The wood chair par excellence – one of the flagship pieces in the partnership between Gio Ponti, Cesare Cassina and the company’s joinery experts – adds a new outdoor version. An icon that has evolved over time while staying true to the original design and principles of lightness and functionality that shaped its archetypal ethos, the Leggera moves outside in a version crafted with a cutting-edge technique, used here for the first time. The wood version challenged the experience and skills of the Cassina joinery to pare the chair’s structure down to its essence. Similarly, the same lightness and purity of Leggera is expressed in a material suited to the outdoors: stainless steel. To accomplish this, Cassina borrowed from a Formula One automotive production process. Crucial in-depth research and development analyses led to the use of hydroforming, a construction technique found in the single-seater, to accurately replicate the original model of the chair, preserving its distinctive aesthetics and emblematic lightness. Unlike the traditional casting techniques, this intricate method expands the thin curved tubular steel from its interior outward to give the structure its shape. In a series of processes, each tube is inserted into a closed mould where, thanks to the pressure exerted by a liquid on the inside, it is pressed and moulded, filling out its shape. The individual components are then carefully welded together.
Leggera Outdoor comes in three colours: ivory, mud and green. The seat comes in both the colour mud and in woven cord and, to ensure greater comfort, optional upholstered seat and backrest cushions are available.
Thanks to the work carried out by Cassina LAB, the Leggera Outdoor chair can be completely disassembled and all of its components recycled at the end of the product’s life cycle, in a more eco-friendly, respectful approach to the environment.