It folds up on itself, just like a fit athlete. The wood doesn’t twist, it’s held together by solid hinges, with a compact structure similar to that of a racquet (for carrying, I explained, and everyone laughed!). It has now been modified, with my consent, by Bottega Ghianda. It is particularly compact, and can be carried under your arm or rested on a table. Designed a long time ago, a friend of mine saw a sample laid on the ground and said to me, horrified, “it’s a swastika!”. I asked myself how come I hadn’t seen that? I checked in an encyclopedia and breathed a sigh of relief: it was an antique symbol of sun and love, its arms turned in the opposite way to the Nazi symbol. Bottega Ghianda asked me to design something for their collection. I looked through the catalogue and saw some beautiful objects. I remembered a small bookcase whose production had been halted some time ago; I sent some photos and a design. It was accepted – here it is.
Product Details
Technical specifications
Essenze e finiture
Bottega Ghianda carefully selects the quality of materials such as essences, leathers and fine fabrics that make each product unique
Designed by
Álvaro Siza
Álvaro Joaquim Melo Siza Vieira was born in Matosinhos (near Porto), in 1933. From 1949-55 he studied at the School of Architecture, University of Porto. He taught at the School of Architecture (ESBAP) from l966-69 and was appointed Professor of “Construction” in 1976; he taught at the School of Architecture of Porto. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Science, “Honorary Fellow” of the Royal Institute of British Architects, AIA/American Institute of Architects, Académie d’Architecture de France and European Academy of Sciences and Arts and American Academy of Arts and Letters; Honorary Professor of Southeast University China and China Academy of Art and honorary partner of the Academy of Schools of Architecture and urbanism of Portuguese language. Most of his best known works are located in his hometown Porto: the Boa Nova Tea House (1963), the Faculty of Architecture (1987–93), and the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art (1997). Between 1995 and 2009, Siza has been working on an architecture museum on Hombroich island, completed in collaboration with Rudolf Finsterwalder. In July 2014 Siza announced his decision to donate the large part of his architectural archive to the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) in Montreal, Quebec – Canada, in order to make his materials “accessible alongside the work of other modern and contemporary architects”.
