Paolo Buffa a Cantù. Storie di sodalizi #14
Founded in the late 19th century, it was one of Cantù’s most representative artisanal firms. Serafino Arrighi Mobili d’Arte, known for the exceptional quality of its products, is linked to that of Paolo Buffa, a Milanese architect already well-known in the city for his frequent visits to Paolo Lietti’s workshop a few years earlier. Buffa’s meeting with Serafino Arrighi dates back to 1932, sparking a remarkable collaboration, both in terms of the quantity and diversity of their products.
Far from being a small workshop, Serafino Arrighi had its own showroom where it could receive customers, a technical office, and a considerable workforce, as evidenced by this 1939 image taken around a company motorcycle. Important names benefited from its executive skills: from engineer Fererio, owner of the Aladoro brand, to the Pesenti and Colussi families, and even the famous cyclist Fausto Coppi, to name just a few.
Some of them were Paolo Buffa’s clients, members of the upper-middle-class, predominantly Milanese clientele who loved the understated elegance of his designs, both in individual pieces and furnishings. This is the case with the cherry wood coffee table with rosewood inserts and a built-in Peruvian onyx top, refined in its movement and proportions and rich in exquisite details.
Over the years, Serafino Arrighi created some of Paolo Buffa’s iconic pieces, such as this important table with crossed cast bronze supports and chiseled crosspieces supporting a Verde Alpi marble top so dear to him, later available in numerous variations, as he did in many of his projects.
From iconic to ironic, one might say this mirror features a carved wooden frame, decorated and patinated with pure gold details, including the bow at the top. Dated 1954, as indicated on the plaque on the back of the mirror, it appears light and delicate, as if designed and executed with fingertips.
For Serafino Arrighi’s daughters, Buffa designed their respective homes, two veritable villas or “villi” (little villas) in their proportions and the ironic wit that permeates the overall image and various details. Both are emblematic of the family’s social prestige achieved through excellence in furniture making.
One of them, on which construction began in 1952, is today magnificently preserved and represents a rare example of a complete project, from the architecture to the interiors, to the furniture and accessories, maintained unchanged over time.
Serafino Arrighi wasn’t the only firm to maintain a lasting relationship with Paolo Buffa. Their collaboration began between his initial experience with Paolo Lietti and his final one, Marelli and Colico, which would accompany the Milanese architect until the end of his professional career. The book Paolo Buffa in Cantù retraces these steps, adding a fundamental contribution to our understanding of the meticulous work of an architect who profoundly impacted the evolution of an entire region.
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