Legnoletto. A project that transcends time
A dialogue recounting the genesis, vision and contemporary relevance of an Alias icon, 25 years after its debut.
Twenty-five years after its debut in the Alias catalogue, Legnoletto stands out as a project able to cross time with natural ease, keeping the strength of its original vision intact. Born from the intuition of a young designer who chose to engage with a product type that was, at the time, unexpected for the company, Legnoletto combines formal lightness and constructive rigour in a balance that looks to architecture rather than furniture. In this interview, the designer retraces the genesis of the project, the dialogue with Alias and the reasons for a relevance that, years later, continues to speak to contemporary living.
Alias: Legnoletto was created 25 years ago: what initial intuitions guided the project and which ones do you still feel are fully relevant today?
Alfredo Häberli: Alias was for me first and foremost a chair manufacturer. The catalogue featured a series of iconic models - Spaghetti Chair, Prima & Seconda, Frame, LaLeggera - capable of taking your breath away. That’s why I decided to enter a previously unexplored niche in the catalogue: beds. I hit the point, and it was as amazing as significant to see Legnoletto at Alias booth.
Alias: Legnoletto combines formal lightness and construction precision: how did you work on the balance between poetic expression and industrial rigour?
Alfredo Häberli: Yes, it is an architectural project. Like a pergola, a shading roof. The construction is simple, the innovation lay in an unprecedented element: a “wooden” bed and raised to a seating height.
Its lightness – especially its optical lightness, the idea of floating - is still surprising today. The die-cast aluminum legs give the bed an avant-garde expression, giving the bed a contemporary and distinctive look. Working with and for industry is always a great challenge. The available budget, potential production volume, expectations, vision: By means of this continuous dialogue a project takes shape, step by step.
Alias: Alias has always been a laboratory for material experimentation: what role did the dialogue with the company play in the development of the project?
Alfredo Häberli: The experimental research was typological in nature: a wooden bed, high, tectonic, different. The use of wood in such a modern way was something new.
Alias: An object that transcends time without aging: in your opinion, what makes Legnoletto still relevant for contemporary living?
Alfredo Häberli: The Legnoletto project is still remarkably relevant today. This is also due to its flexibility through the adaptation of colors and materials, but, above all, to its formal quality: the floating feeling and discreet charisma determine its character.
Alias: If you were to redesign Legnoletto today, would you change anything or would let the project continue to speak with its original voice?
Alfredo Häberli: Legnoletto remains an iconic project and, as such, deserves respect. The 25th anniversary confirms this. I wouldn’t change anything.
