The man who gave meetings a quiet box: Pinuccio Borgonovo

Open-plan offices have one famous enemy — the meeting that everyone can hear. Pinuccio Borgonovo designed the object that solved it: C_SS for Citterio, which the manufacturer presents as the first acoustic box for meetings, launched in 2010. Born in Giussano in 1956 and trained at the Art Institute of Cantù, Borgonovo spent ten formative years inside the Molteni Research Centre before going freelance in 1987 — materials, engineering and industrial design learned at the source.

For Citterio, the Molteni Group wall specialist, he has signed a whole family of systems: W_SS, Wood Wall, wall and ceiling panels. They are the very partitions La Mercanti recommends first when a project needs acoustic performance with an Italian pedigree — drawn by the man who boxed the noise.