Carlo Scarpa Valmarana Dining Table, Bleached Ash, Simon Gavina, 1974

The “Valmarana” table was designed by Carlo Scarpa in 1971 for Simon International, the label founded by Dino Gavina after his departure from Gavina SpA. The name references Villa Valmarana, the Palladian estate near Vicenza, and Scarpa’s sensitivity to classical proportion is clearly legible throughout the piece. The table belongs to the “Ultrarazionale” collection — a series of sculptural pieces conceived by Scarpa as the result of extreme care in material selection, joinery solutions, and craftsmanship. Scarpa was primarily an architect, and the Valmarana is furniture that thinks architecturally: every joint is a decision made visible.

The structure consists of two legs in birch plywood joined by a large connecting cylinder in solid wood; the top rests on two solid wood elements and interlocks onto the legs without exposed fasteners. This example is finished in bleached ash — the original version documented in the Simon production catalogue — which gives the grain a pale, almost bone-like tonality. The top overhangs the base with deliberate precision, and the cylindrical stretcher between the two monolithic legs reads as a structural quotation from classical architecture. The overall palette is light and tonal, entirely consistent with the first-edition production run.