{"id":59806,"date":"2018-01-23T15:56:17","date_gmt":"2018-01-23T15:56:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/projects\/patricia-urquiola-cassina-headquarters\/"},"modified":"2021-11-19T18:18:27","modified_gmt":"2021-11-19T18:18:27","slug":"patricia-urquiola-cassina-headquarters","status":"publish","type":"metro_project","link":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/projects\/patricia-urquiola-cassina-headquarters\/","title":{"rendered":"How Patricia Urquiola Is Redesigning the Cassina Campus"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Patricia
Urquiola and Cassina archivist Barbara Lehmann picked this spaceship-like prototype\u2014a portable shelter for extreme environments\u2014to anchor the new Cassina reception area. The obscure project, dubbed the\u00a0Refuge Tonneau, was designed by Charlotte Perriand and Pierre Jeanneret\u00a0in 1938. The object seen here is a reproduction.\u00a0Courtesy Cassina<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWhen you reach 90,\u201d says architect Patricia Urquiola<\/a> of Cassina, the Italian furniture company whose artistic direction she oversees, \u201cyou can enter a second youth.\u201d It\u2019s a poetic and counterintuitive thought\u2014that with advanced age come \u201cmany possibilities for finding new solutions and new joys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Founded in 1927, the brand boasts 600 pieces in its archives from architects and designers such as Le Corbusier<\/a>, Gio Ponti, and Franco Albini. Cassina\u2019s back catalog is effulgent with the symbols of Modernist iconography, but this fact shouldn\u2019t be confused with piety. Since she joined the company in 2015, at its Brianza headquarters, 15 miles north of Milan, Urquiola has made gentle incursions into the Cassina<\/a> identity. Thus far, her influence has been felt in colorful reinterpretations of classics like the LC2\u2014Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret, and Charlotte Perriand<\/a>\u2019s marvelously supple, down-cushioned ode to the machine-\u00e0-habiter<\/em>. The design\u2019s monochromatic purism has given way to pastels, eclectically combined in ways at first incongruous and then pleasant.<\/p>\n

Urquiola says her directive is to reveal \u201cthe experimental side of the company in a modern way\u201d: If it\u2019s difficult to be a Modernist in today\u2019s world, it\u2019s easy at Cassina. Its headquarters are a mix of production and office spaces\u00a0set within old, evocative factory buildings, which Urquiola has begun transforming in piecemeal fashion. A new entrance and a dramatic reception space, along with revitalized offices and even a gallery, opened in mid-2017, with additional upgrades\u2014planned over the next few years.<\/p>\n

The project is ambitious. Urquiola is set on reorganizing the meandering 215,000-square-foot campus in a way that will benefit both the 300 full-time employees who work on-site and the thousands of visitors who pass through annually. She began by clarifying the entry sequence, which she has invested with a quiet \u00e9lan. A threshold of perforated metal screens opens onto a courtyard framed by a pair of single-story factory structures and a larger office block. The stony expanse lacks seating, but is pleasingly sparse, featuring two mature cedars of Lebanon in round, grassy pods. Wedged into the far left corner is a bright-red extrusion wrapped in more of that metal screen and bearing the company signage.<\/p>\n

\"Patricia
Courtesy Cassina<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A minimalist trellis emerges from the side of this monolith and draws the eye across the soft peaks of the low-slung shed toward an open corner of the courtyard. This gap extends into the new reception area, evenly lit by the arched glass ceiling and containing a curious tinny object at its center. Several LC2s, done up in lime-green and sky-blue fabrics, are arranged in two neat rows, while the back wall is textured with plants.<\/p>\n

It turns out that the toylike sentinel is a reproduction of a modular living prototype designed by Jeanneret and Perriand in 1938. An obscure item, the Refuge Tonneau was handpicked from the archives by Urquiola and Cassina archivist Barbara Lehmann, who seem to have been attracted to its peculiar silhouette (it resembles a primitive spacecraft) and the way it anchors the room, not to mention its intriguing backstory. The capsule\u2014deceptively roomy, with space for eight\u2014was conceived as a portable shelter for use in extreme environments, or as Lehmann says, a \u201cSpartan oasis complete with all the necessities.\u201d Employees take their coffee breaks inside or pop in for a phone call.<\/p>\n

