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Arflex is an Italian company that makes and sells contemporary furniture.
In 1947, after the war, a group of researchers and entrepreneurs began to work on two new upholstering materials,
Official WebsiteOverview of Arflex designs at Liever Interieur
{Dead link, date=October 2019 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes Companies based in Lombardy Design companies of Italy Furniture companies of Italy Furniture retailers of the United States Manufacturing companies established in 1948 Italian companies established in 1948 Design companies established in 1948 Italian brands
History
In 1947, after the war, a group of researchers and entrepreneurs began to work on two new upholstering materials, foam rubber
Foam rubber (also known as cellular rubber, sponge rubber, or expanded rubber) is rubber that has been made with a foaming agent so that its structure is an air-filled matrix. Commercial foam rubber is generally made of synthetic rubber, natural ...
and elastic tape made by Pirelli
Pirelli & C. S.p.A. is an Italian multinational tyre manufacturer based in the city of Milan, Italy. The company, which has been listed on the Borsa Italiana since 1922, is the 5th-largest tyre manufacturer, and is focused on the consumer pro ...
, which had a range of possible uses in interior furnishings. They presented the technical specifications of the new products to Marco Zanuso
Marco Zanuso (14 May 1916 – 11 July 2001) was an Italian modernist architect and designer.
Early life
Marco Zanuso was born in Milan (Italy) 14 May 1916. He was one of a group of Italian designers from Milan shaping the international idea of " ...
, who initiated a trial operations programme until 1950.
Between 1951 and 1954, Arflex produced various models of car seat designed by Carlo Barassi using foam rubber and elastic tape, which could replace standard production seats and offer more comfort, with removable covers and adjustable seatbacks. The most successful of the car seats were the "MilleMiglia" and the "Sedile Lettino", a seat that could be turned into a makeshift bed. Both were designed for the Fiat
Fiat Automobiles S.p.A., commonly known as simply Fiat ( , ; ), is an Italian automobile manufacturer. It became a part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in 2014 and, in 2021, became a subsidiary of Stellantis through its Italian division, Stellant ...
Topolino
''Topolino'' (from the Italian language, Italian name for Mickey Mouse) is an Italian digest-sized comic series featuring Disney comics. The series has had a long running history, first appearing in 1932 as a comics magazine. Since 2013, it has ...
.
Zanuso became an influential designer in post-war Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, associated with the ideology of the Modern Movement
Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...
. Other designers who contributed to the Arflex range included: Franco Albini, Giancarlo De Carlo
Giancarlo De Carlo (1919−2005) was an Italian architect and anarchist. He was a member of the ''Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne'' (CIAM) and became closely linked to Urbino as its town planner and creator of its master plan. Thr ...
, , Enrico Peressutti, Joe Colombo, Ambrogio Casati
Ambrogio Casati (December 27, 1897 – July 19, 1977) was an Italian painter.
He was born in Voghera, Italy in 1897 and was schooled in Paris in the plastic arts. Upon his return to Italy, he became associated with Filippo Tommaso Marinetti ...
, , Cini Boeri
Maria Cristina Mariani Dameno (19 June 1924 – 9 September 2020), known as Cini Boeri, was an Italian architect and designer. She was considered "one of the great pioneering women in Italian design and architecture", who was described as a "form ...
, Michele De Lucchi, Ettore Sottsass
Ettore Sottsass (; 14 September 1917 – 31 December 2007) was an Italian architect and product designer. He was known for his designs of furniture, jewelry, glass, lighting, homeware and office supplies. He also worked on numerous buildings an ...
, Marco Piva, and Pieter De Bruyne
Pieter De Bruyne (Aalst, Belgium, 1931 - 1987) was a Flemish artist, designer and interior architect.
Life
In 1953, De Bruyne graduated as an interior architect at the Sint-Lucas School in Brussels. In 1955–56 and 1957, he participated in the ...
.
See also
*List of Italian companies
Italy is a Unitary state, unitary parliamentary republic in Europe with the third largest nominal Gross domestic product, GDP in the Eurozone and the eighth List of countries by GDP (nominal), largest in the world. As an advanced economy, the cou ...
References
External links
Official Website
{Dead link, date=October 2019 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes Companies based in Lombardy Design companies of Italy Furniture companies of Italy Furniture retailers of the United States Manufacturing companies established in 1948 Italian companies established in 1948 Design companies established in 1948 Italian brands