“I would have liked to have been a director, but I only know how to design chairs.” Michele De Lucchi An innovative architectural project stimulates furniture design Michele De Lucchi first imagined the 298 (UniCredit Pavilion Project) chair as the seating for the multi-purpose building which he designed in natural materials and with innovative construction techniques. The UniCredit Pavilion, located in the new Porta Nuova area of the city, will open to the public in July. The pinnacle of the director’s chair in a combination of high technology and craftsmanship It was important that the seating designed for the UniCredit Pavilion would not only respect the aesthetics of the building but also respond to the numerous necessities of this dynamic space. Michele De Lucchi therefore studied and developed a sophisticated interpretation of the typical director’s chair in beech wood, a resistant and durable material. Each of the 900 chairs has an INOX steel mechanism which allows them to be easily folded away and neatly stored when not in use. Produced in the Cassina carpentry workshop with a number of highly advanced machines, the chair is further elaborated, finished and assembled by hand. The high quality workmanship can be seen in particular in the chair’s tapered wooden arms which smoothly curve into its legs, resulting in a light silhouette. The chair, with a padded seat and back rest upholstered in red fabric, has been left natural and finished with a low-gloss varnish to enhance the warmth of the wood. Measurements: 54x53xh.82/63cm Materials: seat and backrest: fabric with a thermoformed polyurethane insert upholstery: six colours from the Panorama Collection by Cassina frame: natural beech wood mechanism: INOX steel.