Alessandro Mendini (http://www.ateliermendini.it/ ) penned a new chapter in the story of his most iconic work, the “Proust”( http://www.design-museum.de/en/collection/100-masterpieces/detailseiten/poltrona-di-proust-alessandro-mendini.html) armchair originally created in 1978, making it entirely in marble. This year he has made this new version was made for an exhibition of products shown by Italian company Robot City (http://robot-city.com/eng/home.html) at Ventura Lambrate in Milan.
Made for the Italian marble company’s Solid Spaces show, the new iteration of the Proust chair is an attempt to create an object with a “hyper-realist” appearance by using marble to create an “almost surreal” effect, with a touch of very contemporary visual design, said Robot City.
This marble version is one of four creations by different designers produced from a single 38.7-tonne block of white marble, excavated from a quarry owned by Robot City leader Gualtiero Vanelli. The designs “give unexpected twists to the interchange between form, function, visual appearance, ergonomics, tradition and innovation”, said Robot City (http://robot-city.com/eng/alessandro-mendini.html) in a statement .
