Gufram Explained

Gufram
Type:Privately held company
Industry:Designer furniture
Founded:1966
Founder:Fratelli Gugliermetto
Location City:Barolo, (Cuneo)
Location Country:Italy
Location:Via XXV Aprile 22, 12060
Parent:Italian Radical Design Group

Gufram is an Italian furniture manufacturer known for avant-garde, conceptual, witty, and Pop-art influenced designs; the unconventional use of industrial materials; collaborations with well known architects and designers; and the contribution its products made to the aesthetics of the 1960s Radical period of Italian design.

History

Gufram was founded in 1966 by furniture manufacturer Gugliermetto Fratelli Mobile (Grosso, Turin) as a brand and creative lab for the company to experiment with modern furniture production.[1] [2]

Influenced by the early 1960s' avant-garde artistic culture in Turin and the radical architectural experimentation of the period, the Gugliermetto brothers began to explore new forms and new materials to use in the production of design projects. Adapting materials such as polyurethane foam, which was widely used as a packing insulant in the transportation industry, allowed Gufram to manufacture entirely new and radical furniture typologies.

At the initiative of creative director, who joined the company in 1966,[3] Gufram began collaborations with emerging artists of the time such as Ugo Nespolo and Piero Gilardi of the Arte Povera movement; architects Studio 65,[4] Guido Drocco and Franco Mello,[5], Pietro Derossi and Riccardo Rosso ;[6] [7] and the mathematician and theoretical physicist Tullio Regge, who "transformed a mathematical quartic function into a volume with intentionally ergonomic characteristics" for the design of his Detecma seat.[8]

In 1968 Gufram presented its new products at the XIV Triennale in Milan under the name of Multipli, which were well received by the public and press. This critical success encouraged the company to further explore their philosophy and production methods. International recognition came in 1972 with an exhibition dedicated to Italian design entitled Italy: The New Domestic landscape, curated by Emilio Ambasz and staged at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York, where they were first exposed,[9] and subsequently acquired for the museum's permanent collection.[10] [11] From that moment on, Gufram products officially made it into the history of design and were introduced to the collections of recognized European and American museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art[12] of New York, the Vitra Design Museum, the Triennale of Milan, the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Denver Art Museum.[13]

Gufram began manufacturing furniture for public spaces in 1978. The original Turin based company was acquired by the Poltrona Frau Group in 2004 and subsequently moved its headquarters to Tolentino. In 2012 the company was purchased by Sandra Vazza and her son Charley and has been based in Barolo, Piedmont since. (Through a company called Italian Radical Design Group, the same family also owns Memphis and Meritalia.[14] [15] [16] [17] [18]) Gufram still produces furniture designed in the 1960s and 1970s in limited and special editions,[19] as well as more recent pieces by artists and designers such as, Valerio Berruti, Keith Haring,[20] Snarkitecture, Studio Job,[21] Ross Lovegrove, Michael Young,[22] MSCHF,[23] and Alessandro Mendini.[24]

Products

The Gufram catalogue consists of a number of designs, some of which are limited edition pieces (Multipli). The main products are:

