Italians were born to build. Building is the character of their nation, the form of their mind, the vocation and duty of their destiny, the expression of their existence, the supreme and immortal symbol of their history.
— Gio Ponti, “The Italian Architectural Vocation,” 1940

LOMBARDY, THE NORTHERN Italian region of which Milan is the capital, is among Italy’s lushest. To the north, the precipitous Alps are fissured by long lakes; to the south, in the flat, fertile plains runs the Po River; in between, gently undulating hills are thick with forest. In the center, between the Alps and the plains, lies Brianza.

It was on this land, rich in wood and water, that the Austrian empress Maria Theresa chose to build a summer palace for her son, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, in 1777. The project required all the skilled workers of the region and beyond — carpenters, glaziers, decorators, upholsterers, and engineers. The result, Villa Reale, was a technical and artistic marvel (and still is today): 700 rooms over 230,000 square feet in the Viennese style, decorated with stuccos, frescoes, and inlaid floors.

Fast forward to the 1950s, when the economic boom following World War II brought an explosion of experimentation and innovation to Northern Italy. Workshops became factories. Artisans became artists. In Milan, a new generation of architects and designers — including Gio Ponti, Vico Magistretti, Aldo Rossi, Carlo Scarpa, and Carlo Mollino — rewrote the language of Italian form. They were Renaissance men of a new Renaissance, who understood and valued the country’s material heritage and translated centuries of craftsmanship in wood, glass, ceramic, fabric, and marble to modern tastes with an almost mystical respect for tradition and beauty.

With its legacy manufacturing capacities and artisanal expertise, Brianza was a classical complement to Milan’s creative explosion — and less than an hour away from the metropolitan center. A collaboration was born, in which the family-owned furniture businesses of Brianza partnered with the capital’s innovators to meet the new needs of Italian homes in an unprecedented era of leisure and luxury. Suddenly, a level of quality and elegance once possible only in tiny quantities could be produced on a global scale.

As Renato Minotti, who helms the furniture brand Minotti alongside his brother Roberto, explained to me on my recent visit to the design district: “It was a reciprocal influence. It was an exchange of energies. Small companies that became big companies, in dialogue with the whole world, were born out of a region with strong artisanal instincts. This is an essential value even today in Brianza — to maintain the standard of work associated with the name.” Brianza remains home to nearly all the showrooms and factories of the country’s leading interior design houses, which share a set of inviolable values: quality, innovation, comfort, form, flexibility, balance, heritage, and beauty. But each has developed their own distinct approach and aesthetic.

Cassina

The primary sensation upon walking into Cassina’s showroom in Milan is one of color. Mustard paired with emerald, turquoise against raspberry, powder blue alongside pumpkin — the combinations are bold, sophisticated, and alluring, highlighting contrast without a hint of discord.

Founded in 1927 by brothers Cesare and Umberto Cassina, the brand has become renowned for its unorthodox and playful approach to furniture. According to myth, when Gio Ponti brought Cesare Cassina what would become the 699 Superleggera chair, Cassina tossed it off the roof to see if it would survive. The story may be apocryphal, but it reveals a commitment to structural innovation that’s utterly serious. Beneath each soft curve and elegant line is a deeply considered foundation that maximizes both comfort and durability. Many pieces, such as the Maralunga sofa by Vico Magistretti, the Eitie light by Tobia Scarpa, and the Tambouround chair by Barber Osgerby, can be adjusted in surprising and delightful ways to suit its user’s desires.

From the iMaestri collection, which brings back to life the iconic pieces of industry leaders such as Charlotte Perriand, Charles and Ray Eames, and Le Corbusier, to new partnerships with young designers such as Brussels-based sculptor Linde Freya Tangelder, Cassina epitomizes a balanced approach to past and future.

B&B Italia

B&B Italia does not so much build its furniture as pour it, literally. The majority of the company’s products are made from expanding polyurethane foam, injected into molds, resulting in the smooth, firm, and futuristic lines that distinguish its designs. While other companies may look to the past or capture a current moment, B&B always seems a step ahead.

Take, for instance, the famous Up 5 chair and its Up 6 ottoman, designed by Gaetano Pesce in 1969. Composed of a collection of interlocking spheres, the Up 5 calls to mind a reclining woman, and the spherical ottoman is connected via a rope or chain that resembles nothing more than an umbilical cord. Fertility, duty, captivity, sensuality: a wealth of associations. The complexity of the concept and the simplicity of the form made the Up 5 and Up 6 among the most recognizable pieces of furniture on earth, with a place in the permanent collections of top design museums.

Meanwhile, B&B continues to push the envelope, anticipating trends with iconic pieces such as the much-imitated bubbly, modular Camaleonda sofa by Mario Bellini, and partnering with leading designers ranging from the late Zaha Hadid to Patricia Urquiola to Naoto Fukasawa, whose work breaks boundaries while staying true to B&B’s sleek, bold forms.

Meridiani

Founded in 1996, Meridiani is the proverbial new kid on the Brianza block, but in its nearly 30 years of work, it has developed a distinctive vernacular of austere elegance that sets it apart. Led by designer Andrea Parisio, Meridiani epitomizes a global, modern luxury aesthetic realized in the highest quality materials: velvety suede, lush boucle, poured stone, with accents of brushed gold and lacquers. The range of marble — in greens, umbers, reds, greens, blacks, ivories, and yellows — recalls the Pantheon in Rome, where stone from every region of the empire was used.

In short, Meridiani is at once versatile and sophisticated, which is reflected in its naturalness in many environments, from country manor to city loft, from grand hotel to luxury boutique, from poolside to palazzo. Meridiani sees itself not as an impositional aesthetic but as something of a chameleon, able to adapt to any setting and, above all, to feel like a home. To that end, though Meridiani itself presents a palette of muted colors, all its pieces are customizable, so that a pop of pink is no less welcome than a cream.

Minotti

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Minotti brand, which was born in 1948 from the mind of Alberto Minotti as part of the intense surge of economic energy following World War II. What began as a classic design house transformed in the 60s, aided by the stewardship of Minotti’s two sons, Renato and Roberto, into a contemporary paragon of Italian style that responded to the needs of the new Italian sophisticate. Central to the philosophy and DNA of Minotti is the concept of balance: between classical and modern, between comfort and style, between craftsmanship and industrial scale.

Each year, at the Salone di Mobile in Milan, Minotti constructs a pavilion to showcase their collection in an environment that perfectly models its values. Built around a central, verdant avenue, 2023’s Pavilion highlighted certain timeless Minotti elements: wide and expansive angles and surfaces; sweeping, sensuous curves; shining chrome paired with polished wood and knit fabrics; a porous relationship between indoor and outdoor spaces. For Minotti, context is key. As for beauty, “It’s a duty,”the Minotti brothers confirm.