From the 4^th of August to the 18^th of October 2026, Cassina takes centre stage in the exhibition “The Day I Saw A Handsome Chair” at the Jiayuanhai Art Museum in Jiading, Shanghai, with the 699 Superleggera by Gio Ponti and the Cab by Mario Bellini. Curated by Ricky Lau, a scholar specialised in design and corporate culture, the exhibition is dedicated to 20 iconic chairs that have defined the history of design.

Result of the architect’s tireless research into the relationship between shape, structure and lightness and Cassina’s wood craftsmanship know-how, the Superleggera chair by Gio Ponti stands out for its minimum weight of 1,700 grams, thanks to the triangular section of its frame which measures just 18 millimetres.

Considered by Ponti as one of his three masterpieces, it has become an undisputed icon of modernity. He loved recounting the story of the incredible resistance tests carried out in the 1950s in the courtyard of the company headquarters where the chair was thrown into the air: “If you go to the Cassinas they will give you exciting demonstrations in which these chairs are hurled to dizzy heights, fall to the ground, and bounce, without ever breaking” (Domus, no. 268, 1952).

Also on show is the Cab chair by Mario Bellini, characterised by a metal skeleton upholstered in a self-supporting saddle leather skin. Like a tailor-made dress, the upholstery is the result of a long and complex manufacturing process.

Both chairs are a concrete expression of Cassina’s workmanship expertise and pioneering attitude, founded on research and innovation.

The Day I Saw A Handsome Chair

From the 4^th of August to the 18^th of October 2026

Jiayuanhai Art Museum, Jiading, Shanghai