DESIGN CLASSIC

from Mansion June 2020

by The Australian

PRODUCTS

B&B Italia Up Series Armchair and Ottoman

Above: Gaetano Pesce. Right and below: Two versions of the chair and its tethered ottoman

Design classic

DAVID MEAGHER

Can a piece of design be feminist? It’s a question posed by the Italian architect and design pioneer Gaetano Pesce in the design of his Up Series chair. Pesce first created the chair in 1969 for the company that would eventually become B&B Italia (and which still produces the chair), and as well as making a feminist statement with its design, he revolutionised the way high-end furniture was manufactured and shipped.

The Up series is made from air-sensitive expandable foam covered in jersey fabric. The chair is squashed and flat packed, and when it’s unwrapped it takes about 15 minutes to expand to its full dimensions.

The concept is now widely used in mattresses, for example, but 50 years ago when it debuted at the Milan Furniture Fair it stunned audiences.

The chair’s voluptuous shape is said to represent the female form, with the spherical ottoman attached with a chain – shackled, in fact, to the “woman”. At the time of its release Pesce said he was commenting on – and expressing his distaste for – the historical plight of women. It was also perhaps the first time that something simple such as a chair design made an overtly political statement – in this case about the condition of women in the world.

An exhibition of the chair in Milan last year to mark its 50th anniversary drew protests from feminist groups, but Pesce maintained his position and said the protesters were wrong to see it as a symbol of women’s oppression.

At the time, the then 79-year-old architect said: “My design raises debates that help people to advance, discovering new values and possibly letting go of the old ones.”

Another interpretation of the chair is that it references a mother and child. It is often referred to as the Big Mumma, with the armchair said to represent the mother and the child the ball, with the cord joining them in an unbreakable bond.

The chair is available in black, red, yellow, blue and a dark green stripe, as well as a beige and orange striped fabric.