Ever wanted to own the 70s iconic furniture like the Gufram Bocca aka the lips sofa, or maybe the Pratone, the radical lounge chair that looks like a caricature of a clod of lawn, but cannot afford them? Well, here’s some good news. You can now buy Bocca, Pratone, along with Cactus, and modern icon GOD at a fraction of the cost.
There’s a catch though. Smaller prices also mean smaller sizes and by smaller size, we meant desktop size. These iconic pieces of furniture from the Italian furniture maker have now become smaller under Gufram’s Guframini lineup. The iconic Gufram furniture may be 1:8 scale but they are not lacking the details with each piece made of polyurethane foam and finished by hand.
The Guframinis are just like the full-size examples with the same level of details – right down to the details like the same number of bumps – all 2,165 of them – that decorate the stem and arms of the GOD. But it is not an exact replica; tweaks have to be made. For example, where there is fabric, it is now polyurethane and finished by hand. Make sense, since no one is going to sit on it anyways. Except for maybe your phone.
Keep going for the official description of each Guframini.
Guframini Bocca
The little Bocca®, drawing from the exact proportions of the original version, maintains the sinuous feel and sensuality of a woman’s lips, exactly as intended by Studio65 which designed it in 1970. But, unlike her big sister, she has decided to get rid of her fabric dress and be coated just like her other three little friends. This visionary and glamorous sofa has inspired artists and photographers as a much-photographed protagonist and the center of attention in exhibitions all over the world. Now, it will become a sassy accessory in the most cutting-edge homes.
Guframini Pratone
The mini Pratone® plays with the juxtaposition of a “large-small” proportion by reducing to 7/8 the giant Pratone that was designed in 1972 by Ceretti, Derossi, and Rosso, and exhibited that year at the MoMA as part of the Italy: The New Domestic Landscape exhibition. Just like the original version, the base of the “mini” sculpture shows the writing ‘Pratone’ on one of the sides, and 42 soft stems stretching in different directions complete the radical look of this little icon.
Guframini Cactus
Finally the miniature Cactus®, one of the radical design symbols par excellence. Gufram offers its fans a version identical to the original designed by Drocco and Mello in 1972. The mini mold is perfectly identical to the full-scale design and shows 2165 dimpled areas that decorate the stem and the arms of this otherworldly coat rack. The color was obtained by carefully studying the original green color to reproduce it, giving design enthusiasts a chance to own, albeit in a reduced version, a limited-edition design piece that is now sold out.
Guframini GOD
And finally, the Guframini GOD, a “shrunk” version of one of Gufram’s most iconic collaborations with TOILETPAPER, the publishing project from Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari. Appearing for the first time in 2012 on the provocative cover of the magazine TOILETPAPER No.7, GOD is a pagan idol deriving from the union of Cactus – designed by Drocco and Mello in 1972 – and the eggs of La Cova, the oversized nest created by Gianni Ruffi in 1973. The mini–Cactus – in the same emerald green that has always characterized GOD – includes all of the 2.165 bumps that decorate the stem and arms of this dreamlike coat hanger; the two eggs, which in the original version are covered in fabric, are instead made of polyurethane and finished by hand.
Gufram said the Guframini are available through leading Gufram retailers, international concept stores, museum shops, and on select e-commerce sites. Prices vary from retailer to retailer but expect to shell out upwards of 180 quid (around US$227) for one, which is a far cry from the thousands of euros the full-scale examples are selling for.
Images: Gunfram [IT].
