Date: 2014
Artist: Karim Rashid
Brand: Gufram
Colors: Pink, Orange, Turquoise, Black
Material: Foam and metal
Dimensions: L 50 x H 96 x D 67 cm - Weight 8 kg
Learn more about the designer
Karim Rashid (1960) is an industrial designer born in Egypt and raised in Canada. His work focuses on luxury products, furniture, lighting as well as branding and packaging design. Time magazine described him as "America's most famous industrial designer" and the "Prince of Plastic." He is based in New York, as well as Belgrade, Miami and Mexico.
Rashid earned a bachelor's degree in industrial design in 1982 from Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He pursued graduate studies in design in Naples, Italy, with Ettore Sottsass. He then moved to Milan for a year and worked at the Rodolfo Bonetto Studio.
Rashid then worked with KAN Industrial Designers in Canada for 7 years, where he created x-ray equipment. From 1985 to 1991, he co-founded and designed the Babel Fashion Collection and North. In 1993, Rashid opened his own private design studio in New York.
Karim's work is presented in 20 permanent collections. His pieces are exhibited in museums around the world, including MoMA, Center Pompidou and SFMoMA.
Rashid's designs include the Umbra Garbo trash can, the Umbra Oh Chair, a concept store for Giorgio Armani, manhole covers in New York, perfume bottles for Kenzo, watches and tableware for Alessi, lighting for Artemide and an assortment of products for Veuve Clicquot. He has also worked with Audi, Samsung, Swarowski and Armani. Additionally, Rashid has designed for Method, Bombay Saffire, Finé Water Japan, Sexy Beast USA, Davidoff, Issey Miyake, Estee Lauder.
In 2008, Rashid partnered with Prizeotel founder and CEO Marco Nussbaum to become the exclusive designer for the budget design hotel brand.
In 2012, Rashid collaborated with artist Terence Koh, for a limited edition of winter coats to mark the 10th anniversary of the Italian brand Puiserey.
Rashid was selected in 2014 to design several real estate developments in New York for HAP Investments, an international investment group based in New York.
In 2016, it was announced that Rashid was designing the multi-million dollar makeover of the Temptation Resort and Spa, in Cancun, Mexico.
Learn more about the brand
Gufram is an Italian furniture manufacturer based in Barolo (Piedmont region). Founded in 1966 by the Gugliermetto brothers, Gufram, acronym for "Gugliermetto Fratelli Arredamenti Moderni", takes the form of a creative laboratory: they combine their knowledge of local craftsmanship with emerging architects and artists of the time. Their sculptured art objects revolutionized the aesthetics of 1960s furniture. From 1965, Gufram followed the artistic direction of designer Giuseppe Raimondi, who associated the company with emerging artists and architects of the time.
They study new choices of materials and mainly choose polyurethane foam to pad and structure their sculptural creations. Polyurethane will become their trademark. In addition to mastering the processing of flexible polyurethane, Gufram has developed and patented a special finish: Guflac®, the true essence of the company's artisanal spirit: this special and unique paint job makes surfaces more uniform, consistent and elastic . Soft, elegant shapes are thus created, innovative shapes that would otherwise be impossible to cover.
Gufram icons, regardless of the collection they are part of, are made by sculpting flexible polyurethane foam which is then finished or decorated by hand with the Guflac® backing.
Their creations, in the wake of pop art, are anchored in the avant-garde movement of the 1960s.
In 1968, Gufram presented its products under the name Multipli: industrially reproduced art objects in limited edition. Gufram then enjoyed considerable success with the public and the international press. Among their most remarkable creations: the Bocca sofa, originally designed by Salvador Dali, the Cactus coat rack, the majestic Pratone seat or even more recently the grotesque stools in the shape of a tombstone The End from the Toiletpaper collection, or the Broken Mirror imagined by Snarkitecture.
These “domestic sculptures” now appear in the most beautiful homes and the most renowned museums in the world.
The Gufram company was bought in 2012 by entrepreneur Sandra Vezza and her son Charley as artistic director. They were able to breathe new life into the company, notably on the occasion of the company's 50th anniversary celebrations in 2016 but also with new collaborations such as that with Moschino “Moschino kissed Gufram”.
