Antonio Citterio's sofa for Flexform, 2001 to 2026, in pictures: from the first sketch to twenty years of advertising campaigns, and the version on our floor today.
In December 2000 Antonio Citterio sketched a sofa with no arms. In their place he drew a low console wrapped in cowhide, with shelves beneath it: a side table, a bookshelf, somewhere for the newspaper, a glass, your feet. The seat was lower and deeper than anything Flexform had made, and the cushions were loose, not fixed. He named it after Donald Judd's floor sculptures and, by his own account, did not expect it to sell.
Gabriele Basilico photographed the first campaign in 2001 and it became the sofa the company is known for. Groundpiece was the first to be designed around what people actually do on one: read, work, eat, doze, put their feet up. Almost every low, loose sofa that followed, from any brand, owes it something.
Twenty-five years in pictures
Antonio Citterio's first sketch, December 2000
Early studio photography. Photograph Natalia Corbetta
Advertising campaign, 2001. Photograph Gabriele Basilico
Advertising campaign, 2001. Photograph Gabriele Basilico
Advertising campaign, 2004. Photograph Maria Vittoria Backhaus
Advertising campaign, 2006. Photograph Maria Vittoria Backhaus
Advertising campaign, 2008. Photograph Maria Vittoria Backhaus
Advertising campaign, 2011. Photograph Gianni Berengo Gardin
The console arm. Photograph Natalia Corbetta
The cowhide console, with shelves beneath
Groundpiece sectional
Groundpiece, 2024 collection
Detail, 2024 collection
Groundpiece today
Groundpiece today
Groundpiece today
Groundpiece today
Groundpiece today
Groundpiece today
Groundpiece today