Franco Albini's Unseen Masonite Furniture Debuts in Piacenza

A new exhibition at Volumnia gallery in Piacenza, curated by Stefano Andrea Poli, presents previously unseen furniture by Italian architect Franco Albini (1905–1977). Titled 'Franco Albini. Metodo e poesia,' the show runs in the deconsecrated church of Sant'Agostino and features a series of masonite furniture pieces first displayed in Albini's 1932 pavilion for the Fiera Campionaria di Milano. These objects, never before exhibited, were recently rediscovered by Poli, Roberto Dulio, and Fabio Marino when called to identify furniture owned by heirs of the masonite importer in Italy. The pieces were originally published by Gio Ponti in Domus magazine. The exhibition also includes a section on Albini's modular AM/AS lamp system (1968, with Helg and Piva), offering up to 20,000 possible configurations. Installation design by Studio Albini Associati echoes Albini's light, diaphanous exhibition style. The show adds new tiles to the knowledge of Albini's work, emphasizing his analytical yet poetic method, moving beyond the reductive 'rationalist' label.