Nearly 50 years after award-winning Italian architect and designer Gaetano Pesce’s creation “UP” brought to the spotlight the prejudice, inequality, and oppression women faced in the 70s, the topic is still relevant today. The popular design is currently on display at BurJuman Mall in collaboration with Leonidas Dubai, world-renowned Belgian chocolate maker, until September 5, 2020.
The inspiration for “UP” came to the designer in a rather peculiar place, the shower, as he held a sponge in his hand and contemplated its ability to shrink and expand based on pressure. The unconventional style of Pesce’s gravity-defying chair – round, bulbous, curvy, yet sleek – and the accompanying ottoman, resembling a ball and chair, symbolised 70s femininity and gender oppression.
B&B Italia, who produced “UP” for Pesce in 1969, recently celebrated 50 years of the iconic chair by introducing seven new colourways in 2019.
Famously referred to as La Mamma, Big Mama and Donna, Gaetano Pesce’s “UP” has also been featured in the seventh James Bond film “Diamonds Are Forever”.
