Edison

"One of the most elegant ways of connecting four steel tubes is the one used in gas lamps, with a simple soldered cast iron crossed junction. I used it to connect the elements comprising the frame of a series of tables (with birch or crystal top) that I called ?Edison', from the name of Milan's old gas company." Vico Magistretti

The table designed by Magistretti for Cassina in the mid ?80s, whose NAME reveals the inspiration drawn from Milan's old gas distributor Edison, focuses on the idea of the net separation between the load-bearing frame and the top. The table's distinctive trait is the use of a cross tube connector to join gas tubes that is reproposed as the characterising feature that enables the connection of the counter-curves used in designing the supporting structure.

The support, which is more visible in the version with the crystal top than in the one with the birch top, is in varnished steel.

The Edison table, in its square, rectangular or round versions, is a perfect example of Magistretti's redesign concept, an approach often used by the designer when he chooses every-day or technical elements as a pretext to unleash an original design.