Armchair and footrest Up 5/6 La Mamma by Gaetano Pesce for B&B Italia 2000s edition

In the early 1960s, the chemist bayer developed a polyurethane foam based on a new resin, allowing the creation of various shapes, in a simple way. From the middle of the decade, the italian design publisher c&b seized and invested in the possibilities offered by this evolution. The company then proposed to gaetano pesce, interested in new technologies and the potential they offered, to experiment with this material: he developed the "up series". Through this object, the designer symbolically expresses his vision of women. With the round ottoman, the second element of the armchair, the designer specifies that he wanted to give this chair a feminine shape with a ball at the foot. He wishes to denounce the feminine condition with a metaphor. When it was presented at the milan furniture fair in 1969, the object caused a scandal. The first edition of the mamma did not have a load-bearing structure and consisted of a single block, simplifying the transport of the seat. Its volume was reduced by vacuum compressed in an airtight package. Once placed in the desired place, the buyer cleared the packaging of the seat, so that it gently inflated and returned to its original shape and size, thanks to the air that enters the cells of the polyurethane foam. Originally published by c&b, it was removed from the catalogue in 1973 because of the presence of freon gas. It reappeared in 2000, manufactured in bayfit and marketed by b&b italia, the mamma is still marketed to this day. Armchair reupholstered in 2d fabrics, polyurethane foam interior consisting of two monobloc parts.

Ref. : KV55AFBW