Keep it in the family: PAOLO CASTELLI

Premium Italian furniture-maker PAOLO CASTELLI’s roots stretch all the way back to 1877, and today, four generations later, the family company continues to be a go-to partner for timeless contract solutions.

By Paolo Castelli and Jean-Christophe Camuset for

Paolo Castelli

February 28, 2021 | 11:00 pm CUT

When he refurbished the iconic Lutetia Hotel in Paris, architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte chose furniture from Paolo Castelli’s Inspiration collection

Even if many Italian furniture companies are family-run, few have remained in the business for four generations. The carpenter’s workshop where it all began, what is now the company Paolo Castelli, was established in 1877. During the 20th century, it functioned as a contractor, developing a network of exclusive artisans with top skills in wood, leather and metal, most of them from the Bologna region. In 1970, Paolo Castelli’s father launched Anonima Castelli, a brand working with maestri like Enzo Mari (for the iconic Box Chair) and creating a global hit with the Plia (1970), a foldable chair that has now become an archetype.

Despite this astounding experience, the activities of the company have recently focussed mostly on private projects: cruise boat and superyacht furnishings as well as a variety of hospitality spaces ( most recently, The Lutetia Hotel in Paris), various fashion brand HQs, airports, and numerous museums and offices. That’s why ten years ago, Paolo Castelli shifted its strategy, extending its range to high-end furniture and decoration accessories for both contract and private markets. Three collections – ‘Inspiration’, ‘Greenkiss’ and ‘Tribute to Morandi’ – exemplify this new dimension.

Recent additions to Castelli’s 1930s-inspired Inspiration collection include bold pieces like the Golden Disc and Labilis pendant luminaires, as well as the Alba dining table

Elegance is the cornerstone of the Inspiration collection’s design DNA. ‘I’d say this collection is elegant rather than luxurious’, insists Paolo Castelli, CEO, Artistic Director and, himself, a designer. ‘We take the best of the 1920s and 1930s traditions, both in terms of manufacturing and styling, and we process these values into the latest manufacturing technologies.’ The result is a wide range of different typologies of furniture created to be used together, in total harmony, in every room of an interior. Inspiration results in discrete pieces with bold personalities, like the impressive Golden Disc suspension lamp.

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We take the best of the 1920s and 1930s traditions, both in terms of manufacturing and styling, and we process these values into the latest manufacturing technologies

Greenkiss is the very first premium furniture collection that is 100 per cent made in Italy with ecologically responsible products, in particular with recyclable and recycled materials. ‘Our idea is to go back to processes from the past, to recover their ecological innocuity. For example, the Gio chair is plunged into a vinegar bath in order to give it its peculiar tint.’

With Greenkiss, Paolo Castelli introduces the first high-end furniture collection, made in Italy with ecological materials. Two Parisian designers, Hubert de Malherbe and Thierry Lemaire, gave Greenkiss its distinct French accent

FSC certified wood is used for the structure, while the stuffing is typically made of jute and other natural fibres. As for the stone for the Arche tables, it comes from quarry scraps.

In terms of style, Paolo Castelli wanted to give Greenkiss a French accent. During a stay on the island of Pantelleria, Paolo met Hubert de Malherbe and Thierry Lemaire, two Parisian designers accustomed to high-end projects in order to entrust them with the task of elaborating the first Greenkiss collection.

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This new concept immediately seduced fashion brands like Dior, who used it in its breathtaking Champs-Elysées Boutique

Greenkiss was launched during the Maison & Objet fair in January 2020. Despite the pandemic, new pieces have been regularly added to the collection, like the Arche dining table or the Coral sofa system. This new concept immediately seduced fashion brands like Dior, who used it in its breathtaking Champs-Elysées Boutique.

‘Objets d’auteur: Tribute to Morandi’ offers a range of furniture and small decorative objects inspired by the workshop of famous Italian painter Giorgio Morandi (1890-1964)

Giorgio Morandi (1890-1964) is nowadays acclaimed for his paintings, most of them still-lifes. When his house in Bologna was converted into a museum, Paolo Castelli was involved in the renovation project and was lucky enough to spend some time alone in this iconic interior, in the heart of the setting that was the source of inspiration for the painter’s works of art.

After this striking experience, he decided to design a collection of decorative objects, in the same spirit as the ones Morandi used as models. Bottles, of course – Morandi’s favourite subjects – both in Murano glass, and candles, but also the same daybed and foldable stool Morandi used at home – a servant inspired by his easels

Paolo Castelli, a man with a vision, to manage a company born in the 1870s

All are handmade by the finest craftsmen in Italy. The glass objects, for example, are hand-blown in the Venetian Region. First sold online and in museums shops, this collection will be widely available from Spring 2021.

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Paolo Castelli

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Ozzano dell'Emilia , Italy