Italian Radical Design 1965 - 1985
Left photo: Gufram Pratone lounge chair promotional photo 1970s. Right photo: Exhibition catalogue jacket cover, Italy: The New Domestic Landscape, Achievements and Problems of Italian Design, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1972.
The synonym that the adjective "radical" instantly conjures is "extreme," implying a departure from tradition or the norm. Departures from the norm have been a chronic feature of modern design for the past 150 years. Whether it is the work of Christopher Dresser in late 19th century London, the early 20th century designs of Charles Rennie Mackintosh in Scotland, or early 20th century designs of Gerrit Rietveld in the Netherlands, radical design has always existed - extreme aesthetics in the context of the temporal prevailing norm. What these early radical designs all had in common is that they were isolated pockets - all outliers to the prevailing temporal norm and typically associated with individual designers.
Left photo: Sugar bowl Model 247, Christoper Dresser, Elkington & Co., UK, 1885. Middle photo: Red/Blue chair, Gerrit Rietveld, Cassina, Italy, 1917. Right photo: Willow 1 chair, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Cassina, Italy, 1904.
By the 1960s, informed by a plethora of social and political currents, youth culture, the race-to-space, and the Pop Art movement, Radical Design (now with a capital "R" and a capital "D") became a movement clustered in Italy that was fueled by access to new materials and technologies. Experimenting with new materials in new ways, designers could create pieces that had no historic aesthetic precedent. Indeed, the resulting seating and surfaces from this time period challenged our perceptions of how a chair, sofa, or table could not only look but how it could function
Italian Radical Design is loosely defined from 1965 through 1985 - the pieces created under its auspices are characterized by their sheer novelty. Nothing like these designs had ever been created in such rapid succession and from essentially one country as to define a salient style or movement. A testament to these designs is their longevity - most are actually still in production more than a half century since their creation. A landmark exhibition was mounted by New York's Museum of Modern Art in 1972 entitled, Italy: The New Domestic Landscape, Achievements and Problems of Italian Design. This exhibition chronicles many of these radical designs from the 1960s through the very early 1970s. While long out-of-print, the catalogue associated with the exhibition is an extraordinary reference tool for learning about this period in Italy and the resulting designs in all typologies.
Left photo: Blow, inflatable lounge chair, Zanotta, Italy, 1967. Right photo: Sacco lounge chair (prototype), Zanotta, Italy, 1967/68..
Just Add Air (or Styro Pellets)
Two radical ways of thinking about structure and materials resulted in 1967 - both produced by Italian manufacturer Zanotta. The Blow lounge chair designed by Paolo Lomazzi, Donato D'Urbino, and Jonathon De Pas was composed of electronically welded PVC plastic. When air was added, it became a lounge chair. Sold folded and deflated along with an air pump and repair kit, Blow was lightweight making it a hit in the context of the nomadic lifestyle of youth culture during the late 1960s. Similarly, the Sacco lounge chair designed by Piero Gatti, Cesare Paolini, and Franco Teodoro, was conceived as an "envelope" of leather or fabric that would be filled 2/3 full with polystyrene pellets. The resulting enigmatic "sac" would essentially become a chair once a user sat on it. A remarkably ergonomic design that fully supports the user's seat and back.
Both were high concept designs that were much loved by the public. While most consumers might not have owned an original Blow or Sacco, many people owned an inflatable and/or beanbag chair copies that these designs ushered in. Examples of Blow and Sacco are included in countless museums around the world. While Blow is no longer in production, Sacco has been in continuous production for nearly 60 years and remains one of Zanotta's most popular seating designs.
Left photo: Sella stool, Achille Castiglioni, Zanotta, Italy, 1957 (production beginning in 1983). Right photo: Mezzadro stool, Achille Castiglioni, Zanotta, Italy, 1957 (production beginning in 1970).
Ready Made... Just Recontextualized
Achille Castiglioni created several designs in the late 1950s and early 1960s that employed ready-made forms that he recontextualized as elements within lighting and furniture. Two stool designs from 1957 - Sella and Mezzadro - were actually put into production during the Italian Radical Design movement period. Mezzadro features a tractor seat that has been painted in various colors and thoroughly objectified at "stool height" through the addition of a chromed steel support and wooden base - it was finally produced in 1970. Sella features a leather bicycle seat that has also been thoroughly objectified by its bright pink columnar support and cast iron hemispherical base that allowing it to sway when used - it was finally produced in 1983. Both designs have been in continuous production for decades and are included in major museum collections around the world.
