife partnership’s unique design vocabulary.

Over the course of their careers the Parisi’s would design over 150 interiors with La Ruota becoming the meeting place for artists and designers including Lucio Fontana, Fausto Melotti, Bruno Munari, and Francesco Somaini just to name a few. The Parisi studio became the heart of creative discourse in Como, a bustling meeting point for their many artist and designer friends. It was an exciting and productive period for the Parisi’s with their organic furniture designs being showcased to immediate acclaim in Milan and in the pages of Gio Ponti’s Domus magazine. Before long they were exhibiting alongside of some of Italy’s more noted designers including Albini, Buffa, Chiesa, Mollino and Ulrich at the Salon des Artistes Decorateurs in Paris.

With these successes came commissions from companies including Cassina, M.I.M, and Cappelini of Italy as well as Singer & Sons of the United States.  Perhaps the most successful partnership for Ico and Luisa Parisi was their designs for Cassina; designs which would go onto become icons of Italian Modernism. One such piece was the Model 813 Uovo (Egg) Chair. Gio Ponti, upon seeing Egg Chair, sent a letter to Ico Parisi lauding its debut in 1951. In the letter Ponti states, “My dear, your egg chair is a marvel. You are a master, and all that is left for me is to retire and live in Civate in oblivion.” Praise from Caesar indeed!