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Afra and Tobia Scarpa

“Knowing how to build

is a debt to technique.

Knowing how to give

meaning to the things

I build is a debt to the logic

required by form.”

It was in 1986 that Afra and Tobia

Scarpa designed their Miss chair

for Molteni&C. Both graduates from

Venice University, they were a couple

of versatile and curious architects.

During the long professional career

that they undertook together in 1957,

they designed factories, parts

of cities and new buildings, restoration

projects and design objects, andirons

for fireplaces and wind vanes, jewellery

and golf irons, glass vases, wine labels

and a whole host of chairs.

In the 1970s and 80s, for Molteni&C

they designed the Monk chair, the Mop

bookcase, the Mount system,

the Morna bed, the Mita glass

case, and numerous other products.

Experiences in which –Tobia Scarpa

recalls – “we tried to invent the

execution method to bring out the

form”. Molteni&C’s relationship with

the Scarpas was, in fact, important

and profound. They imbued not only

their own furniture with their particular

character, but also the interiors

and the concept of spaces important

for the Molteni Group’s identity,

such as the Paris showroom in Rue

des Saints Pères in 1978, the one

in via del Babuino in Rome in 1979.

Their partnership with Molteni&C

and Unifor was distinguished

by attention to the finishing touch

of their projects and designs,

like technological and industrial

development devices. Tobia Scarpa,

who received the Compasso d’Oro

award for his career in 2008, revised

the Miss chair for the 2016 re-make,

exactly thirty years later. An elegant

design that is rooted in the craft

tradition, it is at once memory

and experimentation. The form

is related to a system of rhythms

of lines, giving a soft and continuous

impression. The legs are slim

and divaricated, for greater stability.

The front ones bend to form the

armrests and continue in the curve

of the backrest. The back ones reach

the backrest from behind, to underpin it.

The seat sits between the lines

and links them. Tobia Scarpa has

redesigned the armrest joint, to make

it more linear and comfortable.

New proportions for the contemporary

lifestyle. The frame is made of natural

or black-tinted ash, the seat of leather

or plaited cord. Miss received

the Wallpaper Design Awards Best

Reissue in 2017.

(Tobia Scarpa)

Disegno di Tobia

Scarpa, sedia Miss.

Tobia Scarpa’s

drawing, Miss chair.

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