21 - Aldo Rossi

Aldo Rossi (Milan 1931 – 1997 Milan), “Le cabine dell’Elba” (The Cabins of Elba), 1980, watercolor over felt-pen drawing on packing paper, monogrammed and dated lower right, 30.2 x 22.5 cm, mounted on backing board and framed under glass in an original Berlin frame, overall dimensions: 38 x 30 cm. Limit 1,440 Exhibition: “Aldo Rossi – Isolato Urbano,” Galerie Römer Fine Art, Zurich, Sept. 2 – Oct. 15, 1994, Cat. No. 17 (a 94-page catalog of the same name was published to accompany the exhibition, featuring black-and-white illustrations and an introductory text by Sabine Weder). In 1982, the Bruno Longoni furniture manufacturer in Cantù began production of the “Cabina dell’Elba” cabinet —a design that Aldo Rossi had developed years earlier and whose prototypes he had presented in 1980 with the Molteni company at the “Salone del Mobile.” The “Cabina” is a prime example of Aldo Rossi’s design approach and his endeavor to translate architectural typologies into the living space. In keeping with his vision of an interior that exists in dialogue and harmony with the exterior—as well as a design that draws on the language of architecture and the city—Rossi drew inspiration from the typology of beach cabins he had known since childhood from his vacations on the island of Elba. He transformed it into a cabinet for the living area, while retaining all its characteristic features: the gable, the ventilation hole within it, the design with vertical stripes in white and blue or red, and the simple rectangular shape.