GUBI CLASSICS
5 DESIGNS FROM THE LAST 50 YEARS
GUBI is where the beauty of history meets the thrill of right now. Celebrating the designers that swam against the tide and challenged the status quo. The chosen GUBI pieces are a precise curation of defining designs reintroduced to inspire the conversation with evocative narratives.
WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE A GUBI CLASSIC?
Discovering hidden gems from the archives and challenging contemporary designers to create new plot twist pieces - the GUBI classics are timeless core pieces that remain relevant with a personality season after season.
COLLECTOR'S ITEM
Louis Weisdorf’s 1972 Multi-Lite Collection of pendants, floor lamps and table lamps capture the ‘golden era’ of Danish design and represent the designer’s move away from his traditional style to pursue a more diverse aesthetic. The lamps are available in a range of curated colors, with bases in black brass, brass and chrome. Truly striking, this family of highly configurable lights combines classic materials with contemporary style. Their eye-catching design would enhance any space, public or private.
TWO DESIGN TRADITIONS, COMBINED IN PERFECT SYMMETRY
In 2013, GUBI and GamFratesi introduced the Beetle Chair to the world, and a modern design classic was born. Strikingly simple in form but full of personality, GamFratesi’s design combined crafted details and advanced manufacturing technologies to produce something truly original: a highly versatile, extremely comfortable, and beautifully expressive dining chair inspired by the forms of nature.
AESTHETIC & BEAUTIFUL
The beauty of the Beetle is not just aesthetic; GamFratesi’s design has proven extraordinarily versatile, allowing the creation of an expansive and ever-growing furniture family. Thanks to the adaptability of its original design language, the Beetle Collection has grown to include chairs for every function, as well as tables, sofas, and stools.
IDEAS AHEAD OF THEIR TIME
The first sketches French designer Pierre Paulin drew of the Pacha lounge chair were simple pencil outlines that resembled illustrative clouds. The design attested to the comfort and coziness of low-level living and captured the laid-back spirit of the 1970´s. Paulin´s great uncle Freddy was a sculptor and instilled in him the notion that an object should be beautiful from every angle. His artists eye set him far ahead of the times, finding true recognition in his work late in his life and after his death.
BETWEEN FUNCTIONAL & ARTISTIC MERIT
The Bestlite Collection, designed by Robert Dudley Best, has been in continuous production since 1930 – an iconic part of British design history with a Danish twist to the tale. A timeless Bauhaus-era classic; its swan- necked stand, bell-shaped shade and adjustable pivot- joints make it not only elegant, but also highly functional.
THE SPIRIT OF THE NEW AGE
Robert Dudley Best was heir to the world’s largest lighting manufacturing company Best & Lloyd, founded in Birmingham in 1840. Despite the company’s proud history of providing traditional lamps to a prestigious clientele, including Titanic and the Orient Express, Dudley Best was interested in a new collection that symbolised the spirit of the new age by appealing to the more avantgarde architects and setting a new agenda for lamp design.
BY POPULAR DEMAND
Paavo Tynell lamps and lighting are highly sought after by an international clientele of collectors and prices of his most important pieces have lately soared on auctions.
DESIGN AS LONGEVITY
Tynell's designs were derivative of a traditional aesthetic with a modern sensibility, mixed with an extensive use of perforated and polished brass as material. Marked by delicacy and softness, his most famous forms in lightning echo the structures of nature; he created sculptural shapes reminiscent of the branches of trees, swirling snowflakes and seashells.