Gufram


Gufram is an Italian seat and furniture manufacturer based in Barolo known for the influence it had in the field of industrial design and for helping to revolutionize the look of the furniture from the '60s. Their sculptural art objects show the many influences of pop art, conceptual art, illusionism, naturalism and modern design.

History

Gufram was born in 1966 as a brand of the creative lab for modern furniture production of the Fratelli Gugliermetto, active seat and chairs makers since 1952, in Grosso, Torino. Influenced in the early '60s avant-garde artistic culture in Torino and the radical architectural experimentation of those years, the Gugliermetto brothers began to study with the support of emerging artists and architects of the time new forms and new materials to use in the production of design projects.
The usage of polyurethane as insulating material in the transportation industry around 1970, and the definition of the system of cold pressing of it, allowed Gufram to start producing durable seating revolutionary aesthetics, which tightens the eye to Pop Art, structured padded with polyurethane foam.
Since 1965, Gufram follows the artistic direction of Giuseppe Raimondi, who signs for different products, and helps the company to involve other artists and architects in the design, and planning of the early products and prototypes of the company. In 1968, Gufram presents its products under the name of Multipli in the XIV Triennale in Milan, enjoying a considerable success with the public and press that encouraged the company to go further with their philosophy and production method explored up to that moment.
International consecration takes place in 1972, with an exhibition dedicated to Italian design entitled "Italy: The New Domestic landscape" curated by Emilio Ambasz staged at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, where they are first exposed, and subsequently acquired different Multipli for the museum's permanent collection. From that moment on, Gufram products officially entered into the history of design and in the main collection of recognized European and American museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York, the Vitra Design Museum, the permanent collection the Triennale of Milan, the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Art Museum of Denver in the USA. Over 30 years, Gufram implements its catalog of products with new collaborations while maintaining its headquarters in Piedmont until 2005, when the property is sold to the Poltrona Frau Group, which manages the brand until the end of 2011. Since the last months of 2011, after being purchased by entrepreneurs in the sector who wish to contribute to the revitalization of a historic brand of Italian design, the brand returns to Piedmont, settling in the new headquarters of Barolo, Piedmont.

Products

The Gufram catalogue consists in a number of limited edition pieces and open. The main products are:
Part of the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Part of the collection of MOMA, the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Part of the collection of MOMA, the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Part of the collection of Triennale Design Museum in Milan.