This fall, Poltrona Frau welcomes three historic designs to its collection: the Letizia and DU55 chairs, and the T 904 bench. Designed in the 1950s by Gastone Rinaldi (1920-2006), a largely forgotten icon of Italian design, these pieces were very unusual for the time. Poltrona Frau explores this less familiar history of design and brings three small masterpieces of style and thought back to life.
LETIZIA
Letizia, designed by Gastone Rinaldi: 1950s elegance and style; a style icon
A project that catalyses and revisits the creative ferment of an era. Letizia is an armchair designed in 1954 and christened by Rinaldi the DU 55 P. Encapsulating the visual and formal style of the 1950s, Letizia is the product of a genuinely organicistic approach adopted by the designer. Rinaldi experiments with new formal solutions, works on full and empty spaces, on sensual and soft lines. And in the end everything fits together in an original and perfect harmony, both in terms of aesthetics and functionality. The seat is welcoming and comfortable; the backrest acquires new elasticity. The supports, thin and sleek, fit perfectly with the shell.
Steel structure with moulded polyurethane foam padding. Elastic belts for the springs of the seat and the backrest. Feet in three different finishes: ash veneer with endpins in antique-finish brass, black or chrome. Cover in Pelle Frau leather from the Color System, Pelle Frau Nest, Pelle Frau Soul or removable fabric.
DU 55
DU 55, designed by Gastone Rinaldi: the perfection of form, manufacturing intelligence; the expression of an era, a timeless icon
Designed in 1954, DU 55 is an emblematic piece from a period that stood out for its great formal, functional and aesthetic innovation. The rounded geometries, the study of the thicknesses and padding, and the relationship between full and empty spaces led Rinaldi to design a chair with a strong personality. DU 55 is an icon in the true sense of the word. It communicates coherence, completeness and elegance straight away, and it combines the originality of its form with manufacturing intelligence. The curved shell and sleek feet are a guarantee of the stability and comfort of this relaxing and welcoming chair.
Steel structure with moulded polyurethane foam padding. Elastic belts for the springs of the seat and the backrest. Feet in three different finishes: ash veneer with endpins in antique-finish brass, black or chrome. Cover in Pelle Frau leather from the Color System, Pelle Frau Nest, Pelle Frau Soul or removable fabric.
T 904
T 904, designed by Gastone Rinaldi: curved tubular steel and wood; painstakingly designed; a minimalist project.
Rinaldi was one of the biggest experts and fans of curved tubular technology in Italy. The T 904 bench is a fine example. The structure is painstakingly designed in tubular steel with a black finish. The seat is minimalist, comprising of a board of poplar plywood with teak-stained ash wood veneer, which can be completed with three cushions placed simply on the wooden surface if desired. A piece of furniture which, with its clean lines and use of tubular steel, evokes 1950s design and the work of Le Corbusier, but with its own originality. In the Poltrona Frau world, the T 904 can be combined, with great versatility and harmony, with classical or more contemporary pieces alike.
The cushions are padded with polyurethane foam and dacron. The cover is in Pelle Frau leather from the Color System, Pelle Frau Nest, Pelle Frau Soul or removable fabric.
For more info, visit poltronafrau.com