Afra & Tobia Scarpa
Three Compasso d'Oro awards, six decades of practice, and a working method the Scarpas never really varied: understand what a material can do before deciding what form it should take.
Afra Bianchin and Tobia Scarpa both graduated in architecture from the UniversitĆ Iuav di Venezia in 1957, in the orbit ā and under the direct influence ā of Tobia's father, Carlo Scarpa. Morentz presents work from across their long partnership with Cassina, B&B Italia, Flos, Molteni and Maxalto.
Six decades, one working method
Tobia went on to work as a glass designer at the Venini glassworks in Murano, succeeding Massimo Vignelli and absorbing a hands-on understanding of materials; the couple opened their own design office in Montebelluna in 1960. His first project, the Pigreco chair, was shown at the Milan Triennale in 1959, developed for Franco Albini's university course.
Their collaboration ranged from the intimate to the industrial: the Bastiano sofa for Gavina (1961), the Coronado sofa for B&B Italia (1966), the Soriana armchair for Cassina (1968, Compasso d'Oro), an entire furniture collection in fine materials for Maxalto, and lighting for Flos including the Nuvola (1962), Seki-Han (1963) and Biagio (1968) lamps. In architecture, they designed Benetton's industrial and management complex in Castrette di Villorba and led the restoration of the Mercato Vecchio museums in Verona and the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice. The couple worked together until Afra's death in 2011; Tobia received a Compasso d'Oro for lifetime achievement in 2008 and continues to design and teach in Venice.
Bastiano, Coronado, Soriana, Biagio
The Scarpas moved fluently between materials ā wood, metal, glass, upholstery, even stretched fabric on the 1962 Nuvola lamp ā always testing what a material could technically do first. The Biagio lamp (1968) required a purpose-built procedure to hollow out and illuminate solid Carrara marble; the Seki-Han lamp (1963) paired two blades of Douglas fir around a neon tube for a symmetrical, directable light.
That discipline, learned partly at Venini and partly from Carlo Scarpa, is why pieces from the 1960s and 70s still read as considered rather than merely stylish. The LibertĆ chair for Cassina is held in the Louvre's collection, one marker among several of how the couple's work crossed from furniture into design history.
Being able to handle natural materials is a pleasure. But for it to be a pleasure, it also has to be intelligent.