Molteni&C Ushers in 90th Anniversary With its First Ever Monograph

2024 is a special year for Italian design brand Molteni&C. A real titan of the design scene, the company will celebrate its 90th anniversary, and – among many other activations – has released a book to mark the occasion.

Titled “Molteni Mondo. An Italian Design Story”, the book will explore the journey of the Molteni&C brand since 1934, when it was founded by Angelo and Giuseppina Molteni.

The so-called curator of the book, author Spencer Bailey, looked to cinema for its inspiration. Art direction has been masterminded by Beda Achermann, while photography comes from Californian photographer Jeff Burton. “The Molteni headquarters feels not unlike being on the Hollywood lot of Paramount Pictures: there’s something cinematic and lights-camera-action about it. In constant motion,” Bailey writes in the book, which gets its name from the Molteni&C HQ and factory.

Something that the book endeavours to capture is the history that the factory has been witness to. Some of the world’s most respected designers and architects have passed through its doors over the course of the past nine decades, creating works that have gone on to become emblems of Italian design history. “Our willingness to work with the designers to find every possible solution is not only one of our strong points, but also the most exciting part of our work,” Molteni&C president Carlo Molteni writes in the book.

Throughout the publication, these relationships are traced. The introduction comes from Jean Nouvel – a longtime Molteni&C collaborator, while the postscript comes from Jacuqes Herzog, co-founder of Herzog & de Meuron.

Chapters are then dedicated to the likes of Vincent Van Duysen, Ron Gilad, Jacques Herzog, Jasper Morrison, Jean Nouvel, Tobia Scarpa, and Patricia Urquiola. Production processes are tracked, and technological innovations made by the company over time are chronicled. Also featured is an insert dedicated to the legacy of Gio Ponti, and the collection Molteni&C co-author with the architect’s archives.

Molteni Mondo: an Italian Design Story is published by Rizzoli, and is available exclusively through Molteni&C until September 2024, when the book will debut worldwide.