Lorusso Arredamenti

The third of four generations of tireless and passionate devotees of quality and design

Saverio Lorusso president of Lorusso Arredamenti, a company that has been active in the iconic and authentic furniture sector since 1969, represents the third of four generations of tireless and passionate lovers of quality and design. Avant-garde in the organization of cultural events and in the selection of the most important excellence in design, it has always worked, and continues to work, in the field of art and high-end furniture. His grandfather had a workshop in Via Giusti where he made fine furniture in the first decades of the 20th century and later in 1956 his father and uncle opened a small industry of modular kitchens. Starting from 1969, Lorusso Arredamenti, in its historical location of almost 2000 square meters of exhibition space in Via Napoli in Andria, represents Saverio Lorusso’s need to refine the concept of his father Michele’s production of handmade kitchens and to dedicate himself to art and the highest level of international design, so much so as to be mentioned by important magazines in the sector such  as Abitare – Interni and Ottagono. He has the merit of having been the first to bring to Puglia in 1970 the products designed by Alvar Aalto, to have hosted in his showroom designers of the caliber of Achille Castiglioni and, in addition to organizing exhibitions dedicated to Pablo Picasso and Man Ray, to have made patronage through his art gallery to various promising Apulian artists until their national and international success. «Our goal – comments Saverio Lorusso – continues to be to select only the best products in terms of design and quality for the home, office and contract environment, thanks to the selection of the most important brands such as Arflex, Artek, B&B Italia, Cassina, De Padova, Driade, Flou, Fritz Hansen, Knoll, Poltrona Frau and many others that at the time were little known especially in our territory».

In 1978 Lorusso also had the honour of hosting Dino Gavina, precursor of Italian design and founder of some of the most important companies such as Gavina spa, Flos and Simon. On his business card it was written subversive. Gavina came to Puglia to get to know a new reality, that of Lorusso, which was beginning to be talked about in Italy. He was fascinated by our Castel del Monte which he literally embraced for several minutes. He returned to Bologna the next day with a suitcase full of olives, bringing with him a beautiful memory of our land.

Despite the passage of decades, in a sector that has undergone several transformations and an inevitable evolution, Lorusso Arredamenti continues to represent the absolute reference point for all those who want to surround themselves with authentic icons of international design. Lorusso in fact exhibits and markets European and American products, but above all Italian products that attest to the excellence of our Made in Italy. A careful search for luxury furniture that certainly seems expensive, but which becomes affordable if you consider their durability in time from the point of view of quality, but above all stylistically. Forerunner of the sought after furniture: «I had the good fortune, at the beginning of my activity, to have collaborated with the designer Danilo Favotto who educated me in taste and research. Intuition, innovation and technology combined with each other give rise to new forms of sensitivity that characterize the choice of products to offer to customers, thus creating an education in taste».

Not only furniture, but a real furniture project with a lot of complements and everything that can contribute greatly to the pleasantness of the environment, especially the works of art. The Lorusso family has always been passionate about art and, within its activity, a considerable space is occupied by a real art gallery that has hosted over time, and still hosts today, exclusively works of eminent protagonists of modern and contemporary art.

Artists of the caliber of Giorgio de Chirico, Mimmo Rotella, Emilio Tadini just to name a few of the great artists to whom important exhibitions have been dedicated, often museum exhibitions, which have attracted audiences throughout the region. Without ever forgetting the excellences that exist and come from our territory, Lorusso wanted to give space to some artists of Apulian origin who, although working in a difficult context like that of southern Italy, have distinguished and established themselves with their research in the international field as Carlo Fusca, Gaetano Grillo, Franco Menolascina and Michele Zaza. «An accurate work carried out in concert with artists and not with painters», Saverio points out, «An artist differs from a painter because he is the one who manages to insert in his painting and his art his cultural background, his thought and his world, thus creating a unique and recognizable language».

Saverio, who already at the age of 16 imported the famous large-format posters from America, has a companion next to him who binds him sentimentally and culturally: it is Dr. Anna Maria Sergio, a scholar of art history, who boasts numerous degrees as an operator and conservator of Cultural Heritage achieved between the University “Aldo Moro” of Bari and “Ca’ Foscari” of Venice and who is responsible for the artistic direction of the Galleria Lorusso. In fact, she directs the organizational process related to the exhibitions and takes care of the elaboration, writing and insertion of the texts that will enrich the catalogs of the Apulian artists followed by the Gallery. Not only artists, but also leading figures in the world of design such as Roberto Pamio, Borek Sipek, Alfredo Häberli or even exponents of photography of the caliber of Aldo and Marirosa Ballo and many other great figures now recognized worldwide, have been guests of Lorusso, which has always been infected by positive inputs devoted to beauty and luxury, both in terms of furniture and works of art. A real pole of contemporary artistic culture that finds in Andria its perfect location to ensure, for the entire Apulian territory and beyond, a place where to propose quality art and design.