Carlo Ratti
Carlo Ratti was born in Monza on February 3, 1890. In 1910 he married Giulia Meroni with whom he had 2 children: Piera and Angelo (died in 67). He began his activity as a sculptor at a very young age in via Dante in Monza. He is part of the Monza Artistic Family which includes Galletti, Spreafico, Pittigliani, Parma, Colombino, Todescato, Bosisio. He took part in various exhibitions where he obtained various awards.
In 1922, with his brother Mario (who died prematurely in 1924), he opened a factory that employed about 100 people in via Belini, where modern and period carved furniture was produced. His love for wood, the pleasure he felt in working it to obtain mainly figurative forms that allowed him to express the various states of mind in the life of every man (from the crying of a child to the terrible accusation towards the figure of the torturer all bent over tormented by a thousand thoughts, from the sweet look of a mother cradling her child to the more sophisticated forms that praise sports and that show the artist, not only in his creativity, but above all in his ability to shape wood in the smallest details), led Carlo Katti to also dare in furniture (1922) forms that were no longer smooth, but soft and curved… Curved plywood was born.
He gradually abandoned his activity as a carved furniture maker and devoted himself more and more to the study and research of curved plywood, which gave him the opportunity to indulge his imagination, without ever completely abandoning sculpture. He moved to via Tommaso Grossi in Monza in 1936, then to Lissone in 1939 in via Pietro da Lissone, assisted by his children Angelo and Piera, who were joined in 1914 by their son-in-law Piero Berruti. Radio furniture, quilted panels, wooden plates and prefabricated plywood panels for bedrooms were produced according to his designs.
In 1948 he moved, still in Lissone, to Viale della Repubblica, the current site of the factory, where the execution of the processes was expanded and perfected. The panels for rooms and halls were made of panforte and plywood; the first chairs and trays were produced with the curved laminated wood technology; the processing was extended to third parties; parts for sewing machines, televisions, etc. were produced… Carlo Ratti continued the study and the behavior of curved laminated wood with various prototypes, obtained with the most unexpected means and with manual mechanical tools, which would then contribute to the creation of increasingly perfected molds and machinery.
First chair designed by Carlo Ratti, made of curved laminate following the shape in 3 spatial directions. Carlo De Carli asked him to design a chair for Cassina, which had to solve the then difficult problem of the anatomical seat. This piece would then win the «Compasso d’Oro» award in 1954.
The skill and love for the material lead Carlo Ratti to create a curved plywood shell in a single piece in 1957. The shape of the shell in a three-dimensional space, with its large dimensions, can only give a pale impression of the difficulties of production, but they are not enough to make us understand the enormous difficulties encountered and faced to create this work that we do not hesitate to define as “art”.
It is around the 60s, we start talking about design. Young architects, like Joe Colombo, are passionate about the technology of curved plywood, a material that they find ductile and malleable with which it is possible to create particular pieces. The Ratti Company undergoes an internal structural transformation, following these young architects. It therefore abandons the in-house work and leaves room for third parties working with the most qualified companies at a national level. The series designed by the architect Pollini is proposed only as a piece, where from a multipurpose element it is possible to create infinite horizontal and vertical solutions. Carlo Jr Ratti (who will later write a book on the technology of curved plywood), Piero and Marita Ratti, Giulia and Carlobattista Berruti collaborate in the company, as they finish their studies.
The memory of the passion and love that grandfather Carlo Ratti, who died on 14/6/61, had for this material, is a spur and an example for those who are destined to succeed him. The wealth of experience left over the years leads to the creation of increasingly difficult and complicated pieces. Architects and designers engage the Carlo Ratti company in making different shapes and molds, some of which are still usable today for the creation of small series production.
Carlo Ratti
Carlo Ratti was born in Monza on February 3, 1890. In 1910 he married Giulia Meroni with whom he had 2 children: Piera and Angelo (died in 67). He began his activity as a sculptor at a very young age in via Dante in Monza. He is part of the Monza Artistic Family which includes Galletti, Spreafico, Pittigliani, Parma, Colombino, Todescato, Bosisio. He took part in various exhibitions where he obtained various awards.
In 1922, with his brother Mario (who died prematurely in 1924), he opened a factory that employed about 100 people in via Belini, where modern and period carved furniture was produced. His love for wood, the pleasure he felt in working it to obtain mainly figurative forms that allowed him to express the various states of mind in the life of every man (from the crying of a child to the terrible accusation towards the figure of the torturer all bent over tormented by a thousand thoughts, from the sweet look of a mother cradling her child to the more sophisticated forms that praise sports and that show the artist, not only in his creativity, but above all in his ability to shape wood in the smallest details), led Carlo Katti to also dare in furniture (1922) forms that were no longer smooth, but soft and curved… Curved plywood was born.
He gradually abandoned his activity as a carved furniture maker and devoted himself more and more to the study and research of curved plywood, which gave him the opportunity to indulge his imagination, without ever completely abandoning sculpture. He moved to via Tommaso Grossi in Monza in 1936, then to Lissone in 1939 in via Pietro da Lissone, assisted by his children Angelo and Piera, who were joined in 1914 by their son-in-law Piero Berruti. Radio furniture, quilted panels, wooden plates and prefabricated plywood panels for bedrooms were produced according to his designs.
In 1948 he moved, still in Lissone, to Viale della Repubblica, the current site of the factory, where the execution of the processes was expanded and perfected. The panels for rooms and halls were made of panforte and plywood; the first chairs and trays were produced with the curved laminated wood technology; the processing was extended to third parties; parts for sewing machines, televisions, etc. were produced… Carlo Ratti continued the study and the behavior of curved laminated wood with various prototypes, obtained with the most unexpected means and with manual mechanical tools, which would then contribute to the creation of increasingly perfected molds and machinery.
First chair designed by Carlo Ratti, made of curved laminate following the shape in 3 spatial directions. Carlo De Carli asked him to design a chair for Cassina, which had to solve the then difficult problem of the anatomical seat. This piece would then win the «Compasso d’Oro» award in 1954.
The skill and love for the material lead Carlo Ratti to create a curved plywood shell in a single piece in 1957. The shape of the shell in a three-dimensional space, with its large dimensions, can only give a pale impression of the difficulties of production, but they are not enough to make us understand the enormous difficulties encountered and faced to create this work that we do not hesitate to define as “art”.
It is around the 60s, we start talking about design. Young architects, like Joe Colombo, are passionate about the technology of curved plywood, a material that they find ductile and malleable with which it is possible to create particular pieces. The Ratti Company undergoes an internal structural transformation, following these young architects. It therefore abandons the in-house work and leaves room for third parties working with the most qualified companies at a national level. The series designed by the architect Pollini is proposed only as a piece, where from a multipurpose element it is possible to create infinite horizontal and vertical solutions. Carlo Jr Ratti (who will later write a book on the technology of curved plywood), Piero and Marita Ratti, Giulia and Carlobattista Berruti collaborate in the company, as they finish their studies.
The memory of the passion and love that grandfather Carlo Ratti, who died on 14/6/61, had for this material, is a spur and an example for those who are destined to succeed him. The wealth of experience left over the years leads to the creation of increasingly difficult and complicated pieces. Architects and designers engage the Carlo Ratti company in making different shapes and molds, some of which are still usable today for the creation of small series production.
