"It is not true that what is useful is beautiful. It is what is beautiful that is useful. Beauty can improve people's way of life and thinking."
- Anna Castelli Ferrieri
Agreed! Though you may have seen our Ferrieri modules on Etsy's Get The Look: Vintage Decor, we still consider this one of our most exciting newest additions! We stumbled on a set of these amazing space-age Anna Ferrieri containers awhile back and since then have been carefully cleaning them and sliding the tiny curved doors back and forth in amazement. The design is wonderfully simple and functional as you can see from the dismantled pieces. Each unit consists of a sliding door and a circular container. They stack directly on top of each other, each one functioning as the top of the next and the finished slide for the door. The only other piece is a topper. Unfortunately we are missing one topper, so our quest continues. But so far, we've put a houseplant in one, stretching out its leaves from the small round doorway. Another has small hand painted clocks. James and I each have our own for our keys, wallets, hats, etc. They keep everything so organized!
Anna Castelli Ferrieri is the embodiment of the Italian creative philosophy that advocates designing "from the teaspoon to the city."
Trained at the famed Milan Polytechnic Institute as an architect, Castelli Ferrieri worked in the office of the postwar rationalist Franco Albini, who became a role model for her. Castelli Ferrieri started designing for Kartell in 1966, after being chosen as the architect for their headquarters. Famous for its critical role in the introduction of plastic as an acceptable material into the consumer market, Kartell was founded by Anna's husband-to-be, Guilio Castelli. Castelli Ferrieri became intrinsically linked to the company both as a designer as well as its Design Director, instrumental in bringing such innovative designers to Kartell as Joe Colombo, Marco Zanuso with Richard Sapper and Achille Castiglioni.
Currently, ours frame our fireplace:
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| Anna Castelli Ferrieri Photo Courtesy of http://www.woont.com |
In her own designs for Kartell, Castelli Ferrieri exploited new materials through innovative forms. For her "4970/84" container elements, Castelli Ferrieri treated the design as a mini architectural exercise, with units that are stackable and interchangeable based on the needs of the new lifestyle of the 1960s. For her beautiful and useful designs, Anna Castelli Ferrieri has won numerous design awards, including the prestigious Compasso d'Oro, but the fact that most of her pieces are still in production bespeak the highest praise.
They brightened up quite a bit - we had to use a magic eraser for the most stubborn scuffs, but most everything else lifted with a little Meyer's All Purpose Cleaner. After hosing them off, letting them air dry, and then assembling them, this is what they look like:
Currently, ours frame our fireplace:
Here's a few more we'd like to get our hands on.
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| Photo courtesy of www.museedelaville.agglo-sqy.fr |
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| Photo courtesy of www.architonic.com |
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