Pierre PAULIN (1927, 2009) - FRANCE Lot n° 43

Big Mushroom - Tubular steel frame, latex foam, and stretch fabric – L90 x W 85 x 67. ED. Artifort. Gallery certificate will be given to the buyer. Shipping to Paris 150 eur. Pierre Paulin was well known for designing chairs. He worked using foams and metallic frames covered with stretch materials, admired for "their clear lines, the sensual feel of their material or just simply for the way their shapes cradled the body." His designs were widely popular during their time and have influenced different designers Big Mushroom Design by Pierre Paulin An armchair for all times. Sensitive yet strong. Art that is always comfortable. The Big Mushroom® by Pierre Paulin includes the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Once launched as the F562, and has been re-launched as Big Mushroom. Designer Pierre Paulin distinguished himself with this armchair in the original shape and revolutionary manufacturing technique for the time. The idea for the Mushroom came to Pierre Paulin while he was watching women, shaped and sheathed in their swimming suits. He wanted the same thing for a seat. The inspiration can be found in the beautiful curves as well as in the seamless one-piece elastic upholstery. The Mushroom is the first piece of furniture that is manufactured with an seamless one-piece elastic cover method. Its original shape will mark the furniture of the 60s by inspiring many other creations with sculptural forms. The round shapes and comfortable padding are a perfect match with bright colours for an original and trendy effect. One of the best-known is the Mushroom armchair without legs from series no. 560, created in 1959, upholstered in foam rubber and covered in elastic jersey. Pierre Paulin got the idea when he saw women in swimming costumes, sheathed and shapely. So he decided to create a seat entirely covered in sheathing fabric to give it a smooth, bump-free appearance. The first tests were not conclusive: the jersey manufactured in France was too expensive and too fragile (particularly in the face of pets...). He started looking for a resistant fabric, which he finally found in Norway. Inexpensive, stronger and stretchy, it grips and holds the foam in the carcass without wrinkles. The seat was also inspired by Italian car seats, which were upholstered in leather or fabric on a metal frame, a design he continued for the 560 series. Inside the Mushroom, three rings form the base, one for the floor, another for the seat and the last for the armrests. The foam rubber used inside is the gommapiuma developed by Pirelli after the warThe Mushroom was the first seat designed to be entirely covered in elastic jersey, with only a thin sheet of plywood visible as the base. Paulin considered this seat to be the best he had made "economically, mechanically and financially". Awards Grand Prix National de la Création Industrielle Legion of Honour (Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur), 1989 Design Award Rotterdam Interior Design Hall of Fame, 2009 Museums Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris Centre Pompidou, Paris Vitra Design Museum, Germany Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam Design Museum, London Domainde du Muy, France