people&OPINIONS
Emanuela Frattini Magnusson FOUNDER of EFM DESIGN text by Veronica Orsi
THE DAUGHTER OF GIANFRANCO FRATTINI, ARCHITECT WHO CONTRIBUTED TO WRITE THE HISTORY OF ITALIAN DESIGN IN THE 1950S AND 1960S HAS INHERITED HIS PASSION FOR DESIGN, AND AN APPROACH WE MIGHT DEFINE AS BOTH ETHICAL AND PRAGMATIC. LIKE HER FATHER, SHE MOVES FLUIDLY “FROM THE SPOON TO THE CITY,” BUT HER GEOGRAPHIC COORDINATES ARE IN MILAN AND NEW YORK, WHERE SHE FOUNDED HER MULTIDISCIPLINARY STUDIO EFM DESIGN, AND WHERE OVER THE LAST 20 YEARS SHE HAS GAINED EXPERIENCE WITH MOMA, BLOOMBERG AND RELATED COMPANIES. TODAY, TOGETHER WITH HER BROTHER, SHE DEDICATES A DIGITAL HISTORICAL ARCHIVE TO HER FATHER, WITH WHOM SHE TOOK HER FIRST STEPS IN THE PROFESSION: A CULTURAL PROJECT THAT HAS LED TO VARIOUS REISSUES OF HISTORIC PRODUCTS, IN COLLABORATION WITH ITALIAN COMPANIES. WE HAD A ‘VIRTUAL’ CONVERSATION WITH EMANUELA FRATTINI MAGNUSSON, ZOOMING FROM HER HOME IN NEW YORK The new website on the architect Gianfranco Frattini, containing the digital version of his historical archives, has just been completed. What are the goals? My brother and I had decided to implement this project some time ago, since we have the responsibility for the safekeeping of this archival material: we wanted to organize it and make it accessible. The first step was to put it online with a dual function: for reference and information, but also as a tribute to our father’s work. He is known for several design pieces, but his range of projects was actually much wider. The goal is to publish his whole career, from product design – furniture and objects – to interiors and architecture. The potentialities are infinite:
the digital archive becomes a document open to all those who are interested in knowing if a piece they own, or want to purchase, may be a work that can be attributed to Gianfranco Frattini; for us, it is an opportunity to interact with the world of vintage, and with those who distribute the historic pieces. People often contact us with images of products we do not have in the archives, because not everything was documented (there are surely prototypes or pieces made for projects that no longer exist, but the furnishings have survived, or still exist in photographs). We can offer an informed opinion about authenticity based on what we know about the history, methods and aesthetics of our father. IFDM 84 April 2021
Has this process led to recent reissues in collaboration with contemporary design brands? The web development has been parallel and independent from reintroductions. We have been contacted directly by the companies, such as Tacchini, Poltrona Frau, Acerbis. For us, a cultural operation began in a spirit of tribute to our father’s work. Tacchini approached us in 2014. They had discovered the lounge chair which would be reintroduced as Agnese at a vintage dealer in Brianza; they asked us if it would be possible to put it back into production, and this fruitful collaboration is continuing to this day. A couple of years ago architect Marco Romanelli, a close friend who recently passed away as well as a great expert on design
