When it was introduced 50 years ago, the Serie Up shook the design world with its revolutionary design and production method. Today? The chair with its distinct feminine form is still a celebrated icon of Italian design.
1969
The year designers Francesco Binfaré and Gaetano Pesce brought down the house at the Milan Furniture Fair when hundreds of flat bundles self-inflated into Serie Up5 spectacular seats.
52 kg
The weight of the armchair and ottoman, which is about 115 pounds
2000
With new production methods, B&B Italia reissues the Up5_6 armchair and ottoman.
7
In Diamonds Are Forever, the seventh James Bond film, villain Blofeld’s lair has a Serie Up5_6 chair and ottoman.
2:45
It takes 2 hours and 45 minutes for a tailoring team to drape and then handstitch the custom technical stretch fabric that covers an Up5.
57 cm
That’s the diameter of the ball ottoman. Pesce saw the ottoman as a literal ball and chain, symbolizing the oppression of women.
4
The number of Up5s that can be produced in a single day
1973
The year the Serie Up collection was discontinued due to a ban on Freon gas
$5,511
Starting retail cost of the Up5_6. Luminaire, 2331 Ponce de Leon Blvd., Coral Gables
10%
The original collection of furniture used Freon gas to dramatically expand the vacuum-compressed polyurethane (it was shipped in a flat parcel just 10% of its final size) into its permanent shape.
“Since its inception, it was clear that Serie Up would become one of the most famous Italian design symbols and one of the world’s most famous industrial design products. Not only is the Up5_6 a symbol of timeless design, but it is a symbol of a social culture whose meaning holds relevant today.” –SILVIA REBULI, GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, B&B ITALIA
Photography by: B&B ITALIA
