Piero Ranzani for Elam

PIERO RANZANI (Italy, 1929-2019) for Elam.
Bar sideboard, 1962.
Wood of different shades.
Bibliography: Domus, no. 175, 1962, p. d/175.
In very good overall condition, with patina and light signs of use consistent with age.
Measurements: 210 x 53 x 76 cm.
Sideboard designed by Piero Ranzani and produced by Elam, 1962.
Documented in Domus magazine in the same year, this sideboard is a representative example of post-war Italian design, in which domestic functionality is integrated with a rationalist aesthetic of pure lines and formal balance. The piece is made of wood of different tones, a resource that accentuates the chromatic contrast and the material-visual richness of the whole. Its structure includes two side doors, a hinged bar module at the top and four front drawers, designed for the storage of utensils and bottles, responding to a clear logic of spatial efficiency and functional order.
The design is evidence of Piero Ranzani's attention to modularity, proportion and the adaptability of furniture to the modern domestic environment. Ranzani, trained in the context of post-war Italian industrial reconstruction, collaborated with leading firms such as Elam and other companies linked to signature design, participating in the renewal of contemporary furniture through proposals that reconciled craftsmanship, technology and high quality serial production. His work, in tune with the values of the Milanese modernist movement, is characterized by a sober constructive elegance and the search for harmony between form and function.