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Gufram – produttore di arredo (1952) – Aziende. 2023-06-25 . designindex.it . it.
  2. Web site: Gufram, Barolo, Italy . 2023-06-25 . Vitra Design Museum.
  3. Web site: Piccinini . Patrizia . 2023-02-01 . Arredamento anni Settanta, un mito tra rock e design . 2023-06-25 . Architectural Digest Italia . it-IT.
  4. Web site: STUDIO 65 . 2023-06-25 . gufram.it.
  5. Web site: GUIDO DROCCO FRANCO MELLO . 2023-06-25 . gufram.it.
  6. Web site: GIORGIO CERETTI PIETRO DEROSSI RICCARDO ROSSO . 2023-06-25 . gufram.it.
  7. Web site: Gruppo STRUM – MuseoTorino . 2023-06-25 . MuseoTorino . it.
  8. Web site: Detecma, seat, design by Tullio Regge – Gufram . 2023-06-25 . gufram.it.
  9. Web site: Italy: new domestic landscape (Press Release) . 23 April 2012 . The Museum of Modern Art.
  10. Web site: MOMA Collection. Sassi by Piero Gilardi. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. 23 April 2012.
  11. Web site: MOMA Collection. Torneraj armchair by Ceretti, Derossi, Rosso. The Museum Of Modern Art, New York.
  12. Book: Miller R., Craig. Modern Design in the Metropolitan Museum of Art 1890–1990. 1990. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York.
  13. Web site: Architecture and Design . 21 December 2025 . Denver Art Museum.
  14. Web site: Celeste . Sofia . 2024-12-19 . Italian Radical Design Group Appoints CEO for Memphis, Gufram and Meritalia . 2025-02-15 . WWD.
  15. Web site: Meritalia · Design Miami . 2025-02-26 . designmiami.com.
  16. Web site: 16 March 2023 . Meritalia in the ranks of Italian Radical Design . 2025-02-26 . IFDM.
  17. Web site: Zeitoun . Lea . 2023-09-15 . unpacking meritalia's comeback with charley vezza, CEO of italian radical design group . 2025-03-04 . Designboom.
  18. Web site: Bonazzi . Fiammetta . 2023-03-02 . Italian Radical Design acquisisce Meritalia - Pambianco Design . 2025-07-16 . Pambianco . it.
  19. Web site: 2022-04-01 . Andy Warhol incontra il Cactus di Gufram . 2023-06-25 . Architectural Digest Italia . it-IT.
  20. Web site: Now you can buy Keith Haring's seats for Luna Luna, the wild amusement-park-museum of the ’80s . 30 December 2025 . Domus.
  21. Web site: Williams . Tianna . 2024-10-19 . Gufram's red-brick punching bag is a total knockout . 2025-02-15 . Wallpaper.
  22. Web site: 2017-05-29 . Michael Young Has Designed A New Chair Inspired By 1970s Disco Decor . 2025-04-15 . Contemporist.
  23. Web site: 2024-09-06 . MSCHF reveals the "bloodied foam innards" of Gufram Pratone chair . 2024-09-21 . Dezeen.
  24. Web site: Products . 2023-06-25 . Gufram.
  25. Web site: The Collection of Metropolitan Museum of Art . 23 April 2012 . Capitello armchair by Studio 65 . The Metropolitan Art Museum, New York.
  26. Web site: 2020-06-23 . 50enni in perfetta forma . 2023-06-25 . la Repubblica . it.
  27. Web site: Annicchiarico . Silvana . 21 April 2022 . Why Gufram Cactus, now 50 years old, is revolutionary . 2023-06-25 . . en-gb.
  28. Web site: Triennale Design Museum . https://archive.today/20130218141712/http://www.triennaledesignmuseum.it/collezioni/oggettis/details/116/page:1/sort:Miecollezioni2.id/direction:?p=4 . dead . February 18, 2013 . 26 April 2012 . Dectecma, armchair by Tullio Regge . Triennale di Milano .
  29. Web site: The Collection of Vitra Design Museum . 16 May 2012 . Pratone chaise longue . Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein (Germany).
  30. Web site: “Può sedersi su quel sacco”: 21 arredi che hanno cambiato le regole del gioco . 2025-01-29 . . it.
  31. Web site: Morby . Alice . 14 June 2017 . Studio Job designs limited-edition furniture for Gufram's new collectible range . 2025-02-25 . Dezeen.
  32. Web site: Roxanne, armchair, design by Michael Young – Gufram . 2023-06-24 . www.gufram.it.
  33. Web site: Narea . Isabel . 2017-09-17 . gufram and michael young pay homage to the 1970s with the 'roxanne' arm chair . 2024-10-14 . designboom architecture & design magazine . en.
  34. Web site: Rumble, Gianni Pettena′s sofa of possibilities . 2024-10-15 . . en-gb.
  35. Web site: The Collection of Metropolitan Museum of Art. Sassi seating group by Piero Gilardi. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
  36. Web site: The Collection of Museum of Modern Art. Sassi seating system. The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
  37. Web site: The Collection of Museum of Modern Art. Torneraj armchair. The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

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