Componibili / Kartell
The Componibili is a modular cylindrical storage unit Anna Castelli Ferrieri designed for Kartell in 1967, and it remains one of the clearest demonstrations that injection-moulded plastic can produce a fully resolved object rather than a cheap substitute. Each section is a single continuous form in moulded ABS, with a curved sliding door covering the compartment inside, and the sections stack to build a column as tall as needed. It comes in a wide range of glossy colours. Nearly sixty years of continuous production and a place in MoMA's permanent collection have not changed it, because there was little to change: the cylinder, the round footprint and the sliding door were resolved from the start. It scales from a single bedside unit to a four-tier tower without becoming a different product.
Design intent
- +Moulding each unit in ABS as one continuous piece, sliding door included, achieves a formal precision and seamlessness that wood or metal joinery could not at this scale or price.
- +The stacking system lets one product serve as a one-tier bedside unit or a full storage column, scaling by configuration rather than by redesign.
Trade-offs
- -ABS scratches more readily than it breaks; a well-used unit shows fine surface wear in raking light, the honest cost of the material.
- -The sliding door conceals well but does not latch; contents are hidden but not secured against a knock or a tip.
The Componibili is a modular cylindrical storage unit Anna Castelli Ferrieri designed for Kartell in 1967, and it remains one of the clearest demonstrations that injection-moulded plastic can produce a fully resolved object rather than a cheap substitute. Each section is a single continuous form in moulded ABS, with a curved sliding door covering the compartment inside, and the sections stack to build a column as tall as needed. It comes in a wide range of glossy colours. Nearly sixty years of continuous production and a place in MoMA's permanent collection have not changed it, because there was little to change: the cylinder, the round footprint and the sliding door were resolved from the start. It scales from a single bedside unit to a four-tier tower without becoming a different product.
Design intent
- +Moulding each unit in ABS as one continuous piece, sliding door included, achieves a formal precision and seamlessness that wood or metal joinery could not at this scale or price.
- +The stacking system lets one product serve as a one-tier bedside unit or a full storage column, scaling by configuration rather than by redesign.
Trade-offs
- -ABS scratches more readily than it breaks; a well-used unit shows fine surface wear in raking light, the honest cost of the material.
- -The sliding door conceals well but does not latch; contents are hidden but not secured against a knock or a tip.
