"Up 5" Chair and "Up 6" Ottoman

Currently not on view

"Up 5" Chair and "Up 6" Ottoman

Designed 1969, reissued 1994

Designed by Gaetano Pesce (Italian, born 1939) Made from 1970-72 by C & B Italia S.p.A, Novedrate, Italy (1966–1974) Made from 1973-81, 1984, 1994-present by B&B Italia, Milan (founded 1966)

The chair that made Pesce famous in 1969, Up 5 is largely characteristic of the designer's unique philosophy, imbuing personality into his designs through unconventional materials. Up 5 not only has an organic look and feel-the whole piece literally "grows" into form when unwrapped from its tight vacuum seal. It comes as no surprise, then, that Up 5 evokes a mother's womb and that opening its package becomes an event similar to birth. Pesce has cleverly applied polyurethane, a highly synthetic material, as a metaphor for one of the most precious moments in humanity.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Titles:

"Up 5" Chair and "Up 6" Ottoman

Date:

Designed 1969, reissued 1994

Artists:

Designed by Gaetano Pesce (Italian, born 1939) Made from 1970-72 by C & B Italia S.p.A, Novedrate, Italy (1966–1974) Made from 1973-81, 1984, 1994-present by B&B Italia, Milan (founded 1966)

Medium:

Expandable polyurethane foam, stretch jersey fabric

Dimensions:

Chair: 40 1/2 x 41 x 51 1/4 inches (102.9 x 104.1 x 130.2 cm) Ottoman: 22 1/2 inches (57.2 cm)

Classification:

Furniture/Furnishings

Credit Line:

Gift of Collab: The Group for Modern and Contemporary Design at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2000

Accession Number:

2000-151-1,2

Geography:

Made in Milan, Italy, Europe

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Currently not on view