Shop

“This was a new kind of chair, constructed totally out of leather, much cloned since then.” Thus Mario Bellini describes Cab, a best-seller that he designed in the 1970s, which is now a signature piece in Cassina’s I Contemporanei collection. Cab was the first-ever chair to feature a free-standing leather structure, inspired by how our skin fits over our skeleton. They undergo fourteen discrete procedures, again by hand. The pieces are sewn together only when their outer edges have been trimmed to ensure a perfect fit. Once assembled, the cover is attached to the chair’s steel skeleton and held in place by means of a zipper fastening, as in a bespoke tailored garment. Today this model adapts and expands to meet contemporary needs. It is now available an XL model, 5 cm deeper and 4 cm larger. Also available are new Plus saddle leathers in pure aniline, and some versions with a gradient effect by hand on a natural basis.

Additional Information

The Capitol Complex Office Chair is one of the most recognisable in Chandigarh’s Capitol Complex, found throughout the offices of the Secretariat. The independent pieces, including the side bars in an inverted “V” supporting the armrests, are all made of solid wood. The woven backrest and seat, stretched across a wooden frame, are elements common in the area, much like the use of local woods like teak. Similar to the better-known office chair, this armless chair also uses the “V” approach to sidebars, in this case shorter as they do not extend to the arms. Importance, instead, is given to the seating/ backrest sequence in Viennese woven cane, connected with an immense geometric section supported by two wooden profiles, and coplanar legs, that together, are simple and yet, powerful at the same time. Cassina’s reissue offers the classic version in teak, and three versions in natural, stained black and stained dark walnut oak.