Farfalla Poltronova sofa

"I have no idea how it happened, but I remember very well the reason why Massimo and I designed the fabric Le farfalle, "The Butterflies", by Poltronova... The idea was to make floral decorations, but crossed with pop decorations, like those of Liechtenstein, which imitated printing designs, creating (in our intention) a contrast between the floral theme and the "pop" theme... In fact, the result was a living fabric, but not as acidic as we expected; Archizoom's "Over-the-Top Generation" was not yet mature..."
[Andrea Branzi]



It only takes a flap of wings to launch the umpteenth version of the chair designed in 1966 to challenge convention. In the butterfly and in the world of the bright sky, polka dots, checks, flowers and stars, the anti-establishment art of American artists such as Liechtenstein and, more generally, Pop Art continues to develop. The butterfly motif, designed by Archizoom in 1968, was an acidic, pop reinterpretation of the floral theme that came from a much more composite tradition, and is now part of Poltronova's emerging catalogue of fabrics.

"Poltronova is the radical factory. Poltronova is a historic moment, which is still alive and where many of us still feel at home. Where the glorious and long history of Italian design began among frogs and reeds, before reaching the altars of honour..."

Andrea Branzi Archizoom Associati.