The brainchild of the Fratelli Gugliermetto company, Gufram was born in 1966 in Turin, Italy, massively inspired by the avant-garde artistic culture that reigned in Europe during the 1960s and '70s. The brand is known for its CACTUS coat stand and sculptural seating such as the Pratone chair as well as other massive, innovative pieces that fall somewhere between art and furniture.
Starting in the mid-1960s, proponents of Italian Radical Design — which included forward-looking collectives like Archizoom and Studio 65 — broke with formality and convention by fusing the joy of Pop art with the systems of mass production.
One of the brands that formed as a result of these experiments was Gufram, a manufacturer at the forefront of the country’s Radical Design movement. The Gugliermetto brothers teamed up with emerging artists to harness exciting new materials — among them, polyurethane foam, which was originally used in the transportation industry as insulation to keep buses and trains warm.
Despite being credited for revolutionizing Italian design, until the mid-1970s, Gufram was largely unknown outside the small Italian town where it was founded. Nearly six years after the brand’s inception, though, word got out about a furniture brand transforming polyurethane foam into gigantic works of art. So, Gufram brought its playful and witty design concept across the Atlantic to New York’s Museum of Modern Art, where it had its first international show.
Gufram produced much of the Pop furniture — the CACTUS coat rack by Guido Drocco and Franco Mello and the Bocca sofa, in the shape of big red lips, by Studio 65 — that came to define the Anti-Design movement. (Through a relationship with Gufram, the latter was imported to the United States by Charles Stendig, a collector and pioneering importer who helped spark America’s interest in furniture from Finland, Switzerland and Italy during the 1960s and ‘70s.)
Although furniture can be serious business, it’s just as often playful, provocative, energizing and even liberating. Perhaps nothing embodies these characteristics better than postmodern Italian design. And one of the most iconic pieces to originate during Italy’s fertile period of postmodern furniture design is the Pratone chair, designed in 1971 by Giorgio Ceretti, Piero Derossi and Riccardo Rosso.
Representing a magnified portion of a grassy meadow, the Pratone chaise provides a lounging place for an individual or a group. “It is so unlike anything else that it stands out and is still iconic after 50 years,” said Charley Vezza, Gufram’s global creative orchestrator.
Made of painted polyurethane foam, the Pratone chair immediately became the symbol of a new and different approach to interiors when it debuted.
Gufram has become a favorite of the international art crowd and glitterati, and its products have made their way to the world’s most renowned museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Vitra Design Museum and more.
British fashion designer Paul Smith and American multi-hyphenate artist A$AP Rocky have collaborated with Gufram over the years. Interior designer Tony Ingrao has called the Pratone chair one of his favorite works and featured the larger-than-life piece in an exhibition he curated at R & Company in 2016.
Find new and vintage Gufram chairs, sofas, mirrors and other Gufram furniture for sale on 1stDibs.
$1,800 / item
The End Stool by Toiletpaper for Gufram
By Gufram Furniture, Toiletpaper
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Designed by Maurizio Cattelan e Pierpaolo Ferrari Gufram, The End is a pouf made in polyurethane foam and covered in Guflac. The End is a pouf by the original and unique design. A p...
Plastic
$2,700 / item
The End Black Stool by Toiletpaper for Gufram
By Gufram Furniture, Toiletpaper
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Designed by Maurizio Cattelan e Pierpaolo Ferrari Gufram, The End is a pouf made in polyurethane foam and covered in Guflac. The End is a pouf by the original and unique design. A p...
