Vela Artworks by Ferdinando Meccani for Meccani Arredamenti, 1968, Set of 2

Italian architect, designer, and artist Ferdinando Meccani remains relatively unknown to general audiences, but insiders recognize his important contributions to vanguard furniture design in the postmodern era.

Born in 1937 in Cascina, Tuscany, Meccani was immersed from a young age in an environment of furniture production. His father and brother owned a carpentry workshop, which heavily influenced his choices later in life, such as his decision to study furniture at the State Institute of Art in Cascina before continuing his studies at the Art Institute of Florence.

During the 1960s, Meccani was attracted to the avant-garde design movement and transformed his father’s small shop into a laboratory of ideas, which evolved into the successful Meccani Design company. Meccani took an elegant and artistic approach to guide the company's design and manufacture of home furnishings throughout the 1970s. In the 1980s, Meccani Design collaborated with prominent artists and designers like Ettore Sottsass, Michael Graves, Paolo Portoghesi, Ugo La Pietra, Adolfo Natalini, Masao Noguchi, and Lanfranco Benvenuti, alongside producing custom-made furniture and restoration work for private clients. Some of Meccani's more famous designs for Meccani Design include the cabinets Plato, Corinto, and Micene; the Erasmo Sideboard; the Scarpa Bookcase; and the Appoggio Table.