HISTORY OF THE FUTURE
A Wooden Protest
Since 1975 we have been protecting beauty without fear of kneeling
HISTORY OF THE FUTURE
A Wooden Protest
Since 1975 we have been protecting beauty without fear of kneeling
You also buy them for the pleasure of watching them age.
The brand Plinio il Giovane was born in 1975, in a small atelier in front of the Brera Academy. The inspiration comes from that magical environment of the Giamaica bar, the Milanese literary café, where artists, architects and designers dreamed of changing the world.
Mario Prandina, founder of the brand, designed and created his first prototypes in a restoration laboratory a few steps from the atelier. The man who helped him create them was called Luigi Meda, a skilled restorer and therefore a great expert in wood.
His idea was - and still is today - to build a product, in small series, accessible to a young public, elegant, very resistant and that would last over time.
What if life was a dream to be had?
What if the world was a place to love?
What if the future was a project to be realized?
A CONSTRUCTIVE PROTEST
But it all started with a protest. The first pieces of furniture, in fact, were built by reusing old beams from a beautiful farmhouse on Via Emilia, in the Milanese hinterland. The farmhouse was due for demolition to make way for the usual soulless apartment building. Mario decided to protest, and to do so using his hands and head instead of banners and shouts. Thus began his “social campaign through the product” to fight pollution, consumerism and greed using beauty, love and work.
This is how the first oak furniture was born. Plinio il Giovane, along with the first slogan, which read “You also buy them for the pleasure of watching them age”. The second said “we are able to build Noah's ark to save you from the universal flood of plastic”. At that time it was the first ecological operation in the furniture sector.
The same mission that today, Pliny the Younger, continues to support and pursue.
ETHICS AND AESTHETICS
It was precisely this gesture, which the Press gave much resonance to, that gave the first national visibility to Plinio Il Giovane. Those first prototypes, even before being produced, are still today the testimony of the battle that since 1975 has engaged Plinio Il Giovane against environmental and aesthetic devastation.
A battle that we fight not only in practice – using only completely ecological materials and processes – but also with aesthetics, creating products that last over time and beyond fashion.
Our furnishings, with those simple, light and non-invasive shapes, not being influenced by passing fashions, have shown that they retain a great added value in their form, so much so that we often find our pieces in the windows of vintage galleries. Moreover, at prices that are significantly higher than what it would cost to buy them new today.
PLINY THE YOUNGER DOESN'T SLEEP, HE DREAMS
Today we continue to carry out our mission through cultural and social projects and, of course, through the continuous search for new ways to enhance ancient knowledge and pass it on to new generations. Our drawer is full of ideas and our hands are always at work.
Everything has already been done, but everything always needs to be done again.
PLINIO IL GIOVANE