Mid2Mod: Tobia Scarpa

Tobia Scarpa (1935- ), the son of architect Carlo Scarpa, was born in Venice, Italy, and educated at the Instituto Universitario di Architettura there. He has designed for nearly every major international furniture company, including Flos, Cassina, Knoll and B&B Italia.

In the late 1950s, he and his wife Afra began their careers working with the Venini glassworks. In 1960 they opened their own design office. One of their first designs was Chair Model 917 for Cassina. Their Bastiano line was designed for Gavina and later reissued by Knoll. Knoll also sold his André table. In 1966 Scarpa designed the extremely successful Coronado series of armchairs for B&B Italia. In 1968 he and his wife designed the Ciprea armchair, which, along with the 1970 Soriana armchair, were included in the 1972 MoMA Domestic Landscape show.

Scarpa and Pier Castiglioni designed the first products for Flos, the lighting company started by Dino Gavina. His Papillona lamp for Flos, which he designed in 1973, was one of the first to use halogen technology.

With his wife, he later worked in commercial architecture and interior design. Scarpa has been a lecturer at the School of Industrial Design in Venice.

My SIL just picked up an André dining table for the store, and I'll be posting photos soon.

From r20thcentury.com and knoll.com