From the moment it was first presented at the XI Triennale in Milan in 1957, Catilina became one of Luigi Caccia Dominioni’s classics. He loved the design so much that guests in his studio would sit at his desk and chat in these chairs.
At first glance, you would be forgiven for thinking that this unusual object is unfinished. Instead, Caccia Dominioni both created a new chair and defined how to sit in it. Catilina is not designed for relaxation and letting go, but for thoughtfulness and elegance. You could almost be transported back to ancient Rome, seated in the armchair of Lucio Sergio Catilina, the Roman senator for whom the chair is named. In contrast, the chair harks back to medieval thrones or the horseshoe seats so typical of classic Chinese furniture.
Catilina is essentially a stroke of the pen, a play on curves, an object that – as Caccia Dominioni himself liked to say – “is nothing more than a series of ethereal, curved iron bars”. Whatever your interpretation, Catilina embodies a product designed for comfort and dignity thanks to its well upholstered cushion. When you put your arms on the upper frame, you can’t help but feel fabulous, unlike the sense of abandonment you feel when you go back to a couch. Is that a chair? A chair? Or should we simply call it “the throne”?
