In 1947, the same year she founded the Italian design brand Azucena with architects Ignazio Gardella, Corrado Corradi Dell’Acqua, and Luigi Caccia Dominioni, it was not unusual for Maria Teresa Tosi to raise eyebrows when meeting craftsmen by bicycle. Back then, hashing out production plans was considered part of a “traditional, masculine world,” explains Tosi’s daughter Marta Sala, founder of Milan- and Paris-based furniture company Marta Sala Éditions.
Between her pioneering mother and her uncle Caccia Dominioni—whose prolific oeuvre includes more than 30 buildings across Milan—Sala had a solid grasp on the industry early on. She studied architecture and design, but then veered into philosophy, because “I love the souls and minds of people,” Sala says. After her aunt, who also worked at Azucena, passed away, however, Sala felt obliged to join the family business and stayed for 25 years. “I don’t know if it was a choice, but it was a destiny,” she says. “When you’re young, you don’t want to do what’s expected of you.”
The Lavinia armchair by Lazzarini Pickering for Marta Sala Éditions
Unlike the straightforward industrial designs of the past, Sala noticed that furniture was increasingly being treated like art. This shift prompted her to launch Marta Sala Éditions in 2015, an enterprise rooted in her Bauhaus values and fueled by collaborations with like-minded architects and designers who possess “a new vision for how to live with furniture and space,” she says.
Rome-based Lazzarini Pickering Architetti, led by Claudio Lazzarini and Carl Pickering, was the first practice that caught Sala’s eye. Over the years, they’ve conceived an array of contemporary laser-cut, hand-finished designs together. Then, Sala brought Milan designer Federico Peri into the fold, expanding her catalogue with items such as the round, slender-framed Flamand chair, lacquered Luna bedside table, and paper lantern-inspired Rivière lamp.
Crucial to these collections are the Italian craftspeople who bring them to life. “I’m demanding with details; sometimes a piece requires up to five different craftsmen and I find these people who have no ego, just respect,” explains Sala. “I’ve spent beautiful moments with them, and they support me. I’m part of something so strong.”
This article originally appeared in HD’s November 2024 issue.