The curatorial deployment of the Refuge Tonneau is prefigurative. \u201cPatricia\u00a0had the most original idea to have a campus of miniature architecture within a professional production site,\u201d recalls brand director Gianluca Armento. \u201cWe are still looking to build our own museum, but in this way, we diffuse that museum across the campus. So in the cafeteria, at reception, in offices and training rooms, you will find surprisingly important and unique pieces that have a story to tell you about Cassina\u2019s past.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the product refreshes and the new campus flourishes, Cassina<\/a> appears to be loosening up. That\u2019s what age will do to you, says Armento: \u201cCassina has a tendency to be aloof and distanced. We wanted the first impression the visitor gets to be a feeling of friendliness and embrace.\u201d<\/p>\n

You may also enjoy “Patricia Urquiola\u2019s Diverse Designs Go on View at the Philadelphia Museum of Art<\/a>.”<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In updating the Cassina headquarters, Patricia Urquiola honors the company\u2019s Modernist legacy while investing in unexpected and revelatory design flourishes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":64854,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"featured_image_focal_point":[],"legacy_WP_ID":null},"tags":[664,1085],"metro_tax_domain":[4,76],"metro_tax_topic":[13,14,17],"metro_tax_program":[],"metro_issue":[],"internal_flag":[],"class_list":["post-59806","metro_project","type-metro_project","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cassina","tag-patricia-urquiola","metro_tax_domain-retail","metro_tax_domain-workplace","metro_tax_topic-architecture","metro_tax_topic-interior-design","metro_tax_topic-preservation"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow Patricia Urquiola Is Redesigning the Cassina Campus - Metropolis<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In updating the Cassina headquarters, Patricia Urquiola honors the company\u2019s Modernist legacy while investing in unexpected and revelatory design flourishes.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/projects\/patricia-urquiola-cassina-headquarters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Patricia Urquiola Is Redesigning the Cassina Campus - Metropolis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In updating the Cassina headquarters, Patricia Urquiola honors the company\u2019s Modernist legacy while investing in unexpected and revelatory design flourishes.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/projects\/patricia-urquiola-cassina-headquarters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Metropolis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MetropolisMag\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-11-19T18:18:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/1_CASSINA_ingresso.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"551\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@MetropolisMag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/projects\/patricia-urquiola-cassina-headquarters\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/projects\/patricia-urquiola-cassina-headquarters\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Samuel Medina\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/#\/schema\/person\/324d554b90986607ea2d80a58637c0eb\"},\"headline\":\"How Patricia Urquiola Is Redesigning the Cassina Campus\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-01-23T15:56:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-11-19T18:18:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/projects\/patricia-urquiola-cassina-headquarters\/\"},\"wordCount\":772,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/projects\/patricia-urquiola-cassina-headquarters\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/1_CASSINA_ingresso.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Cassina\",\"Patricia Urquiola\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/projects\/patricia-urquiola-cassina-headquarters\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/projects\/patricia-urquiola-cassina-headquarters\/\",\"name\":\"How Patricia Urquiola Is Redesigning the Cassina Campus - Metropolis\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/projects\/patricia-urquiola-cassina-headquarters\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/projects\/patricia-urquiola-cassina-headquarters\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/1_CASSINA_ingresso.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-01-23T15:56:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-11-19T18:18:27+00:00\",\"description\":\"In updating the Cassina headquarters, Patricia Urquiola honors the company\u2019s Modernist legacy while investing in unexpected and revelatory design flourishes.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/projects\/patricia-urquiola-cassina-headquarters\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/projects\/patricia-urquiola-cassina-headquarters\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/projects\/patricia-urquiola-cassina-headquarters\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/1_CASSINA_ingresso.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/1_CASSINA_ingresso.jpg\",\"width\":900,\"height\":551,\"caption\":\"an architectural prototype developed by Charlotte Perriand and Pierre Jeanneret.|The aluminum-sheathed Refuge Tonneau anchors the room\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/projects\/patricia-urquiola-cassina-headquarters\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How Patricia Urquiola Is Redesigning the Cassina Campus\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/\",\"name\":\"Metropolis\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Metropolis Magazine\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/download.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/download.png\",\"width\":263,\"height\":192,\"caption\":\"Metropolis Magazine\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MetropolisMag\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/MetropolisMag\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/metropolismag\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/metropolis-magazine\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/metropolismag\/_created\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/#\/schema\/person\/324d554b90986607ea2d80a58637c0eb\",\"name\":\"Samuel Medina\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cab70aac2c7e7a012c2a6ce5a6357488?