There are common furnitures, and then there are icons. In the traditional Cassina's factory, in the north of Milan, classic Rietveld, Le Corbusier and Mackintosh,  are made by hand largely, as in a Renaissance workshop. The carpentry department, the ancient heart of the company, continues to be the pivot around which the executive excellence that has made the name famous in the world Cassina.

Organized for working islands, the craftsmen work the wood with the help of modern machinery, but the manual continues to be the real engine of all the work, especially when you have to realize millimeter joints, which make possible precise assembly so that almost no require glue. For this to happen it is essential that the raw material is excellent. The woods, carefully selected initially and then at the factory based on usage, are employed with real mastery, to make the most of the features but also any difetti.L 'reliability of raw materials - mainly wood, but also leathers and fabrics - involves an economic cost that the company considers an investment in the quality of the final product and the guarantee of its uniqueness.

"We are also excited every time we come here," says Barbara Lehmann, responsible of the historical Cassina. It smells of wood in the room, separated by glass walls and plastic tents in the individual areas for cutting, grinding and assembly. And then in the background the whistle and scream of machinery, whose sounds of which interlock come together. The hall is alive. Between work tables and carts then be divided into: bud wood, some finished, some still in the making. The passage of a group of "Barrel Chair" by Wright (1937), the pinnacle in the field of woodworking, and a gate opens to the loading ramp. Everything happens very quickly: the forklift with a load of chairs whizzing "Zig Zag", which soon disappear into the back of camion.La particularity of furniture, often inserted in places where no one expects: in the compounds of the elements that work together like pieces of a three-dimensional puzzle. The use of male and female segments offer more than a functional solution in faithful obedience to the laws of statics. Show a sophistication that is the equivalent of artistic icons.

"Every piece of furniture has a father and a mother. Fathers are certainly designers. But mothers are the masters of our woodwork," says Barbara Lehmann.Nonostante the use of machines, work is still always very manual, consolidated by each craftsman through a long apprenticeship, to give impetus to the implementation stages. The factory, founded in 1927 in Meda, in the north-east of Milan, began with the production of wooden tables. In the thirties, were added couches and chairs made not only by hand. The growth has increased exponentially in the fifties, when not only the production was moved macchine.L 'company, which today is a landmark of contemporary international, you trailblazer of industrial design in Italy in the Fifties giving via the production of modern furniture. In those years, according to a logic unpublished, moving from craftsmanship to the serial without ever losing sight of quality.

Tables, chairs, upholstered furniture, beds and containers .. some excellent examples of historic production made in the Cassina 699 Superleggera (1957) by Gio Ponti chair icon who plays the traditional "chiavarina" Ligurian, also known as Chiavari chair, in a modern version, thanks to expert woodworking that allow you to achieve a perfect synthesis of solidity and lightness. In '70 "Teneride," office chair by Mario Bellini, inaugurates a new ergonomic calibrating volumes and thicknesses. A few years after "AEO" (1973) by Paolo Deganello - Archizoom combines different materials in a session for the first time removable, washable and compatible with any decor. Unusual design features always lead in 1973 to a reinterpretation of the "parlor" with Maralunga sofa by Vico Magistretti and the chair chaise-longue "Wink" (1980) by Toshiyuki Kita. New chapters in the culture of one another incessantly in subsequent years with "I Felt" (1987), by Gaetano Pesce, soft poltronescultura made of felt properly treated; with the system, leather seats "Privé" (2007) by Philippe Starck who, thanks to the refined workmanship tufted, delivering a sophisticated, provocative classicism. You get to 2010, in collaboration with Gaetano Pesce for Cassina realizes that "Sessantuna", a work consisting of sixty-one tables, gathered together, form the shape of the characteristic boot, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy. And 'this is the path, experimentation and authenticity, he led the big brand to sign the interior design of the most exclusive and abroad: the Setai Hotel in New York, the Sanderson Hotel in London, Le Royal Monceau Hotel Paris and the Conservatorium in Amsterdam, and so on. Since 2005, Cassina is part of the Poltrona Frau Group, a world leader in the sector of design, high-end, and spokesman on the international scene of the best made in Italy.

The production is not on the same assembly line, but in small workshops, which divide the room in the islands. Each island is devoted to a product - including young CassinaModellen, Vico Magistretti Program Philippe Starck residence "Privé" (2007) or "Maralunga 'Sofa (1973). "The installation is carried out as in a workshop of the Renaissance - all in one place by one person," said Barbara Lehmann.

Once again, the charm lies in the inconspicuous. If you do not look carefully you might let slip the furniture created by Le Corbusier covered by a frame of perforated paper, as if to let it leak just a little bit of their polished chrome. As befits the true characters, all products Cassina possess not only a name, but also a personal passport, who accompanies them throughout the production process and supply any necessary information, who it belongs and where it needs to be delivered. As soon as products are assembled, are enjoying their first appearance important: through a roll band that spans the entire room like a catwalk, entering into the world - communissima wrapped in a cardboard box, anonymous.