Gruppo DAM (Designer Associati Milano) Furniture

Mid-Century Modern Set of 10 'Topos' Chairs by Gruppo DAM for Busnelli, 1970s

Baffo, a tube that runs and bends, holding a leather basin suspended a foot from the ground. The Baffo armchair is the result of the union between the i...

Powerfully expressive, Topos table draws inspiration from the fluid, organic shape of flower, true sculpture produced by nature. The structure has a metal tubing with polished chrome...

In 1968, Gianni Pareschi, the G 14 (Gianni Pareschi, along with Roberto Ubaldi, Gianfranco Facchetti, Pino Pensotti, Umberto Orsoni), Ezio Didone, and Alberto Colombi founded Gruppo Dam, which stands for Designer Associati Milano. Together, they created significant products for Gruppo Industriale Busnelli (Topos, Armadillo, Baffo, Zen, Materasso...) and worked on shaping the company's image, from trade show presentations fair to advertising campaigns. They were known for their unconventional and deeply visionary ideas and concepts for the time. In addition, Gruppo Dam designed original ceramic items such as tiles, flower pots, ashtrays, for the historic ceramics company Cedit. In 1970, they also designed a series of models for a renowned Venetian company specializing in chandeliers and blown glass objects. The Gruppo Dam signed various ideological and programmatic design manifestos and organized a major exhibition of the group's products in Milan at the Centro Domus. Bibliography: Italian Look, Federlegno Italia, p. 25, Year 1972 - Modern chairs 1918-70, The Whitechapel Art Gallery, p. 47, Year 1970 - New furniture / Nue mobel 10, Ed. Herausgegeben von Gerd Hatje + Elke Kaspar, p. 12, Year 1971 Designers: In 1968, Gianni Pareschi, G 14 (Gianni Pareschi, Roberto Ubaldi, Gianfranco Facchetti, Pino Pensotti, Umberto Orsoni), Ezio Didone, and Alberto Colombi founded the Dam Group...

Libro armchair designed by Gianni Pareschi and Umberto Orsoni for Gruppo Dam and produced by Gruppo Industriale Busnelli in 1970. A unique piece aimed at collectors and enthusiasts of items from the 1970s that revisit the Italian radical design movement of the post-war period, characterized by a clear desire to redefine industrial design in a subversive lifestyle. A sculptural armchair that makes its originality a unique piece as beautiful as it is functional, as the seat unfolds, and each page corresponds to a sitting position. A hinged central frame provides support for the seat pages attached to the frame's articulation. The covering is made of glossy white and fuchsia technical fabric coated with polyurethane resins. It has a white jute floor strap and a small plate with the famous silver B of Gruppo Industriale Busnelli. The Poltrona Libro is to be considered a true cultural icon of radical design; only a very limited number were produced as it was particularly "bold" for its time of creation. The Libro armchair is so artistic that it is displayed in some of the world's most important museums, such as the MoMA in New York. Historical images by the renowned photographer Giorgio Casali for Domus. Literature: Davide Mosconi, "Italian Design 70," Ed. Achille Mauri Editore Milano "Annual Interior 84, the House," Ed. Electa periodicals, year 1984 "Italy in the Pop years," Ed. Vente ARS, year 1993 "Design Journal," page 79, 1970 P. Decelle, D. Hennebert, P. Loze, "L'utopie du tout plastique," Norma Editions, p. 102, Paris 1994 A. Bangert, "Italienisches mobeldesign. Klassiker von 1945 bis 1985," CIP, p. 98, Munich 1985 "1000 Chairs," Charlotte & Peter Fiell, Taschen, page 492, 1997 Designers: In 1968, Gianni Pareschi, along with the G 14 (Gianni Pareschi, Roberto Ubaldi, Gianfranco Facchetti, Pino Pensotti, Umberto Orsoni), Ezio Didone, and Alberto Colombi, co-founded the Dam Group...

Amazing and super rare original edition of the iconic ,radical 'libro' chair designed in 1970 by Gruppo DAM (Designer Associati Milano) in collaboration with the avant garde design group 'Gruppo G14' . Dimensions, please note the seating height, height and length of this chair is variable depending on how the seating leaves and enameled steel frame are arranged, only the width of the seat is fixed. The dimensions quoted are only one of the many possible and are for the seating elements as arranged in the last photo. The 'Libro'—meaning “book” in Italian—takes its form quite literally. Ten thin wedges are stacked on each other, hinged at the apex of an articulated enameled steel frame. What unfolds is an object with a childlike sense of discovery, offering an extraordinary range of seating positions depending on the flipping of each “page” along the spine. It demonstrates the re-envisioning of industrial design into a subversive lifestyle tool. And for a chair that cleanly falls into Italy’s postwar radical design movement of the late 1960s and early ’70s, it’s surprisingly functional—as practical as it is playfully outlandish. Undoubtedly, its originality, its simplicity, its ease of use, and its versatility make this sculpture-like armchair attractive to lovers of beauty and collectors interested in the conception and cultural process of design. Chairs from the original edition , finished in shiny vinyl, were originally produced in tiny numbers by 'Busnelli', as you can imagine at the time this design was considered too avant-garde and conceptual for the taste of the mass market. This example suffers from the same fate as per 95% of the original edition chairs in that the type of vinyl used proved to be particularly sensitive to UV light so over the passing years the surface layer of the vinyl upholstery has cracked significantly , some may see this as a flaw but it proves the originality of this museum piece and the chances of today finding an original edition chair without this vinyl surface cracking are effectively and unfortunately next to none. Today these extremely rare and early iconic examples of italian radical...