Veneer... Now Plastic Rather Than Wood
For years, wood veneer was applied to a solid substrate to create different types of furniture. During the 1960s, Italian manufacturer Abet Laminati starting creating innovative patterned high pressure plastic laminates. Plastic laminates were not new - in fact, they figured prominently in 1950s diners as well as kitchen countertops. In the 1960s, designers like Ettore Sottsass and Superstudio saw these laminates as "raw material" for creating new aesthetics in furniture.
Left photo: Examples of Ettore Sottsass' Superboxes created by Poltronova, Italy, late 1960s. Right photo: Carlton bookcase/room divider, Ettore Sottsass, Memphis Milano, Italy, 1981.
Sottsass' Superboxes created by Poltronova were conceived as forms that could function as both concealed storage cabinets or wardrobes within an interior yet also functioning on a highly aesthetic level as totemic sculptures. Working with Abet Laminati, Sottsass developed graphic, color-blocked patterns for the laminate or "plastic veneer."
Memphis Milano designs from left to right: Kristall table, Michele de Lucchi, 1981; Tahiti table lamp, Ettore Sottsass, 1981; Flamingo table, Michele de Lucchi, 1984.
The use of solid color and printed laminates would become an overarching characteristic of the aesthetic associated with Memphis Group in the early 1980s whereby objects were completely created with laminates as well as combining laminated forms with lacquered metal and wood elements within a compositional assemblage.
Upper left and lower right photos: Superstudio's Misura laminate rendered as part of the built and natural environments, 1960s. Upper right photo: Quaderna 656 coffee table, Superstudio, Zanotta, 1969/1972. Lower left photo: Quaderna 710 console table, Superstudio, Zanotta, Italy, 1969/1972
Working with Abert Laminati, Superstudio developed its iconic Misura laminate that featured a white background with graphic lines spaced apart at mm 3. Working with Italian manufacturer Zanotta, Superstudio applied this "Misura veneer" to a plethora of forms to create dining tables, desks, beds, stools, coffee tables, consoles, cabinets, sideboards, etc. The pattern becomes mesmerizing as it seemingly "engulfs" the linear forms.
Just Polyurethane Foam... Now Upholstered
While foam was not new as a substrate in creating furniture, it had always been combined wooden or metal bearing frames, elastic belts, or hardware. By the mid 1960s, polyurethane foam began to be used solely as the substrate engendering a remarkable freedom of form that could be upholstered or lacquered to create seating that has no historic aesthetic precedent.
Upper photo: Karelia seating element, Liisi Beckmann, Zanotta, Italy, 1966. Lower photo: Throw-Away seating designs, Willie Landels, Zanotta, Italy, 1965/1966.
Zanotta paved the way for a wide range of upholstered polyurethane foam designs in the mid 1960s beginning with its linear Throw-Away collection of seating that is still in production today as well as well as its super-sculptural Karelia seating element that could be placed together in a number of ways to create sofas, sectionals, and daybeds. Karelia also remains in production today.
By the late 1960s, Cassina and B&B Italia (formerly C&B Italia) were creating iconic designs that were upholstered in leather or fabric that used metal to structurally organize the resulting upholstered foam forms.
Above photo: Soriana sofas and lounge chairs used within a contemporary interior. Soriana was created by Afra and Tobia Scarpa in 1969 for Cassina. The design won the prestigious Compasso d'Oro in 1970.
Above photo: Camaleonda seating elements used within a contemporary interior. Camaleonda was designed in 1971 by Mario Bellini and manufactured by B&B Italia (formerly C&B Italia).
Camaleonda features seating elements in cm 96 and cm 66 sizes that can be combined with backrests and armrests to create a wide range of aesthetics. The seating expanse its punctuated with chromed steel "clips as tufts" that provide tremendous visual interest as does the rouching of the upholstery on the various forms.
For decades, both Soriana and Camaleonda were out-of-production and prized by collectors. Cassina and B&B Italia have both faithfully reissued these immensely popular designs in the 2020s.
Just Polyurethane Foam... Now Lacquered
Above photo: Pratone lounge chair + detail designed by Giorgio Ceretti, Pietro Derossi, and Riccardo Rosso, Gufram, Italy, 1971 (reissued as Pratone Infinto in 2025).
