Carlo Mollino
by Paolo Frello

The extravaganza of Carlo Mollino: designer, architect, genius obsessed with drugs, sex and extreme decoration.



Crazy, artistic, stingy, obsessed with taxes. Sex maniac, master architect, drug addict, genius. Carlo Mollino (1905-1973) is one of the most colorful figures in the world of architecture and Italian design.
He spent his life in the tranquil city of Torino, where a character such as he had few hopes to fit in. Even today, 20 years after his death, there has been little effort made to keep the memory of this extraordinary person alive. Quite to the contrary, many of his architectural works have fallen into a state of disrepair.
As so often is the case, Mollino has found success abroad, being greatly appreciated in other countries. Auction houses have sold some of his pieces at head-spinning prices and it seems that a famous American collector has accquired a good part of "erotic polaroids" made by Mollino during his nocturnal diversions. Over the coming months, two galleries in London and New York are presenting retrospectives of this unusual man' work.

Graduated with a degree in architecture with highest marks in 1931, Mollino immediately distanced himself from his father' s legacy: Eugenio Mollino was the proprietor of a prominent engineering company who built an incredible number of stately buildings as well as Torino's main hospital.
His first apartment, in 1936,was splendid: realized with the walls covered in colored velvet, ceilings draped with fine cloth, draperies of perforated fabric, a lighting system which consisted of a single lamp running along a track across the ceiling in a great arc. Apart from his great attention to the decorative aspects of his work, Mollino based his work on the idea of enabling the occupant to manipulate volumes at whim.
An avid skier, Mollino designed a strange device for walking on snow, and several racing cars. Paola and Rossella Colombari, two Milanese gallerists have produced, in the course of their exhaustive research into the field of design, several of Mollino's design objects using contemporary construction criteria. One such example is the Cadma lamp, worked in parchment, brass and marble, along with the Devalle sofa done in red and green velvet .
A legacy of legends recounting tales of Mollino's quirky personnage remains, while as a designer, his unmistakeable style and philosophy remain something that still inspires many present designers.


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