Resources
In designing the Violin Chair, architects Stine Gam and Enrico Fratesi set out to distil the archetypal form of a chair into its purest representation, without ever losing the sense of character for which they have become renowned.
The result is a new typology for the GUBI Collection: an understated half-arm dining chair that epitomizes GamFratesi’s craftsmanship, creativity, and material understanding, with enough poetry to make the piece feel fresh, light and contemporary. Available both as an edition with an upholstered seat and slender steam-bent oiled walnut or oiled oak backrest, and the more voluminous edition in which both the seat and backrest are upholstered, the Violin Chair has a clear silhouette and strong identity. It can hold a multitude of different expressions to suit spaces from informal canteens to fine dining rooms, while a broad range of leather and upholstery fabrics offer customization options to reflect every interior style.
GamFratesi
GamFratesi Design Studio was established in 2006. Stine Gam (born 1975) and Enrico Fratesi (born 1978) belong to the latest generation of furniture architects. Stine is Danish, while Enrico is Italian and together they represent a new interpretation of the meeting between Danish and international design traditions.
GamFratesi's design takes its creative drive from a fusion of tradition and renewal and in an experimental approach to their chosen materials and techniques. With their dual traditional background, they draw on the classic Danish furniture and craft tradition as well as the classic Italian intellectual and conceptual approach. Understanding a tradition and addressing it actively in the workshop makes it possible to expand on it. From this cross-cultural substrate they create furniture that respectfully reflects tradition while also featuring unique embedded stories, symbols and associations, often expressed in a minimalist idiom.
"Our work is balancing between the traditional and surprising. Often it takes just a small detail to achieve or break an expression, and we are very curious about that. We work strictly with the Scandinavian approach to crafts, simplicity and functionalism, but there always happens to be a strong emotion to concept and story behind each work. Contrasts are often the center of our inspiration. Both in work and daily life we are constantly confronted with contrasts, and we do work a lot with references and respect to traditions in both our cultures. We both have roots in strong design cultures. Studying, researching and moving constantly between our two countries, it has become such a natural part of us, that it will also show in our work."
GamFratesi aim to create furniture that illustrates the process and the techniques that created it, and which reflect a persistent exploration of the diverse border zone between harmony and disharmony.
At GUBI, we're on a continual quest. A journey. Fuelled by our passion to discover overlooked icons from the past and future icons in the making, we've made a distinctive name for ourselves in the international design arena as a dynamic design force to be reckoned with.