RIVA1920: it all began in 1920 in Cantù, in the heart of Brianza, in a small family-run artisan shop founded by Nino Romano and specialized in the production of classic-style solid wood furniture. In the mid-40s, Mario Riva enters the laboratory and continues his father-in-law's business. The brothers Maurizio and Davide Riva follow in the footsteps of their father and grandfather and towards the end of the 1970s they started working as carpenters in the shop below their home, dedicating themselves to custom-made furniture. An artisanal process of enhancing natural wood begins through the use of completely natural waxes and oils, a distinctive feature of Riva 1920. In 1987, the first production unit was inaugurated and her sister Anna joined the company. In 1992, Riva 1920 presented its furniture collection for the first time at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan.

Alongside the woods coming from programmed and controlled cuts, the company introduces re-used woods such as the millennial Kauri from New Zealand, the Briccole from the Venice Lagoon and the Cedar from Lebanon. In 2005 the second production unit was inaugurated and in 2010 the construction work of the Riva Center was completed, a building born from a design idea by the Renzo Piano Building Workshop. The space hosts on the ground floor a showroom of about 1200 square meters. and on the first floor a Museum of Wood.
In 2013, a third production unit specialized in the processing of cedar logs was opened. In 2017 the second floor of the Riva Center was inaugurated which houses the Pangea table, symbol of Expo 2015 signed by Michele de Lucchi, and a xylotheque with woods from all over the world.