Angelo Mangiarotti "Multi-Use" Sideboard for Poltronova, 1965

Design
1965

Manufacture
1960-1969

Location
Lonigo, IT

Angelo Mangiarotti "Multi-Use" Sideboard for Poltronova, wood and metal, Italy, 1965

This sideboard by Angelo Mangiarotti for Poltronova is built in whitewashed wood, its cantilevered top extending well beyond the case on both sides to form open shelves, each carried by a single vertical support fin rather than a full end panel. Two sliding doors run along a recessed aluminum channel set into the underside of the top edge, allowing the case to open without requiring swing clearance. Behind them, a fixed shelf divides the storage space, finished in a deeper taupe tone against the paler exterior casework. Every visible edge, from the shelf returns to the door channel, is worked with the same close attention to joinery, and the base is formed by two flat vertical legs set well in from the ends, giving the whole composition a sense of weightlessness.

The piece belongs to Mangiarotti's broader investigation, carried out across several manufacturers through the 1960s, into modular case furniture whose function could be reconfigured by the owner, combining shelving, storage and display within a single volume rather than assigning each to a separate object. Working with Poltronova, Mangiarotti brought the same structural rigor he applied to his architectural work, treating the cantilevered top and the exposed support fins as load-bearing elements left visible rather than concealed. The sliding door mechanism and the open end shelves reflect the same priority, favoring flexibility of use over a fixed, closed silhouette.