The Talented Mr. Lissoni

Mark McMenamin -- Interior Design, 9/1/2009

Interior Design Hall of Fame member Piero Lissoni has just completed a New York showroom for Cassina, his first in the U.S. for the company that has manufactured his furniture since 1996. Taking the 2,500-square-foot space's classic SoHo cast-iron elements into account, he offset them with puzzle-piece deconstructions of Flemish paintings as well as details in raw steel, from the handle on the front door to a 15-foot-wide, floor-to-ceiling display grid. On the oak sales floor, he mixed mid-century and contemporary Cassina styles including, of course, his Palindrome collection.

The irregular joints and articulations of his Rotor table, produced in smoked chestnut or white-stained maple, "deny the quest for conformity," he says. He considered the rhythm of cubic volumes for Radar, an oak cabinet that comes in seven sizes with variable configurations of drawers and open or closed compartments. Designed for versatility, his Toot seating modules can be used alone or combined to form a linear sofa or a U-shape sectional—just add or subtract backrests and armrests, and choose fabric or leather upholstery. 800-770-3568; cassinausa.com. circle 422