George Ranalli, Festa Credenza, USA, 2023

Todd Merrill Studio is pleased to announce our representation of esteemed architect and designer George Ranalli. Ranalli, whose work sits at the intersection of neoplasticism, minimalism, and postmodernism founded his architectural design firm in New York in 1977. A Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, he is credited with carrying forward the lessons of Italian architect Carlo Scarpa into contemporary settings. Like Scarpa and another architectural influence, Frank Lloyd Wright, Ranalli has created bespoke furniture and object design concepts in tandem with his interior architecture throughout his storied career.

This gallery partnership marks the first time that Ranalli’s original furniture design work will be made available for public purchase. The gallery will introduce Ranalli to a new generation of collectors through a selection of limited edition, hand-crafted furniture including tables, chairs, and case pieces.

Festa Credenza, the result of a thoughtful, balanced, and scientific approach to design, is a contemporary reboot of the traditional sideboard comprised of a central element flanked by cantilevered ends stocked with artfully arranged storage drawers and shelving and finishes ranging from exotic wood veneers to composite recycled materials to stone and metal. With it, Ranalli set out to transform the recognizable shape of a sideboard into something less recognizable, simply to arouse curiosity.

The 1:2 ratio of its geometry reflects the shape of a bird in flight. The sideboard can be used in domestic, office, retail, or education settings. Available finishes range from exotic wood veneers to composite panels made of recycled paper or marble. The materials were chosen to enhance the quality of the piece and reduce its environmental impact, with each material both reducing waste in the manufacturing process and improving durability. Exotic wood veneers, including olive ash burl and Macassar ebony, celebrate the craft tradition of creating expressive furniture designs using veneers, which dates from ancient Egypt.

Ranalli’s timeless furniture designs are part of the permanent collections of the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Denver Art Museum, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as private collections around the world. He has been exhibited in the U.S. at the Cooper Hewitt Museum, Detroit Art Institute, Hudson River Museum, La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Internationally he has been exhibited at the Biennales of Venice, Paris, and Ecuador, the Canadian Center of Architecture, the Helsinki Festival of Art, and the Promosedia International Chair Exhibition.

Birdseye Maple, Brass, Blue Stain and Lacquer, Blue Suede

34 3/8h x 77 7/8w x 20d in
87.31h x 197.80w x 50.80d cm