Haworth - A chair symbolising 40 years of successful Italian design
22.11.2008 07:53:01
http://www.haworth-europe.de/en/news_events_all/news_all_archiv/2007/07-07-29-plia.php
22.11.2008 07:53:01
http://www.haworth-europe.de/en/news_events_all/news_all_archiv/2007/07-07-29-plia.php
A chair symbolising 40 years of successful Italian design
San Giovanni in Persiceto (Italy), July 2007
Towards the end of the 60ies, a brilliant young designer, but still unknown in the industry, worked in the research and development department of the Castelli (today Haworth) furniture manufacturer. As a teacher at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna at the time, Giancarlo Piretti carried out research and design work for the manufacturer after having convinced them to transfer their expertise in the office furniture area to the consumer market.
Giancarlo Piretti worked incessantly on his vision of a totally new type of chair and was able to convince the manufacturers to follow his instinct and produce the chair he designed and developed. This was to be a very different piece of furniture; a chair that would meet the requirements of the day. In the words of the designer, "I had this thing about aluminium, and given the go ahead from the company's president himself, I started to experiment with this material."
He designed a folding chair with could fold and unfold with one hand, the rotating parts joined into a single pivot. The first prototype was produced in aluminium, the second with a steel frame and aluminium pivot. Piretti realized that the diameter of the pivot needed to be strengthened to achieve a more robust design.
Then he "dressed" the chair using sheets of press-moulded, transparent plastic for the backrest and the seat, which were then fitted to the frame of the chair.
The Management at Castelli (today Haworth) immediately recognised the chair's potential and presented the chair the first time at the Milan Furniture Exhibition in September 1970. Aptly named "Plia", the chair's success was literally overwhelming and took the competition completely by surprise. Plia even caused a stir in the fashion world when the Italian fashion designer, Mila Schon, ordered over 800 chairs for the interior of her fashion stores.
Since then, Plia has been sold over six million times worldwide and is not just a Castelli/Piretti success story – it has become a piece of design history, finding its place in the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
To celebrate Plias's anniversary, a limited edition named Plia Extra was presented in Milan during the Salone del Mobile in April, 2007.
The customers can choose from four different editions: PLIA EXTRA COLOURS, PLIA EXTRA MATT, PLIA EXTRA CUSTOM and PLIA EXTRA CHIC
