Gaetano Pesce commemorates Italy’s unification with an ambitious collection for Cassina
By Nelda Rodger

Italian architect and designer Gaetano Pesce is an unlikely nationalist. He’s lived in New York for over 30 years, and, as perhaps the design world’s most famous iconoclast, he has none of the requisite conformist leanings. So his recent collaboration with Cassina on a series of tables that celebrates the 150th anniversary of Italy’s unification might seem a bit out of character. But in true Pesce form, it’s the differences that count. “The future of each country is to be part of the world,” says Pesce, “but with globalization comes loss of identity. It’s important to keep our differences.”

The tables in the series Sessantuna – Italian for 61, in reference to 1861, the year the nation’s unification was completed – are cast in resin in individual moulds, each representing a distinct region with its own dialect, culture, history and identity. Assembled together, the tables would create the shape of the Italian peninsula, their unique forms reflecting the irregularities of its borders and coastline. But no such union is contemplated. Five of the tables, representing historically significant areas such as Milan and Turin, went under Phillips de Pury’s hammer in London in June, and the others will be sold to top bidders at auctions scheduled through June 2011.

Pesce, 71, was one of the most visible designers during Milan’s Design Week this spring: besides this collaboration with Cassina, there was an exhibit of his work at the Triennale, and a new collection for Meritalia. The personal, poetic approach to design he has followed for his entire career now resonates with a global trend toward the idiosyncratic and the particular. The owners of these 61 tables acquire not only a piece of Italian history, but also a slice of design terroir.

Nelda Rodger is Azure’s editor in chief. Visit our website for her video interview with Gaetano Pesce on the Sessantuna project for Cassina.