The P40 Articulated Lounge Chair – Machine for Sitting

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Osvaldo Borsani Armchair (P40) 1955
Osvaldo Borsani Armchair (P40) 1955

Osvaldo Borsani Armchair (P40) 1955, articulated chaise longue.  The rubber-armed chair was a sophisticated ‘machine for sitting’ that could, it was claimed, assume 486 positions. It may be converted into an upright seat or folded completely. The rubber arms may be pushed downward and the footrest can be retracted. The bendy arms make it difficult to get out of the chair, the chair’s only design issue.

Osvaldo Borsani was an Italian architect and designer who produced a large body of work in the 1940s and early 1950s, including case goods storage pieces and seating.  In 1953, Osvaldo and his brother Fulgencio founded a firm called Tecno which, as its name suggested, became known for its research and technology-based furniture design.

New Zara Home Collection
Borsani’s P40 adjustable lounge chair alongside Zara Home’s Octagonal Table

Sources

Marsh, M. (1997). Miller’s Collecting the 1950s. Miller’s.

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