Kazuhide Takahama and Roberto Matta both studied architecture but their careers took divergent paths. They lived and worked on opposite sides of the globe, but they had two things in common. The first was Gavina SpA, and the second was polyurethane foam as a furniture medium. Eventually there would be a third commonality and that would be Knoll.
Takahama attended the Tokyo Institute of Technology and graduated in 1953. Some years later the architectural firm he worked for was given the task of designing the Japanese Pavillion for the Milan Triennale—an exposition displaying architecture, design and graphic arts that drew participants from around the world. While Takahama was supervising completion of the Pavilion, he met Dino Gavina.1 Takahama was inspired by the design atmosphere of the Triennale and with Gavina’s persuasion the architect moved to Italy.
Gavina encouraged Takahama to design a seating group for Gavina to manufacture. The first piece was the Naeko sofa which proved a sales success. This was followed by the Suzanne lounge chair, double lounge chair, settee and sofa, and the differently designed Marcel lounge group. Takahama used tubular steel for structural support with polyurethane foam cushions covered in stretch fabric for Suzanne. Brushed aluminum bar stock was used to support the foam cushions for the Marcel collection. Takahama also designed a group of small plywood tables named Gae with a black or white lacquer finish.2
Knoll acquired all these designs with the purchase of Gavina in 1968 and introduced to the catalog the following year. Marcel was listed until mid-1978, but deleted from the catalog in September 1978.3 Suzanne remained in the price list until the late 1980s, but reintroduced by Knoll in 2003.4,5 It is not in the Knoll catalog today. Thus, all Takahama’s designs from Knoll are collectibles.
Roberto Matta, born in Santiago, Chile studied architecture at a university in that city and received his degree in 1935. Immediately after graduating, however, he chose to pursue art, first producing sketches and progressing to oil painting. During the 1940s and 1950s his paintings attracted a worldwide following and he became one of the most famous painters from South America.
Exactly where Matta met Dino Gavina in 1966 is not clear, but Gavina was instantly alert to having a painter of Matta’s reputation design a piece of furniture for his company. Gavina gave Matta complete latitude, and the artist began sketching. What emerged from Matta was a group of freeform shapes for lounge seating that could be assembled into 6 by 6-foot square and placed against a wall to form a work of art. Gavina selected high density urethane foam to be covered with stretch fabric, much as he had done with Takahama’s designs.
Gavina worked the blocks of foam and refined the interfacing surfaces so the individual pieces were comfortable to sit on and were easy to reassemble as needed. When the first production units of Matta’s Malitte Lounge were displayed, it always brought smiles to people’s faces. Knoll offered the seating group with all the pieces the same color or with the center egg-shape piece in a contrasting color.6 It remained in the Knoll catalog until 1977.7
1. “Knoll Designer Bios – Kazuhide Takahama”. https://www.knoll.com/designer/Kazuhide-Takahama
2. Knoll International Furniture Price List 1973. 11-12, 73.
3. “Changes, Deletions, Additions.” Knoll memo, 9/12/78.
4. “2003 Product – Reintroducing the Suzanne Lounge Seating.” https://www.knoll.com/the-archive/.
5. The Suzanne Lounge Seating pieces were listed in the August 2013 KnollStudio Price List. Production probably ceased around 2020.
6. Knoll International Furniture Price List 1973 . 9.
7. “1969 Product – The Malitte Lounge Collection.” https://www.knoll.com/the-archive/.