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Vico Magistretti Chair „Selene“ by Artemide circa 1969

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White Stackable Selene Chairs by Vico Magistretti for Artemide, Pair

About the Item

Vico Magistretti’s Selene was one of the first commercially produced chairs pressed from a single sheet of plastic. The Selene was first conceived by Magistretti in 1961 but it took several years working alongside the technicians and model makers at Artemide to produce the first production model in 1969. It was the S shaped cross section that solved the issue with lateral strength of the legs for Magistretti. “ It cannot be drawn. To draw it I’d have to have drawn at least a hundred cross sections” The Artemide chair was made from a single sheet of 3mm thick Reglar, a new glass reinforced polyester (GRW). It was first shown in white at the 1968 Triennale di Milano. Production of the Selene started in 1969 with white, red and black models shortly followed in orange in 1970. In 1984 came a new inspired pallet of yellow, light blue and pink for the aesthetically radical Los Angeles Olympics. Artemide’s production of the chair ceased in the 1990s then Heller reissued nylon and polycarbonate (colour dependant) injection moulded versions in 2002. The 1960s saw an intense period of exploration in product design with many embracing the recent advances of Industrial plastics. Verner Panton, Joe Colombo, Helmut Batzner and Sergio Mazza were amongst those who had chairs utilising modern plastics in production by the late 60s. Helmut Batzner’s chair, produced in Germany in 1968, a year before the Selene was seen to lack the flair of its Italian counterpart. Magistretti’s Selene was featured in Italian Design at the Hallmark Gallery in New York City in 1968, MOMA’s exhibition Italy: The New Domestic Landscape in 1972 and used extensively on the set of the British TV series Space 1999 during its run from 1975 - 1977.

Creator:
Vico Magistretti (Designer)
Design:
Selene Chair
Dimensions:
Height: 29.53 in (75 cm)Width: 18.51 in (47 cm)Depth: 18.51 in (47 cm)Seat Height: 17.72 in (45 cm)
Sold As:
Set of 2
Style:
Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Plastic,Pressed
Place of Origin:
Italy
Period:
1960-1969
Date of Manufacture:
1970s
Condition:
Replacements made: New black plastic feet inserts. Wear consistent with age and use.
Seller Location:
Edinburgh, GB
Reference Number:
Seller: MGST00101stDibs: LU8487233834912
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Vico Magistretti

As one of the founding fathers of modern Italian design, prolific architect and industrial designer Ludovico Magistretti (known by his nickname Vico) was guided by his philosophy, “There is no excuse for bad design.” His architectural projects are widely revered, and an ingenious meld of form and function can be found in his stylish and deceptively simple table lamps, sofas, armchairs and other mid-century furnishings.

Born in Milan, Magistretti followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather (both architects) to study architecture at the Polytechnic University of Milan. At the outbreak of World War II, he fled to Switzerland, and it was there he met his role model and mentor, renowned humanist architect Ernesto Nathan Rogers. Magistretti was inspired by Rogers’s vision to revive postwar Italy, and they collaborated on several reconstruction projects. Among Magistretti’s first architectural designs is a “poetic” round church, which he created for the QT8, an experimental Milanese neighborhood.

When Magistretti returned to Milan in 1945, he worked at his father’s architectural firm. It wasn’t until the early 1950s that he expanded his talents into design while working with furniture artisans.

In the 1960s, Magistretti began his 30-year working relationship with famed entrepreneur Cesare Cassina of the Cassina furniture manufacturing company. In their design approach, the two men shared a vision of the relationship between modernity and tradition and enjoyed a close bond (Magistretti designed Cassina’s luxurious villa in 1965). However, their friendship was not without contention.

Legend has it that upon seeing the prototype for Magistretti’s Maralunga sofa, Cassina hated it so much that he punched it, breaking the back of the sofa, which crumpled into itself.

“Right, great, it looks perfect to me like that,” an unfazed Magistretti allegedly responded, and the Maralunga’s slumped, adjustable-height backrest was born. Incidentally, the Maralunga sofa won Italy’s Compasso d’Oro award as did his Eclisse lamp for Artemide and his Atollo lamp for Oluce.

Magistretti died in 2006, but his designs live on in galleries, museums and private residences and offices around the world.

Find a range of vintage Vico Magistretti furniture and lighting on 1stDibs.