Mies Armchair with Ottoman Designed by Archizoom for Poltronova, 1960s

Created by postmodern pioneers Archizoom Associati, the Mies lounge chair is one of the most important examples of Italian Radical design, an audacious antiestablishment design movement that rejected architecture norms and the capitalist excesses that its proponents associated with modernism. Archizoom’s founding members — Andrea Branzi (1938–2023), Gilberto Corretti (b. 1941), Paolo Deganello (b. 1940) and Massimo Morozzi (1941–2014) — formed the group in 1966, and their playful, provocative chair followed three years later.

The young architects who comprised Archizoom met while studying at the University of Florence during a period of political, social and economic unrest in Italy. Like the other Italian Radical design firms of the era that were initiated by architecture students, such as Superstudio (which never actually designed a building), Archizoom was inspired by the visionary work of London architecture collective Archigram— so much so that their name directly references Zoom, a zine published by the British group.

Central to the “anti-design” ethos of the Italian Radicals was the concept that design should always be questioning itself. Archizoom and others brought new materials and a sense of irony into their works to expand the expressive potential of design. Over the eight years they were active, Archizoom’s work spanned architecture, theoretical urban design, interiors and exhibition installations. They designed a range of furniture for Poltronova, including the Superonda sofa (1966), the Safari sofa (1966–67), the Sanremo floor lamp (1968) and the Mies lounge chair (1969).

The Mies chair is a perfect encapsulation of Archizoom’s philosophy. The design emerged from the simple but subversive idea of using a strip of rubber as a seat. At first glance, the piece — the brown Pirelli rubber’s taut surface, the triangular mirrored steel frame — doesn’t really resemble a functional chair. Only when someone sits in it does the chair then assume the form of recognizable seating. But once the weight of the body is removed, the surface snaps back into place.

As a tribute to early modernist architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who died earlier in the year of the chair’s inception, the piece cheekily questions the tendency of modern design to go a little too far in its pursuit of functionalism. The chair, which was included in the classic “Italy: The New Domestic Landscape” exhibition held at New York City’s Museum of Modern Art in 1972, is still available from Poltronova. It’s paired with an illuminated footstool upholstered in pony hide, another layer of whimsy and contradiction.

For eight years, Italian architecture and design studio Archizoom Associati challenged modernism and aligned itself with what we now call Radical Design, an avant-garde art movement established largely in Florence that produced exuberant conceptual furnishings and objects that were neither practical nor very commercial. Through iconic works like the Sanremo floor lamp and the Mies lounge chair, Archizoom and other proponents of the movement protested functionalism and explored form, color and material in a way that countered the existing social order.

Founded in 1966 by University of Florence students Andrea Branzi, Gilberto Corretti, Massimo Morozzi and Paolo Deganello, Archizoom questioned mass consumerism and the validity of rapid postwar modernization in their native country. In their architecture initiatives, interiors, installations, furniture and more, Archizoom's members were pioneers of postmodernism — future Memphis Group cofounder Ettore Sottsass was also part of the Radical Design movement — and alongside likeminded collectives such as Superstudio, Ziggurat and UFO, Archizoom drew on Pop art, Minimalism and Arte Povera to expand upon the expressive potential of design. Branzi and his peers were also deeply influenced by the visionary work of London architecture collective Archigram — so much so that the group’s name is inclusive of Zoom, which is the name of a zine published by the British collective.

In Archizoom’s No-Stop City — an unbuilt architecture project — the urban area is stripped bare, a featureless monochromatic expanse that sees built structures meeting nothing more than the basic needs of human existence. The group’s Mies lounge chair — a tribute to early modernist architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe — was developed for Poltronova and hardly resembles a chair at all. It is not until one sits down that the detached bench seat combines with the backrest and becomes a full seat. The human body bonds the pieces together to make a chair that is surprisingly functional — and even compact.

The Radical Design movement is experiencing something of a renaissance, and Archizoom Associati’s works featured prominently in 2020’s “Radical: Italian Design 1965-1985” at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The collective’s designs were given a global stage in the classic 1972 exhibition “Italy : The New Domestic Landscape” at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, but most of the groups associated with Radical Design dissolved by the mid-1970s. The Mies lounge chair is held in MoMA’s permanent collection. 

Find vintage Archizoom Associati seating, lighting and tables on 1stDibs.