D.157.6 - Due Foglie

Overview

The D.157.6 Due Foglie is a sofa by Gio Ponti, first created in 1957 and part of the Heritage Collection. Its seamless curvilinear form suggests a pod and two elongated leaves, which is the origin of the name Due Foglie, and it rests on a trestle structure with a metallic finish.

Image source: Molteni&C — D.157.6 - Due Foglie · © Molteni&C and the respective rights holders. Quoted to accompany INTEBEE's independent design commentary and research. · View official product page ↗ · Image use & copyright policy

Construction

The datasheet gives spruce (Picea abies) combined with Polimex for the frame, and high-performance variable-density polyurethane foam under a bonded cotton-polyester fibre velveteen cover. The base is chrome steel with plastic non-slip ferrules, finished in black chrome. The page highlights a foam structure shaped by two moulds.

Specifications

• D.157.6: W 155 x D 83 cm; the drawing's tallest vertical value is 85 cm, which is not labelled on the drawing
• Base: black chrome, one finish only

From the Triennale to Villa Planchart

According to the Molteni&C datasheet, Due Foglie first appeared at the Milan Triennial XI, inaugurated in July 1957, whose theme was the relationships between the arts, architecture, artistic production and industrial design. It was shown again in the autumn of 1957 in Como at the exhibition 'Colours and Shapes in the House of Today' at Villa Erba, for which Ponti designed Environment 18. The sofa then disappeared and reappeared some years later in Villa Planchart in Caracas.

Re-introduction

The datasheet describes Due Foglie as a revolutionary project, created more than ten years before a design that industrial production, helped by polyurethane cold foam, would make possible only at the end of the 1960s and in the 1970s. Molteni&C, together with the Ponti archives, researched the object through partly unpublished technical and photographic documentation and re-introduced it in the Heritage collection as close as possible to the original, using sustainable construction technologies.