Left photo: Capitello lounge chair and Attica lounge chair and table designed by Studio 65, Gufram. Italy, 1971. Right photo: Cactus coatrack designed by Guido Drocco and Franco Mello, Gufram, Italy, 1971 (various colors and finishes added through the present).
While other designers and manufacturers were busy upholstering polyurethane foam, Italian manufacturer Gufram was busy creating forms in foam by applying a proprietary finish to the foam known as Guflac® - a patented, specialized paint developed to coat flexible polyurethane foam furniture. Applied by hand in up to 12 layers, creating a durable, elastic, and leather-like finish that maintains the foam's soft, tactile feel. It allows rigid-looking yet "real-fake" aesthetics. Informed by the salient Pop Art movement, a cactus could become a coatrack; a fallen ancient classical period column could become seating and surfaces - looking like marble, but in reality is soft foam; oversized blades of grass could become a "seating meadow" into which a user could fall and be cradled. All function as sculpture; yet all also function as domestic objects.
Left photo: B&B Italia (formerly C&B Italia) Up Series seating with original packaging. Right photo: Up 7 Piede chaise longue, Gaetano Pesce, B&B Italia, Italy, 1969.
Gufram was not the only manufacturer experimenting with painting the surface of polyurethane foam. B&B Italia (formerly C&B Italia) worked with Gaetano Pesce to create a collection of polyurethane foam designs entitled UP. The original upholstered designs were vacuum flat-packed and when the user unpacked the design, it would expand to its intended shape. As part of the UP range, Pesce also created this truncated foot reminiscent of ancient colossal statues. It, like the Gufram pieces, featured a painted surface. Many of the UP Series pieces are still in production through B&B Italia as is this iconic UP 7 Piede chaise longue.
Radical Design... Reissued (By Others)
A testament to enduring nature of Italian Radical Design is Cassina's reissuing its award-winning Soriana Collection in 2022 and B&B Italia's reissuing its iconic Camaleonda seating system in 2020 - both having been reissued by their original manufacturers. However, there are other important designs from the 1960s and 1970s where the rights of the design are being acquired by other manufacturers to recreate these designs. Notably are Italian manufacturer Tacchini's acquiring the rights to produce pieces like Mario Bellini's Le Mura seating elements as well as Gianfranco Frattini's Sesann sofas and lounge chair - both of these designs were originally produced in the early 1970s by Cassina, Italy. Tacchini has also reissued Joe Colombo's Additional seating system (originally produced in 1970 by Sormani, Italy). Joe Colombo's Tube lounge chair - another icon of Italian Radical Design originally produced in 1970 by Flexform, Italy, is now produced by Cappellini, Italy.
Above photo: Le Mura seating system, Mario Bellini, 1972. Le Mura was originally produced by Cassina, Italy, and has been reissued by Tacchini, Italy.
Left photo: Tube chair, Joe Colombo, 1969. Tube was originally produced by Flexform, Italy, and is now manufactured by Cappellini, Italy. Right photo: Additional seating system, Joe Colombo, 1967. Additional was originally produced by Sormani, Italy, and is now manufactured by Tacchini, Italy.
Almost every example of Italian Radical Design from the mid 1960s through the mid 1980s has ended up in the permanent collection of a museum. In certain instances like Zanotta's Sacco chair, included in a staggering 27 different museum collections. Many of these designs have been in continuous production since their inception; many have been reissued by their original manufacturers or the rights have been purchased to create the object anew by another manufacturer.
Left photo: Cabana storage cabinet, Campana Brothers, Edra, Italy, 2010. Middle photo: Pig table, Front Design, Moooi, Netherlands, 2006. Right photo: Hortensia, Andres Reisinger and Julia Esque, Moooi, Netherlands, 2021.
The real staying power of the Italian Radical Design movement is how it has globally informed design over the past 50 years. Numerous designs that challenge our preconceived notions of form and function are presented every year from a plethora of manufacturers around the world. Like their counterparts in the mid-60s through the mid-80s, these designs are informed by innovation with materials and technology to enable new aesthetics. Whether it is a storage cabinet draped in raffia from 2010, a life-size pig homogenized in black and presented as a table from 2006, or a lounge chair covered in 30,000 laser cut pink petals from 2021, radical design remains omnipresent and global.
