Our History

BETWEEN DESIGN AND GLOBAL CONTRACT

From cabinetry shop to furniture and art object collections, up to the large contract projects for residential and public spaces: 140 years of history Made in Italy

PAOLO CASTELLI S.p.A. is an Italian company, leader in the global contracting and in the design sector, in Italy and abroad, that manages large turnkey private and public projects, including bespoke furnishings for hospitality, high-end residential projects, offices, museums, marine. The company also produces furnitur and lighting for its own registered brand, which are presented every year at Salone del Mobile fair, Imm Cologne, Salone del Mobile di Shanghai. Born of a long family tradition of 140 years in the field of furniture and contract supplies, the company has been able over the years to take advantage of market changes – between craft and industry – becoming a dynamic and flexible institution, capable of demolishing a building, rebuild it and providing furnishings, with the logic of the “global value engineering”, for a proper turnkey service.

FAMILY ROMANCE'S

"In 1877 my great-grandfather wrote about ‘bel disegno’. It is incredible to realise how, after 140 years The Design still fascinates the life of my family."

PAOLO CASTELLI S.p.A., before being a company, represents the history of a family and a tradition began in the years immediately after Italian unity towards the end of the nineteenth century. In 1887, Ettore Castelli decided to open a cabinetry shop in Bologna, introducing not only a workshop, but a specific “know-how” that has been lasting for over a century. During the twentieth century Castelli family has suited the company to the changes and trends of the period, but keeping its know-how and craft dimension that has always characterized its business since its foundation. In 1994,the young Paolo, Ettore’s great-grandson and the second-to-last of seven brothers, just after his degree in Political Sciences, received the task of raising again the status of Modular, the family drapery business. In a few years he balanced the company and had an intuition: merge Modular with Domodinamica, a society specialised in furnishing and design. From this idea has been developed a rich collection of icons that have made the history of design, including prestigious creations by the hands of famous designers and now hosted in great museums around the world. In 2011, the union of Modular and Domodinamica became Paolo Castelli S.p.A, a company with its headquarter-design studio in Ozzano dell’Emilia, which deals with design, product design and general contractor projects. Quoting Castelli’s words, “craftwork is art”. Paolo Castelli S.p.A. counts firstly on the know-how of trusted craftspeople networks, who work few kilometers away from the company HQ, and secondly on the creative verve of great artists and designers, such as Michele De Lucchi, Luigi Cerri, Stefano Giovannoni and Luca Scacchetti, who designed for Domodinamica, just to name a few. The strengths that enabled the company to grow in Italy and abroad consist on its ability to work on complex projects without losing the craftsman-like approach applied to production, together with an absolute care for high quality and details. As a matter of fact, the company has become one of the best expressions of Made in Italy. After more than 100 years, the ancient “savoir faire” finds its highest expression in a laboratory where tailor-made projects are achieved: from small exclusive supplies till large projects for hotels, libraries, ships, museums, airports, up to Expo 2015. In fact, the interior of the Italian Pavilion at the Universal Exposition represents a “Made in Bologna” masterpiece, being one of the greatest challenges of Paolo Castelli: “it was like building the Eiffel Tower”.

THE COLLECTION

The new "total look" made in Paolo Castelli

The Collection was presented during the 2012 Milan Furniture Show, is a selected collection of furnishings and uniques art objects for refined private residences and supplies in the contract field. The collection is “inspired” by the design tastes of architects who lived between London and Paris between the thirties and the fifties of the last century – great masters the calibre of Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, Van Der Rohe, Gio Ponti, Carlo Scarpa,.. – in a modern reinterpretation, with great attention to detail and the new dwelling styles of an international clientele. Furnishing accessories that are increasingly objects of refined artistic synthesis, in which the lines become an enveloping interior mood: seats, tables, lights, cabinets, amalgamated to be functional and comfortable satisfying the most sophisticated aesthetic sensibility.

CRAFTWORK IS ART

A headquarters, in the heart of Emilian territory, more like a design studio.

PAOLO CASTELLI S.p.A. can indeed count on a network of artisans of trust and flair of engineers and designers, who recognize the company as a reliable partner. The ability to work on complex projects and products without losing the artisan soul of production, the high quality and attention to details are key factors that have enabled the company to continue growing in Italy and abroad and become one of the highest expressions of the Made in Italy.