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cab70aac2c7e7a012c2a6ce5a6357488?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Samuel Medina\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/author\/samuelmedina\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Patricia Urquiola Is Redesigning the Cassina Campus - Metropolis","description":"In updating the Cassina headquarters, Patricia Urquiola honors the company\u2019s Modernist legacy while investing in unexpected and revelatory design flourishes.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/projects\/patricia-urquiola-cassina-headquarters\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How Patricia Urquiola Is Redesigning the Cassina Campus - Metropolis","og_description":"In updating the Cassina headquarters, Patricia Urquiola honors the company\u2019s Modernist legacy while investing in unexpected and revelatory design flourishes.","og_url":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/projects\/patricia-urquiola-cassina-headquarters\/","og_site_name":"Metropolis","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MetropolisMag\/","article_modified_time":"2021-11-19T18:18:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":900,"height":551,"url":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/1_CASSINA_ingresso.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@MetropolisMag","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/projects\/patricia-urquiola-cassina-headquarters\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/projects\/patricia-urquiola-cassina-headquarters\/"},"author":{"name":"Samuel Medina","@id":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/#\/schema\/person\/324d554b90986607ea2d80a58637c0eb"},"headline":"How Patricia Urquiola Is Redesigning the Cassina Campus","datePublished":"2018-01-23T15:56:17+00:00","dateModified":"2021-11-19T18:18:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/projects\/patricia-urquiola-cassina-headquarters\/"},"wordCount":772,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/projects\/patricia-urquiola-cassina-headquarters\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/1_CASSINA_ingresso.jpg","keywords":["Cassina","Patricia Urquiola"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/projects\/patricia-urquiola-cassina-headquarters\/","url":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/projects\/patricia-urquiola-cassina-headquarters\/","name":"How Patricia Urquiola Is Redesigning the Cassina Campus - Metropolis","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/projects\/patricia-urquiola-cassina-headquarters\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/projects\/patricia-urquiola-cassina-headquarters\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/1_CASSINA_ingresso.jpg","datePublished":"2018-01-23T15:56:17+00:00","dateModified":"2021-11-19T18:18:27+00:00","description":"In updating the Cassina headquarters, Patricia Urquiola honors the company\u2019s Modernist legacy while investing in unexpected and revelatory design flourishes.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/projects\/patricia-urquiola-cassina-headquarters\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/projects\/patricia-urquiola-cassina-headquarters\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/projects\/patricia-urquiola-cassina-headquarters\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/1_CASSINA_ingresso.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/1_CASSINA_ingresso.jpg","width":900,"height":551,"caption":"an architectural prototype developed by Charlotte Perriand and Pierre Jeanneret.|The aluminum-sheathed Refuge Tonneau anchors the room"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/projects\/patricia-urquiola-cassina-headquarters\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How Patricia Urquiola Is Redesigning the Cassina Campus"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/","name":"Metropolis","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/#organization","name":"Metropolis Magazine","url":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/download.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/download.png","width":263,"height":192,"caption":"Metropolis Magazine"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MetropolisMag\/","https:\/\/x.com\/MetropolisMag","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/metropolismag","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/metropolis-magazine\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/metropolismag\/_created\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/#\/schema\/person\/324d554b90986607ea2d80a58637c0eb","name":"Samuel Medina","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cab70aac2c7e7a012c2a6ce5a6357488?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cab70aac2c7e7a012c2a6ce5a6357488?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Samuel Medina"},"url":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/author\/samuelmedina\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/metro_project\/59806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/metro_project"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/metro_project"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59806"},{"taxonomy":"metro_tax_domain","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/metro_tax_domain?post=59806"},{"taxonomy":"metro_tax_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/metro_tax_topic?post=59806"},{"taxonomy":"metro_tax_program","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/metro_tax_program?post=59806"},{"taxonomy":"metro_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/metro_issue?post=59806"},{"taxonomy":"internal_flag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metropolismag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal_flag?post=59806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}