Plastic
GUFRAM Mozza Stool & Chair by Giuseppe Raimondi
By Gufram Furniture, Giuseppe Raimondi
Located in La Morra, Cuneo
Designed in 1968 by Giuseppe Raimondi, Mozza maintains the same vibrant revolutionary appeal and ability to adapt to countless living needs. Rendered in its present edition in a sexier and slimmer form, Mozza is an upturned truncated and athwart-cut cone on which it would seem impossible to sit. By lying back on its sloping surface of sort polyurethane, though, its structure gives in to body weight until it acquires the shape of a chair with back- and armrests. It's simple but original structural magic that makes it one of a kind. Mozza's external mass misleads you. Thanks to its lightness, this seat becomes a nomadic and versatile object in the living landscape. The primary seat for the sitting-room at home or the perfect service armchair in the sophisticated and elegant halls of design hotels, Mozza combines the international contemporary style with the characters of the Italian radical design, highlighted by the variety of its contemporary and pop upholstery colours. ABSTRACT Designed in 1968 by Giuseppe Raimondi, Mozza is an upturned truncated and athwart-cut cone on which it would seem impossible to sit. By lying back on its sloping surface of sort polyurethane, though, its structure gives in to body weight until it acquires the shape of a chair with back- and armrests. It's simple but original structural magic that makes it one of a kind. Mozza's external mass misleads you. Thanks to its lightness, this seat becomes a nomadic and versatile object in the living landscape. TECHICAL INFO Seat of soft polyurethane covered with cloth. Ø 85x80 cm, 9 Kg Ø 33,5x31,5 in, 20 lb DID YOU KNOW 1. It's one of the first projects by Gufram – born at the beginning of its activity. 2. It was designed by the first Artistic Director of the brand – Giuseppe Raimondi. 3. Mozza's sloping plane becomes soft when weight is set on it, and it allows you to comfortably sink in it. 4. Mozzo de-constructs the traditional...
Fabric, Resin
$2,800 / item
Gufram "the End Stool Is Black" by Toiletpaper
By Maurizio Cattelan & Pierpaolo Ferrari, Toiletpaper, Gufram Furniture
Located in La Morra, Cuneo
The funeral look of this furniture-sculpture is tempered by the softness of the polyurethane that makes it: in perfect Gufram tradition nothing is as it seems. "THE END in BLACK" is ...
Paint
$2,800 / item
GUFRAM The End 1516 Stool by TOILETPAPER
By Toiletpaper, Gufram Furniture, Maurizio Cattelan & Pierpaolo Ferrari
Located in La Morra, Cuneo
Gufram pulls back from the world of design. It declares it and turns the page – with a tombstone. Since the time has come to call it quits because of the many mudslinger that have al...
Other
$1,900 / item
GUFRAM the End Stool by TOLIETPAPER
By Toiletpaper, Gufram Furniture, Maurizio Cattelan & Pierpaolo Ferrari
Located in La Morra, Cuneo
Gufram pulls back from the world of design. It declares it and turns the page – with a tombstone. Since the time has come to call it quits because of the many mudslinger that have al...
Other
$2,700 / item
The End White Stool by Toiletpaper for Gufram
By Gufram Furniture, Toiletpaper
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Designed by Maurizio Cattelan e Pierpaolo Ferrari Gufram, The End is a pouf made in polyurethane foam and covered in Guflac. The End is a pouf by the original and unique design. A p...
Plastic
Gufram Puffo Stool by Gruppo Sturm Ceretti & Rosso, 65/1000
By Riccardo Rosso, Piero Derossi and Giorgio Ceretti, Gufram Furniture
Located in Aachen, NW
Rare Puffo stool designed by Gruppo Sturm (Ceretti, Derossi & Rosso) and made by Gufram in Italy, 1986. The stool was made in a limited edition of only 1000 pieces worldwide. This s...
Foam
Gufram Puffo Stool by Gruppo Sturm Ceretti & Rosso, 72/1000
By Riccardo Rosso, Piero Derossi and Giorgio Ceretti, Gufram Furniture
Located in Aachen, NW
Rare Puffo stool designed by Gruppo Sturm (Ceretti, Derossi & Rosso) and made by Gufram in Italy, 1986. The stool was made in a limited edition of only 1000 pieces worldwide. This s...
Foam
Drum End Table/Stool with Bone Marquetry- in stock
By Karl Springer
Located in New York City, NY
This handcrafted end table/stool offers tranquility to any space. Hundreds of hexagonal bone chips are individually hand shaped and mounted on a wooden drum form to create this harmonious tone-on-tone patterned stool...
