PARIS

TO

CASA

BLANCA

After the war, Matégot established a furniture workshop, ini-

tially in Paris and later in Casablanca, using materials such as

rattan, glass, and Formica, but he is best known for his own

ground-breaking material and technique, which he named Ri-

gitulle, made from perforated sheet metal. Like fabric, Rigitulle

can be bent, folded and shaped, giving the furniture and home

accessories he designed transparency, weightlessness and

enduring modernity. Matégot patented this material and tech-

nique and set up his own production so that he could apply it to

his designs. He applied his inventive approach across a range

of household objects from fruit bowls, lamps and coat racks to

an extensive furniture collection including drinks trolleys and

two inspired interlocking shelving systems. His three-legged

Nagasaki Chair (1954) and his Copacabana Lounge Chair

(1955), both made of steel tube and perforated sheet metal,

are now held in the design collections at Paris’ Musée des Arts

Décoratifs and Centre Georges Pompidou respectively.

Like many of his peers, Matégot travelled the world in search

of inspiration and, upon his return, transformed the industri-

al processes and aesthetic impressions he had collected into

his own unique designs and interpretations. Throughout the

1950s, he devoted himself to the design of furniture and in-

terior accessories, creating an impressive array of distinctive

furniture and home accessory designs that still resonate with

contemporary audiences and are now considered iconic. To

ensure quality in the production of his designs, Matégot manu-

factured in limited numbers of up to 400 in his own workshops

in France and then Morocco. Production continued until the

beginning of 1960s when he left furniture design to devote him-

self full-time to his tapestry work, which he would continue for

the rest of his career, becoming one of the preeminent artists

within French modern tapestry.

More than five decades after it was first designed and 20 years

since the death of its designer, GUBI is proud to pay homage to

Mathieu Matégot with the relaunch of one of his most popular

collections. Out of production for decades, the Tropique Col-

lection has been revived by GUBI for the 21st century, giving

a new generation a chance to live ‘la dolce vita’ as Mátegot

imagined it.

Developed soon after Matégot had returned from WW2 and set

up his furniture workshop in Paris, Tropique was one of four key

collections that established his reputation as a designer. The

curvaceous forms won the attention of some of the most pres-

tigious design publications of the day and earned him a place

at some of the most important events and exhibitions of his

time. One such exhibition, Art & Decoration’s 'La Fleur dans la

Maison’ in 1950, showcased the Tropique Collection immersed

in tropical flora, brilliantly demonstrating the design’s affinity

with the natural world and the al fresco lifestyle.

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