Levaggi Sedie

Levaggi Sedie is a Ligurian craft workshop that builds, entirely by hand, the Chiavari chair: a wooden chair born more than two centuries ago and famous for being both extremely light and strong. It is one of the few traditional craft objects that modern design has taken as a model.

The chiavarina

The chair was born in 1807, when the Chiavari cabinetmaker Giuseppe Gaetano Descalzi, known as “Campanino” because he came from a family of bell-ringers, at the invitation of the Marquis Stefano Rivarola reworked some French Empire-style models: he removed the decoration and reduced the wooden sections to a minimum. Each element is sized according to the stress it must bear, and a system of joints ensures its strength. The woods come from the hinterland, wild cherry, maple, beech, and the seat is hand-woven from thin strips of willow. Success was immediate: when Descalzi died in 1855, some 600 workers were employed in the trade in and around Chiavari.

From the chiavarina to the Superleggera

In the twentieth century craft production suffered from the competition of Thonet chairs and then of industry, but the chiavarina continued to inspire designers. The most famous case is Gio Ponti, who based his Superleggera, made by Cassina, on its construction system.

The Levaggi brothers

The Levaggi workshop was born in 1963 with a small lathe set up in an old stable; today it is run by Paolo and Gabriele Levaggi, heirs to a family of woodworkers going back more than three generations. They personally follow every stage, from choosing local wood and seasoning it naturally to the final varnish, without bought-in semi-finished parts. Alongside classic models such as the Campanino, they offer pieces developed with designers and design studios, and their chairs furnish homes all over the world.

Sources

• Fratelli Levaggi – Chi siamo
• Wikipedia – Sedia di Chiavari (it)