Molteni&C

Hidden qualities. This is the slogan for the 100,000 books printed by Molteni&C to present a world and a mission. 700,000 wooden panels produced in a single year, 7 each minute. 1,000 kilometres of squared panel, the distance as the crow flies between Milan and London. Technology, design culture and a living material, wood. A dream, hidden qualities. As if we imagined travelling that distance in first class. An industrial reality which promotes and gives value to the heart and soul of craftsmanship.Molteni is this too. The stars of international design, from Jean Nouvel to Norman Foster, and the 300 specialised technicians that arrive on foot or by bicycle every morning at 8 o’clock at the factory in Giussano, in the heart of Brianza. 124,000 square metres of creativity and engineering. A complete production process to order, constant attention to all stages of production. The Made in Italy brand, the history and innovation of an entrepeneurial dream. Since 1934, when Angelo Molteni started building quality. Today, along with furnishing systems like 505 and Pass, Molteni offers a complete collection of home furnishings, from the table Less to the wardrobe Gliss 5th, from the bookshelf Graduate to the chair Glove. And an upholstery division which boasts numbers at the top of the scale: 28,000 seats produced in a year, 150,000 metres of fabric used, 400 times the height of the Empire State Building in New York. It is these numbers, as well as research and innovation, which mean that Molteni&C today exports 55% of its products to more than 60 countries, in 350 foreign sales outlets, as well as 240 in Italy and 26 brand name shops. But there’s more. The stars of architecture look for hidden qualities for their international designs. And they go to Molteni&C. This is how great products on a grand scale, designed for excellence are born. Hotels, museums, hospitals and theatres. Cunard, Costa and Holland America cruise liners, furnishings for Cartier boutiques all over the world, the interiors of the Teatro La Fenice in Venice. From the technology of great companies to the poetry of the craftsman. “From the city to the spoon”, we could say, turning around the famous saying of Walter Gropius, founder of Bauhaus.