Every so often a company produces a design so iconic that it comes to symbolize its entire history. For Studio 65, the Italian avant-garde design collective cofounded by Franco Audrito, Piero Gatti and others, this was the Bocca sofa — alternatively known as the “lips sofa,” “red lip sofa,” “Dalí sofa” or Marilyn sofa.”
Studio 65’s lip-shaped seat — modeled after a singular feature from Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí’s portrait of Mae West — became a design icon shortly after its release in 1970 and remains a beloved collector’s item today. The Bocca symbolizes Studio 65’s playful, subversive approach to design. The collective took shape in Turin in 1965 with the goal of avant-garde experimentation. The group would eventually grow to comprise artists, designers and poets, including Roberta Garosci, Enzo Bertone, Paolo Morello and Paolo Rondelli. It would also play a central role in the Italian Radical design movement, the practitioners of which found inspiration in Pop art, minimalism and Arte Povera.
The Bocca sofa was born of one of Audrito’s earliest commissions — to design a gym in Milan — which he accepted just a year after graduating from architecture school. The collective enlisted Italian manufacturer Gufram, a firm at the forefront of Italian Radical design, to create a bold red sofa in the shape of plump lips; it was dubbed Marilyn after Ms. Monroe and was an instant sensation when installed at the fitness center.
Studio 65 would follow this with the also iconic Capitello side chair (another Gufram collaboration, now in the permanent collection at The Met), whose reimagining of a decapitated marble classical architectural column in squishy foam was an on-the-nose expression of the group’s pushback to traditional design. It’s a nod they iterated with the Attica coffee table, whose form appears sliced from an oversize column.
Though Studio 65 still operates as an architecture studio under the leadership of Audrito today, the original collective broke up in the late 1970s, making its output from the past decade sought-after fodder for collectors of postmodern, Radical and Italian design.
Find Studio 65 chairs, sofas and other furniture on 1stDibs.
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$8,069 / item
H 33.47 in W 83.47 in D 31.5 in
Gufram Bocca Unlimited Sculptural Sofa by Studio 65 Timeless Design - Biscuit
By Gufram Furniture, Studio 65
Located in Varedo, MB
Unlimited Color, Timeless Design Bocca® Unlimited is the latest evolution of Gufram's legendary Bocca®, one of the most celebrated icons of Italian Radical Design. Designed by Studi...
Fabric
$13,200 / item
H 33.47 in W 83.47 in D 31.5 in
GUFRAM BOCCA (LIPS) by Studio 65 (Registered Trademark)
By Gufram Furniture, Studio 65
Located in La Morra, Cuneo
Bocca, the original 1970 lips-shaped couch is only Gufram's. This sensual couch, which is ideal for a tête-à-tête, has entered the collective imagination on par with Andy Warhol's works, as well as other pop art masterpieces...
Other
GUFRAMINI Little Bocca Miniature by Studio 65
By Studio 65, Gufram Furniture
Located in La Morra, Cuneo
The little Bocca, drawing from the exact proportions of the original version, maintains the sinuous feel and sensuality of a woman’s lips, exactly as intended by Studio65 which designed it in 1970. But, unlike her big sister, she has decided to get rid of her fabric dress and be coated just like her other two little friends. This visionary and glamorous sofa has inspired artists and photographers as a much-photographed protagonist and the centre of attention in exhibitions all over the world. Now, it will become a sassy accessory in the most cutting-edge homes. As if in a fairy tale, the Gufram icons have become smaller and have now turned into Guframini! The most radical Italian design...
Foam
$8,069 / item
H 33.47 in W 83.47 in D 31.5 in
Gufram Bocca Unlimited Sculptural Sofa by Studio 65 - Timeless Design - Red
By Studio 65, Gufram Furniture
Located in Varedo, MB
Unlimited Color, Timeless Design Bocca® Unlimited is the latest evolution of Gufram's legendary Bocca®, one of the most celebrated icons of Italian Radical Design. Designed by Studi...
Fabric
Limited Edition Gufram Bocca Sofa by Studio 65
By Studio 65, Gufram Furniture
Located in New York, NY
Born to satisfy the demand of a private customer, it’s been featured since then on dedicated - but not only - magazine covers, and it is still displayed in the most unconventional ho...
Wool
$8,069 / item
H 33.47 in W 83.47 in D 31.5 in
Gufram Bocca Unlimited Sculptural Sofa by Studio 65 Timeless Design - Oatmeal
By Gufram Furniture, Studio 65
Located in Varedo, MB
Unlimited Color, Timeless Design Bocca® Unlimited is the latest evolution of Gufram's legendary Bocca®, one of the most celebrated icons of Italian Radical Design. Designed by Studi...
Fabric
Gufram GUFRAMINI Bocca, 1:8 Scale by Studio 65
By Studio 65, Gufram Furniture
Located in Toronto, ON
Step into the enchanting world of GUFRAMINI, an awe-inspiring collection that distills the magic and timeless appeal of Gufram's most celebrated works into intricate miniature forms....
Foam
GUFRAM Pink Lady Couch by Studio 65
By Studio 65, Gufram Furniture
Located in La Morra, Cuneo
Bocca, the original 1970 lips-shaped couch is only Gufram's. This sensual couch, which is ideal for a tête-à-tête, has entered the collective imagination on par with Andy Warhol's works, as well as other pop art masterpieces...
Other
