tracing dino gavina's mark on italian modern design at BUNDLESTUDIO

Dino Gavina: The Breaking and Making of Design History

In Noda City, amid Japan’s Chiba Prefecture, BUNDLESTUDIO takes shape as a renovated 1970s residence where organic and modern pair up through leveled interiors, skylights, and varying finishes. Today, a rare exhibition fills up the gallery space in honor of Dino Gavina — a pioneering and charismatic figure of Italian modern design — introducing furniture by visionaries like Kazuhide Takahama, the Castiglioni brothers, Ignazio Gardella, Carlo Scarpa, and Marcel Breuer. Running until January 21, 2024, Dino Gavina: The Breaking and Making of Design History offers a bird’s eye view of the icon’s achievements and a fresh perspective on his passion for ‘pioneering destruction’ and ‘new territories’, and his flexible thinking with a human touch. Throughout this visual journey, visitors are also invited to discover the intimate setting of the gallery — starting with the entrance and leading the way into the dining room, living area, study, and bedroom.

BUNDLESTUDIO in Noda, Chiba | image © Sohei OYA / Nacása & Partners inc.

into the life and legacy of a pioneering italian designer

Born on November 7, 1922, in the quaint town of San Giovanni, Persiceto, Dino Gavina became a pivotal figure in 20th-century Italian design. His story begins in the 1940s with set arrangements for La Soffitta Theater in Bologna — an unassuming starting point that gradually led him to an explosive career in furniture making, entrepreneurship, and publishing. The next stage of his career took off in the 1950s after crossing paths with Argentine-Italian painter and sculptor Lucio Fontana. A master in Spatialism, Fontana introduced him to the Milan Triennale and fellow trailblazers, including Carlo De Carli, Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Carlo Molino, Enzo Mari, and Carlo Scarpa. These fate encounters propelled Gavina into the world of industrial design, fundamentally altering his creative trajectory.

Carl Scarpa and Dino Gavina, 1975 | image © Renzo Gambato & Luciana Miotto, courtesy Archivio Carlo Scarpa – Museo di Castelvecchio di Verona

The designer crystallized his vision by establishing Gavina SpA in 1960, dedicated to the Italian masters of the 50s and 60s — namely the Castiglioni brothers, Carlo and Tobia Scarpa, Cini Boeri, Vico Magistretti, and Mario Bellini. The turning point of this decade came when Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni entrusted Gavina’s company with producing the seminal Sanluca chair, further solidifying his standing in the design world. Two years later, jointly with Cesare Cassina and industrialist Arturo Eisenkeil, Gavina co-founded the Italian lighting brand FLOS, broadening his reach in the maker’s community. Unwilling to rest on his laurels, he joined forces in 1968 with Maria Simoncini to establish Studio Simon. The following year witnessed the strategic transfer of production for the Lierna chair from Cassina to Gavina SpA, a move that truly underscored the trust bestowed upon him by fellow designers.

the exhibition is running until January 21, 2024 | image © Sohei OYA / Nacása & Partners inc.

1974 brought about the Metamobile project, a partnership with artist and designer Enzo Mari that spotlights do-it-yourself designs, resulting in a series of tables, chairs, and beds crafted from Mari’s creations outlined in his Autoprogettazione book. The simplicity of pine wood boards, coupled with assembly using screws, washers, and nuts, became a distinctive hallmark of this collaboration —exemplifying Gavina’s commitment to innovation. His profound influence on the very fabric of design thinking translated into an industrial design award dedicated in his name, issued by the Pesaro Furniture Show: DOMO360. Art historian Anty Pansera even called him ‘The most transgressive operator of the Italian supply.‘ Gavina’s extraordinary story concludes on April 6, 2007, in the heart of Bologna. After his passing, a major exhibition was dedicated to him — Dino Gavina, Design Flashes — at the MAMbo -Museo d’Arte Moderna in Bologna, featuring some of his most unique productions, including the Lierna of 1969.

portrait of Gavina image © Santi Caleca

a rare gavina furniture and lighting show at bundlestudio

BUNDLESTUDIO celebrates Gavina’s legacy and disruptive thinking by feature rare vintage furniture and lighting from GAVINA SpA and Studio Simon, as well as current products from companies like Cassina, FLOS, Knoll, NEMO, paradisoterrestre, and Santa & Cole.  The show  also introduces works by Gavina in collaboration with creatives like Man Ray and Roberto Matta, as well as two flat and two three-dimensional works on sale by Lucio Fontana, whose Spatialism concept had a significant influence on post-war contemporary art old.  Moving to the gallery’s converted bedroom, visitors are met by a screening of a Gavina interview, along with a selection of books on architecture, art, and design dedicated to him, curated and sold by Yusuke Nakajima of the POST bookstore. Book your tickets for Dino Gavina: The Breaking and Making of Design History on the gallery website.

image © Sohei OYA / Nacása & Partners inc.