Ignazio Gardella Digamma Armchair
The Digamma armchair is an eclectic presence, harmoniously fusing
elements that seemed impossible to combine: a rationalistic body,
consisting of a seat and backrest with geometric, essential volumes and
extremitieswith a new sensibility and a heavy dose of irony.
How can
one of the leading representatives of Italian architectural rationalism
become a predecessor of a new aesthetic that transcends it? The answer
is the Digamma armchair, one of the first pieces that dared to venture
beyond rationalism.
In his architectural works of the early fifties,
Ignazio Gardella was already hinting at a "rebellion" against the
canons of the Modern Movement. His quest for new forms of aesthetic
expression in the realm of design culminated in the Digamma armchair,
which entered the history of design precisely because it was an
eloquent, explicit embodiment of that "rebellion".
Digamma's appearance
on the market stirred up the still waters of the International Style
(defined by Gavina as a stylistic trivialization of the founding
principles of functionalism and architectural rationalism).
In this
context, it seems reasonable to venture that the only person capable of
creating this piece was Dino Gavina, the aesthetic agent whose vision
went far beyond the mere commercial success of his products. Gavina
chose to design a piece that implied a formal and cultural provocation,
merging art and industry, and incorporating a symbolic weight that was
impervious to any practice or concept of style or fashion.
As Gavina
said, Digamma represents the joy of metamorphosis, as opposed to the
rigidity and gravity of what, at the time, was understood as design.
The armchair designed by Gardella thus becomes a preview of the
features that would later define the Ultrarazionale project launched by
Gavina and Carlo Scarpa in 1968, while also leaping twenty years ahead
to the definitive break with rationalism that would take place in the
early eighties.
Ultimately, Digamma emerges as an homage to Italian
creativity in those years. If it is true, as André Breton wrote, that
"beauty will be convulsive or will not be at all", clearly Digamma is,
beyond its functionality, an eminently beautiful piece. Metal frame
armchair with steel arms and legs Upholstered seat, backrest and arms 3
position reclining backrest Fabric required 3 m For 1.40 m widths -
plain fabric 86 x 56 x h:86 cm
Design:
Ignazio Gardella
Year:
1957 (reedition 2004)
Manufacturer:
Santa & Cole
Ignazio Gardella designs
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