On the occasion of its 50th anniversary, the Zanotta Quaderna Series by Superstudio has been expanded with the introduction of three new pieces: Quaderna Desk, Quaderna Coffee Table and Quaderna Rug. 

Quaderna is an iconic furniture collection designed between 1969 and 1972 by Superstudio group, and manufactured by Zanotta since 1972. Recognised as one of the key designs from the “radical” movement, the collection of tables and benches feature geometric shapes covered with chequered white laminate. The timeless designs blend in seamlessly with any setting and are often described as architectural objects - more than just furniture.

To celebrate the quarter century-long success of Quaderna, Zanotta has selected a desk and coffee table from the original catalogue, modernised their dimensions and released them for the first time with the same craftsmanship production process which distinguishes the entire collection. Zanotta has also designed a special piece, the Quaderna rug, in homage to the Superstudio group.

Read on to learn about Quaderna's radical design history and explore the new Quaderna 50 range.  

CHEQUERED SINCE 1972. Quaderna & the Radical Design movement 

The Seventies were years of transition and rethinking, but also of visionary utopia which revolutionised parameters, thinking, styles and perspectives. Quaderna by Superstudio represents the utopia of those years. 

Superstudio is the name of a group of conceptual architecture established in Florence in 1966 by Adolfo Natalini and Cristiano Toraldo di Francia, who were later joined by several other designers. All were students or recent graduates from the Faculty of Architecture in Florence. Since the post-war period, Florence had been a crossroads of artists and scientists and a lively cultural centre, packed with initiatives, exhibitions, debates and literary magazines. 

In the space of a few years, Superstudio acquired global attention thanks to its visionary and radical projects. It was one of the first cross-disciplinary creative groups in history, with a multitude of experiences and interests: photography, painting, graphics and industrial design, anthropology and film-making. They believed in a system of democratic and 'horizontal' thinking, in stark contrast to the 'solo genius designer' whose studio was set up under their name, which was common at the time. 

“We worked with enthusiasm, like a new Bloomsbury group or like the contemporary Factory, coagulating around us a variety of artistic and scientific skills to generate collective works... which were unexpected and disruptive within the official channels of the regimental cultural conformism.”

The Radical Design movement.


In 1973 an influential magazine published a gorilla holding a label with the words “Radical Design” on the cover, and the term “radical architecture” began to circulate to define the investigation by Superstudio and other names from those years about architecture as manifesto and new language. The radical movement attempted to go beyond the disciplinary aspect of design. The result is a vanguard style which provokes, on the one hand, and creates stimuli for the contemporary world, on the other. “Radical design” openly confuted not just the status of design, but the entire social context in which designers worked. An explicit criticism of the rigid and dogmatic functionalism of the academy, against which the movement wished to be seen as a liberating vision of life and design.

The making of Quaderna. 

 Between 1969-72 Superstudio designed a single chequered laminate surface and applied it to wooden furniture and objects including a table, bed, chair, bench, coffee table, desk, wardrobe, stool, etc. This series was originally titled “Serie Misura ‘M’” and since 1972 has been subsequently produced by Zanotta under the name Quaderna. Despite its apparently basic design, the furniture is entirely hand-made using a complex process that does not allow even the slightest mistake. Plastic laminate is digitally printed, a process which causes a slight variation in the centre distance of the lines. Each surface is hand-glued to ensure all the lines coincide, a task requiring artisanal precision that uses the inlaying technique and takes an entire day, about eight hours of work, to produce a single table. The difficulty in ensuring all the joints line up to the nearest millimetre makes it impossible to detach the legs from the tabletop even during transport. An additional complexity, however an essential one to preserve the uniqueness of the original idea. 

NEWS. Quaderna 50 Collection

Quaderna Desk.

This desk stands out for its concealed retractable drawer, carved out of the thickness of the top and occupying the full width of the desk. The drawer compartment is made with scratch-resistant embossed wood, painted black, and fitted with a retraction mechanism making sure it shuts perfectly. There are two side spaces for pens and trinkets, plus plenty of space to store a laptop or A3 sheets of paper. 

Quaderna Rug.

This hand-tufted rug is made of 100% New Zealand wool. The design faithfully replicates a sketch of an unprecedented Architecture Istogramma provided by the Cristiano Toraldo di Francia Archives, depicting an isometric Axonometric projection (of the desk). The Quaderna Rug is available in sizes 200x300 cm and 250x350 cm in a single colour scheme: white background and gray and black lines compliant with the original design. 

Quaderna Coffee Table.

This square design is the perfect coffee table size. The top is supported by two side panels forming a continuous orthogonal bridge structure. At the front, the profiles of the side panels are covered together with the thickness of the top using a single piece of laminate to have joints only on the corners.

RADICAL DESIGN. Explore the entire Quaderna collection

The Quaderna Series by Zanotta now comprises eight ‘architectural shapes’ designed by Superstudio - three tables (square or rectangular), a writing desk, a console, a low table, the new desk and the new coffee table - plus a special piece, the carpet, Zanotta's homage to the Florentine group.