It was 1971 when Grufam launched its now very famous Pratone armchair, designed by the designers Ceretti, Derossi and Rosso. We are talking about more than fifty years ago and this piece is still so topical today that it has been proposed in a brand new version by the MSCHF art collective. The super-controversial group, known for its provocative works, makes an irreverent gesture and literally cuts the lawn, leaving the chair with its blades of grass cut clean off. This is an official collaboration between MSCHF and Gufram, created on the occasion of the Industry Plants exhibition opening at Perrotin’s New York headquarters on 6 September. If in the 1970s Gufram revolutionised the idea of the bourgeois chaise longue with a completely unconventional seat, reflecting at the same time on the relationship between man and nature, today MSCHF does so with a drastic gesture, taking the reflection a step higher by asking simple questions that arise spontaneously here: What are we doing to nature? Where will we end up?
Barefoot on the lawn, how the Pratone chair was born
One thought that arises for us is: how has Pratone never faded? Let us start with its history. We have said that it was born in the early 1970s from the idea of three designers, but its greatest fortune was undoubtedly that of being chosen as the cover for the catalogue of the MoMA exhibition in New York Italy: The New Domestic Landscape, which made it highly recognisable. In short, a pop object but at the same time a symbol of anti-design and a manifesto of creative freedom. In fact, the inspiration comes from a moment of extreme freedom, walking barefoot on the lawn. Or rather, the three Italian designers watched the 1967 film ‘A piedi nudi nel parco’ and thus created this portion of artificial lawn, made of 42 blades of grass in polyurethane foam – which therefore makes it extremely comfortable – painted with Guflac, a washable paint patented by Gufram.
All versions of the Pratone
This is not the first time we have seen the Pratone armchair change or inspire artists. In 2021, on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, a giant inflatable version appeared in Piazza San Fedele during Milan Design Week. The following year, in 2022, it was artist Julien Lambert who used it as the star object in his performance directed by Fabio Cherstich. Last year, again during Milan Design Week, Gufram launched a limited edition black and white version in collaboration with Juventus, only 500 pieces available. Our favourite modification, however, is the one made by the brand itself in 2021, when it launched the armchair in three new colours (still shades of green) but shrinking it by 30% and changing the upholstery from Guflac to a wool bouclé fabric. Proof that such an iconic piece can still be revisited to better suit the needs of the public, who always have smaller homes. Would you ever buy Pratone? Obviously, if you had 20,000 euros at your disposal, more or less the sale price it fetches today.
