It began over thirty years ago, with a trip to Japan. Giulio Cappellini—artistic director of the namesake firm founded by his father in 1946—walked into a Tokyo gallery and saw for the first time the work of a designer already well known in his home country, but just beginning to establish an international presence. The always-inventive chairs, tables, and bookcases of Shiro Kuramata, then in his mid-40’s, seized Cappellini’s imagination at once: “I immediately decided that I should have them in my collection,” he says.

Decades later, Cappellini—the man as well as the company—is still dwelling on that encounter, and is now recreating something of the experience in the company’s just- refurbished Milan headquarters. The renovated storefront, painted floor to ceiling in brilliant yellow, is hosting an exhibition of the fruitful Cappellini/Kuramata collaboration that lasted from the early ’80s until the designer’s untimely death in 1991. Along with prototypes and drawings, the whimsical post-modern pieces in the inaugural show also include one newly reissued Kuramata item, the Dinah bookcase (below), returning to the market after a lengthy absence.

All of the pieces on view are works that nearly weren’t: The designer, whom Cappellini recalls as exceptionally taciturn, was initially reluctant to collaborate with the venerable Italian furniture maker. Finally, after “several meetings and much persuasion,” Kuramata came on board. His work with Cappellini, presaging his subsequent collaborations with fellow Milanese outfit Memphis, launched Kuramata as one of the foremost practioners in the PoMo mode.

Difficult as the designer’s non-verbal appraoch could be, Cappellini (who says he’ll also be looking back to older works by Jasper Morrison and Nendo at this year’s Milan furniture fair) still thinks fondly of the time he spent working with Kuramata. “He was a person who spoke little, but was able to transmit great energy,” says Cappellini. “With him, I learned that often the contemplative silences are worth more than many words.” 

"Homage to Shiro" at Cappellini Milan
Photos: Courtesy Cappellini