Paolo Buffa
Paolo Buffa was an Italian furniture designer and architect whose work joins Neoclassical composure to the streamlined geometry of Art Deco.
His pieces were made from refined materials and finished with evident finesse, intended for the homes of an affluent and discerning clientele. That clientele asked for contemporary aesthetics, functionalism and comfort, and Buffa's furniture answered on all three counts. His practice reached beyond furniture into architecture, with commissions ranging from public buildings to villas and country homes.
Biography
Paolo Buffa (born 1903, Milan, died 1970, Milan) grew up in an artistic household. His father, Giovanni Buffa, was a draftsman of exceptional talent and co-owner of a prosperous workshop devoted to stained glass, whose works include the windows of the Duomo di Milano. Buffa trained at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera and took his degree at the Politecnico di Milano in 1927. After a period in his father's studio he served an apprenticeship at the Ponti e Lancia studio, jointly owned by the architects Gio Ponti (1891-1979) and Emilio Lancia (1890-1973). In 1928 he founded his own design studio in Milan in partnership with the architect Antonio Cassi Ramelli (1905-1980).
Buffa made his name through exhibitions, among them the Triennale di Milano. His furnishings were numerous and varied, yet each one was tailored to the specific needs and wishes of the client who commissioned it. He remained actively engaged in design until his death in 1970.
Models and collaborations
The fusion of neoclassical and sleek Art Deco elements is the clearest signature of Buffa's work. He did not execute his designs himself but had them made to his precise specifications by a select group of highly skilled artisans, among them the cabinetmakers Turri MosĆØ, Fratelli Lietti, Quarti, Serafino Arrighi, Colico and Angelo Marelli.
The Quarti workshop, founded by Eugenio Quarti and later directed by his son Mario under the name Quarti - Mobili d'Arte, had a reputation for exceptional quality and technical excellence. Rustic designs surface at certain moments in Buffa's career, but they account for only a small fraction of his production.