Gaetano Pesce’s Revolutionary Feminist Chair “UP” On Display at BurJuman in Collaboration with Leonidas Dubai
It all started with a sponge - The unconventional style of Pesce’s gravity-defying chair symbolized 70s femininity and gender oppression.
Dubai, UAE, 6 July 2020:Nearly 50 years after award-winning Italian architect and designer Gaetano Pesces creation UP brought to the spotlight the prejudice, inequality and oppression women faced in the 70s, the topic is still relevant today. The popular design is currently on display at BurJuman in collaboration with Leonidas Dubai, world-renowned Belgian chocolate maker, until the 5th of September, 2020.
The inspiration for UP came to the designer in a rather peculiar place, the shower, as he held a sponge in his hand and contemplated its ability to shrink and expand based on pressure. The unconventional style of Pesces gravity-defying chair - round, bulbous, curvy, yet sleek - and the accompanying ottoman, resembling a ball and chair, symbolized 70s femininity and gender oppression.
BB Italia, who produced UP for Pesce in 1969, recently celebrated 50 years of the iconic chair by introducing 7 new colourways in 2019.
Famously referred to as La Mamma, Big Mama and Donna, Gaetano Pesces UP has also been featured in the 7th James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever.
Recognizing his designs and contributions, Pesce has been awarded the Italian Cultural Institute Lifetime Achievement Award (2010), Design Excellence Award from the Philadelphia Museum of Art (2005) and the Chrysler Design Award (1993), to name a few. His designs are included under 30 permanent collections of the worlds most prestigious museums - Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Musee des Arts Dcoratifs of Louvre in Paris.
UP by Gaetano Pesce is on display for art and design enthusiasts, exclusively at BurJuman in collaboration with Leonidas Dubai, daily until the 5th of September, 2020.