Bone
'Le Temoin' Stool by Man Ray for Gavina
By Man Ray, Gavina
Located in Little Burstead, Essex
Beautiful example in pristine condition, designed by Man Ray for Gavina's ultramobile exhibition.
Faux Leather, Acrylic, Foam, Plywood
$787 / item
H 16.54 in W 18.12 in D 20.08 in
Modern Lipsticks Pouf by Toiletpaper for Seletti - Polyester & Wood
By Seletti, Toiletpaper
Located in Miami, FL
Pouf by Toiletpaper. - Size: cm 51 × 46, H 42 - Material: Fabrics in polyester, frame in wood with polyurethane padding, metal.
Polyester, Wood
Unavailable|$6,500 / item
H 43 in W 13 in D 13 in
TOTEM Modern Stackable Stools in White Oak & Concrete by Estudio Persona
By Estudio Persona
Located in Los Angeles, CA
TOTEM is an sculptural looking piece, formed by four different elements: two stackable wooden stools, a heavy concrete base and a wooden top tray. Both stools and the tray are made...
Concrete
Cairn Stool in Oiled Maple by Alvaro Uribe for Wooda
By Alvaro Uribe
Located in Omro, WI
The Cairn collection by Alvaro Uribe for Wooda challenges the perception of furniture being purely functional. We believe furniture brings a sense of spirituality and magic to our li...
Hardwood, Maple, Walnut
$3,046 / set
H 20.48 in W 20.48 in D 16.54 in
Giuseppe Pagano Pair of Italian Oak and Woven Rope Stools, Italy, 1940s
By Giuseppe Pagano Pogatschnig
Located in Roma, IT
Marvelous and unique pair of stools entirely crafted in solid oak and completed by beautifully hand-woven rope seats. These refined stools were designed by the mastery of Giuseppe Pa...
Rope, Wood, Oak
Solid Walnut End Tables Stools with Storage
By Möbius Objects
Located in Calgary, AB
Dual purpose end tables turned from solid American Black Walnut. Hollow in form but full of function. Stool #1: 17" Diameter x 21.25" Height Stool #2: 19.5"Diameter x 23.25" Hei...
Walnut
Black Forest Modeled Bear Piano Stool, Late 20th Century
Located in North Miami, FL
A fantastic hand carved bear piano stool with extendable seat. It was hand carved in Switzerland, Brienz, circa 1890’s. Original glass eyes.
Wood
$304
H 30.32 in W 15.36 in D 16.93 in
Italian Modern Black Metal Ibisco Chair, Raimondi for Molteni & Consonni, 1980s
By Molteni & C, Giuseppe Raimondi
Located in MIlano, IT
Italian modern black metal Ibisco model chair by Giuseppe Raimondi and produced by Molteni & Consonni, 1980s. Ibisco model chair with seat entirely in black metal, with round seat an...
Metal
Low Back Chair / Stool in Solid Oak by Boyd & Allister
By Boyd & Allister
Located in Santa Fe, NM
This low back chair / stool in solid oak was inspired by a Pierre Chapo upholstered chair and originally made as a gift for my partner. I love the visual weight lended by the thickne...
Oak
$51,045 / set
H 19 in W 44 in D 35 in
Black High-Gloss Nekton Stools by Zaha Hadid for Established & Sons
By Established & Sons, Zaha Hadid
Located in London, GB
Zaha Hadid was the first woman to be awarded the distinguished Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004 and is internationally known for her built, theoretical and academic work. Her reco...
Fiberglass, Lacquer
$2,929 / set
H 18.51 in W 18.51 in D 13 in
Contemporary Design 'Thinking Space - Stool , by Andredottir & Bobek
By Andredottir & Bobek
Located in copenhagen, DK
One-off a kind - Contemporary Design, Thinking space - stool, made by the art and design duo Andredottir & Bobek They have in this collection imitated landscape with artificial ma...
Foam, Ash
