Tonietta Chair

The collaboration between Zanotta and Enzo Mari began way back in 1980 with the Tonietta project. Aurelio Zanotta presented Enzo Mari with a sixth-grade climbing nail, the kind used to exploit cracks in rock faces and thus support the climber's body. Thus was born Tonietta, the chair with which Zanotta won the Compasso d'Oro in 1987 and first prize at the Chair Fair at the International Design Center in New York in 1986.
Tonietta is composed of a polished or black painted aluminum alloy structure.

"In those same years, Cesare Cassina was also reflecting on the idea of the climbing nail (himself a passionate mountaineer). He had thought of having them produced in forged aluminum, highly compressed and therefore robust. Following Aurelio's impulse, I, on the other hand, thought of making the chair legs in die-cast aluminum with differentiated thicknesses, the two front ones thinner and slightly curved. To arrive at the right thickness and the final design, it took me five years. [...] I can't stand projects that are born in one morning, just as I can't tolerate those who come in and ask for an idea for the next day... It takes thought, research, work to arrive at the design and realization of a product. [...] Four legs, a seat and a backrest. The clean arc of the Tonietta, the thin and robust legs. The assembly system reminiscent of the historic Thonet chairs. The effort is to achieve maximum strength with the minimum use of material." Enzo Mari

Technical Characteristics

• Backrest height: 82 cm
• Seat height: 42.5 cm
• Width: 39 cm
• Depth: 48 cm
• Material: Aluminum
• Designer: Enzo Mari